Former radio presenter and manager Mark Page will spend longer in prison after the Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC MP referred his original sentence to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient.
Between August 2016 and April 2019, Mark Page, now 63, engaged in online communication with child prostitutes in the Philippines and travelled to the Philippines to sexually abuse the children in October 2016 and March 2019.
He used a webcam to contact victims who were aged between 12 and 13.
On 10 March at Teesside Crown Court, Page was convicted of four offences of arranging the commission of a child sex offence and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
The Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC MP, referred Page’s sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
On 10 June the Court of Appeal found his original sentence to be unduly lenient and increased it 18 years’ imprisonment.
Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC MP said: “Mark Page took advantage of the poverty and deprivation of young, vulnerable children in the Philippines for his own sexual gratification. I welcome the decision to increase the sentence, to better reflect the gravity of these very serious crimes.”
Mark Page has appeared on over 40 radio stations including Radio 1, Radio Luxembourg, Century FM, Real Radio, Smooth Radio, BBC Cleveland, BBC Newcastle, Radio Aire, Radio Clyde and The Pulse.
Mark is also a Forces broadcaster of 30 years on BFBS and his own network Garrison Radio which provided the British Army’s radio service for 12 years to nearly 20 UK locations.
As well as being Middlesbrough FC’s stadium announcer for over 25 years, he has announced and done warm up for over a dozen England and Team GB Internationals at various levels. He has also MC’d at Wembley, the Millennium Stadium and at two UEFA Cup Finals.
This story first appeared on radiotoday.co.uk