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A man who repeatedly abused 2 young children will spend longer in jail after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal for being too low.

Brian Gillard, now 75, carried out a campaign of sexual abuse against the girl over a 15 year period. The victim was 4 years old when this started. He also physically abused a young boy on a number of occasions during this period.

In August this year, Gillard was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with a 1 year extended licence period at Basildon Crown Court. Today, this has been increased to 18 years and 6 months imprisonment with a 1 year extended licence period after the Solicitor General referred the case for being unduly lenient.

Commenting on the sentence increase, the Solicitor General said:

“Gillard carried out a campaign of abuse against two children over many years. I am pleased that the Court of Appeal has agreed to increase Gillard’s sentence, and hope the victims can begin to move on from what would have been a hugely traumatic experience.”

Strengthening family ties can play a crucial role in helping offenders to turn their lives around beyond the prison gates, Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said today following a visit to HM Prison and YOI Parc in Bridgend.

The visit to HMP Parc – which is the only privately-run prison in Wales – comes in the year following the publication of a UK Government-commissioned report, which identified family relationships as the “golden thread” running through the reforms across the prison estate.

Mr Cairns met with Parc prison director, Janet Wallsgrove and prison staff to see first-hand how incorporating family members into the prison’s innovative rehabilitation schemes is having a significant impact on preventing prisoners from reoffending after release.

In September 2016, Lord Michael Farmer, in partnership with the membership charity Clinks, was commissioned by the UK Government to investigate how connecting prisoners with their families can improve offender wellbeing, assist in keeping the public safe and reduce reoffending.

During the visit to HMP Parc, the Secretary of State met Corin Morgan-Armstrong, head of family interventions for G4S Central Government Services in the UK, who highlighted how the success of the prison’s ‘Invisible Walls Wales’ project has helped to inform the Farmer Review, and outlined the tangible results the scheme is having on the rehabilitation of offenders.

Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns said:

Safe and secure prison environments are just the foundation for successful rehabilitation. But as Lord Farmer’s review outlined last year, building and nurturing family relationships is also fundamentally important if people are to change.

It has been inspiring to meet the passionate staff at HMP Parc and to experience how they are pursuing trailblazing initiatives like ‘Invisible Walls Wales’. It’s also been an experience to listen to prisoners who have taken up the opportunities available, using their own drive and determination to change as they look towards life beyond the prison gates.

Backed by Big Lottery Fund investment and working in partnership with Barnardo’s Cymru, the Invisible Walls Wales scheme helps prisoners to strengthen family ties and maintain healthy family relationships as well as providing them with advice on issues such as debt, housing, training and moving towards employment.

Janet Wallsgrove, Director of HMP & YOI Parc said:

Initiatives such as Invisible Walls Wales, and the wide range of educational and training programmes which are offered at HMP Parc, all play a key part in supporting prisoner rehabilitation. Our aim is to reduce reoffending after release by providing prisoners with the right skills and support during their sentence, and by strengthening their ties with the community.

Today’s visit was a great success, and we’d like to thank the Secretary of State for taking the time to meet our staff, and allowing them to demonstrate how outstanding results can be achieved through innovation, service excellence and teamwork.

Notes to editors

• For further information about HMP Parc contact the G4S media team on 020 7963 3333.
• For information on the prison estate and reforms, contact the Ministry of Justice newsdesk on 020 3334 3536.
• HMP Parc is a category B men’s prison and young offenders institution near Bridgend, and is the only privately-run prison in Wales. It is managed by G4S and is one of the largest prisons in the UK, with over 1,700 prisoners and 800 members of staff.
• To read Lord Farmer’s review on the ‘Importance of strengthening prisoners’ family ties to prevent reoffending and reduce intergenerational crime’ click here

Advocate General for Northern Ireland, Geoffrey Cox QC MP, will be called to the Bar of Northern Ireland on Friday 26 October.

The call ceremony will be presided over by the Lord Chief Justice. The Advocate General will host a reception at the Royal Courts of Justice after the ceremony for key figures from the legal world.

While in Northern Ireland the Advocate General will hold separate meetings with key legal figures including Attorney General for Northern Ireland, John Larkin QC, Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, Sir Charles Declan Morgan QC PC, Chair of the Bar Council in Northern Ireland, Sarah Ramsey, Director of Public Prosecutions, Stephen Herron and his deputy Michael Agnew. These will be closed meetings to discuss legal issues in Northern Ireland.

Advocate General for Northern Ireland, Geoffrey Cox QC MP said:

It is a privilege to be called to the Bar of Northern Ireland. I am looking forward to the ceremony and to meeting members of judiciary and the legal professions.

The Call ceremony will take place on Friday 26 October at the Royal Courts of Justice.

The position of Advocate General for Northern Ireland is held by the Attorney General for England and Wales by virtue of that office.

Sunil Kumar Ralhan (37) appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on 5 October 2018 and in addition to the court-ordered disqualification for 7 years, the company director received a 9-month prison sentence.

The court heard that Sunil Ralhan was the sole director of Travelogue Ltd from November 2014, having bought the travel agency from its former director.

However, the company was placed in liquidation in May 2015 after it failed to recover payments from travel agents based abroad who had bought tickets through Travelogue. The travel agency was later dissolved in February 2017.

Independent insolvency practitioners were appointed to take charge of liquidating the company but Sunil Ralhan had failed to keep adequate accounting records, while also failing to share them with the insolvency practitioners and later, investigators from the Insolvency Service.

Failure to deliver information requested by the liquidator while winding up a company is evidence of misconduct and in Sunil Ralhan’s case, it would have helped explain a deficiency in the liquidation of close to £380,000 that was owed primarily to a single creditor of Travelogue.

Glenn Wicks, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:

“As the director of the company, albeit on behalf of others, this man was responsible for keeping books and records. By not providing them he covered up what was almost certainly a fraud and that is why he received this imprisonment.”

At an earlier hearing, Sunil Ralhan accepted that he failed to keep accounting records that were sufficient to show and explain the transactions of the company.

Notes to editors

Sunil Ralhan is from Birmingham and was born in August 1981.

Travelogue Limited (company no. 07705471) was incorporated on 14 July 2011.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

Contact Press Office

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

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Today (Thursday, 25 October), the Prime Minister has confirmed the appointments of Lord Bew as Chair of the House of Lords Appointments Commission and Lord Evans of Weardale as the Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life.

The appointments follow open recruitment exercises, including pre-appointment scrutiny by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.

Lord Bew

Lord Bew is the current Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Professor of Irish Politics at Queen’s University Belfast and former historical adviser to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. He was appointed as a crossbench peer in 2007 following his contributions to the Belfast Agreement.

The Minister for Implementation, Oliver Dowden MP, welcomed Lord Bew’s appointment:

Lord Bew has demonstrated his dedication to ensuring diversity in appointments in his post as Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. I welcome his clear commitment to the principle that the membership of the House of Lords should better reflect the nation.

The Minister also took the opportunity to thank Lord Bew’s predecessor, Lord Kakkar:

Lord Kakkar’s steady handling of the Commission has been vital to the continued integrity of the appointments process. His advice and approach have been hugely valued.

The House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) has two main functions:

• to recommend individuals for appointment as non-party-political life peers
• to vet nominations for life peers, including those nominated by the UK political parties, to ensure the highest standards of propriety

The Commission’s Chair is appointed for a non-renewable, five-year term of office. More information about the Commission can be found on the House of Lords Appointments Commission website.

Lord Evans of Weardale

Lord Evans of Weardale is the new Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, to fill the position left vacant by Lord Bew. Lord Evans spent 33 years in the UK Security Service, six as Director General, when he was a senior advisor to the UK government on national security policy and a member of the Prime Minister’s National Security Council. Lord Evans was appointed as a crossbench peer for his contribution to public service in 2014.

Minister Dowden also welcomed Lord Evans’ appointment:

The Committee on Standards in Public Life contributes to the maintenance of the diversity, integrity, and vibrancy of representative democracy in the UK. Lord Evans has demonstrated all the skills necessary for this sensitive post, including the highest integrity and an understanding of the issues of standards in public life.

The Committee on Standards in Public Life is an advisory non-departmental public body. Its purpose is to examine areas of concern about the standards of conduct of public office holders, advise the Prime Minister accordingly, and to promote the highest standards of conduct in public life. More information about the Committee can be found on the Committee on Standards in Public Life GOV.UK page.

The Committee has eight members:

• a chair and four independent members are appointed by the Prime Minister, following open competition for a non-renewable, five year term of office
• three members are appointed on the recommendation of the leaders of the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats

Both roles were advertised on the Centre for Public Appointments website, which sets out further details of the appointments.