Pulse.Assent

A man who repeatedly sexually assaulted a young girl over a period of years has had his sentence increased after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, referred it for being too low.

Usmaan Ahmad, now 35, repeatedly sexually assaulted his victim over a period of 8 years, while she was between the ages of 3 and 11. Ahmad was between the ages of 14 and 21 at the time. The effect of these crimes has been lasting and severe, causing ongoing psychological struggles.

Ahmad was originally sentenced to 4 years and 6 months imprisonment at Sheffield Crown Court. Today, after the Solicitor General’s reference, the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 8 years and 6 months in prison.

Commenting on the sentence increase, the Solicitor General said:

I am pleased that the Court of Appeal has agreed that Ahmad’s sentence should have been higher. He subjected a vulnerable child to consistent and repeated sexual abuse which has had a lasting impact. I hope this decision can bring some comfort to the victim.

Saturday June 30 will see hundreds of events held to mark the tenth version of the day, including parades and ceremonies right across the country. Men and women from the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force, both regulars and reserves, will be recognised alongside the wider defence family including cadets and veterans.

The national event will take place in Llandudno, North Wales and excitement is building ahead of the biggest Armed Forces Day ever, with a record number of flypasts, displays and exhibitions planned.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

Armed Forces Day is a valuable opportunity to honour our troops who work so hard to keep us safe.

Our servicemen and women are on hand every hour of every day to protect us from the threats we face and I encourage people across the UK to come together and salute them for their tireless commitment.

Since last year’s event in Liverpool the Armed Forces have had a busy year in the UK and around the world. From troops helping those struggling in heavy snowfall to the emergency assistance provided in the aftermath of the Salisbury attack. To further afield in Iraq and Syria where our Armed Forces continued to take the fight to Daesh, helping to drive the terrorists back and give ordinary people in those countries the chance to rebuild their lives.

Around the world our troops have worked day and night, from reassuring NATO allies in Europe to deploying over 2000 personnel to the Caribbean in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

The UK Armed Forces are currently involved in over 20 operations in more than 25 countries, from Estonia to Iraq. But many of those back at home will be in attendance at events across the country.

Also present will be many veterans that make-up the estimated 2.56 million Armed Forces veteran community living in the UK. Young Cadets will be present too; together the Sea, Army, and Air cadets have almost 100,000 members.

On the 30 June, a parade of around 1,000 serving personnel, veterans, cadets and marching bands will step off from the Llandudno War Memorial at 11am to signal the start of the Armed Forces Day celebrations.

Minister Field said:

I remain deeply concerned about the intense fighting between the Burmese Army and the Kachin Independence Army, which has since April led to over 6000 people being newly displaced. This has added to the humanitarian suffering already experienced across the state over several years.

I call on the Burmese military to fulfil its duty to respect international humanitarian law, ensure access for humanitarian organisations and allow the 2000 civilians trapped by the fighting to leave to safe areas. The new Burmese Northern Commander, Major-General Teza Kyaw, must ensure that the soldiers under his command show restraint and protect civilians. The UK will continue to offer substantial humanitarian support: in the last financial year we provided £6.1m in humanitarian relief to Kachin and northern Shan.

I call on all parties to the conflict to cease fighting, protect civilians, and return fully to peace talks, which the UK supports and which seek to bring to an end 70 years of internal conflict in Burma.

The UK will continue to raise, both with the Burmese authorities and the international community, our anxiety at the continued armed conflicts and the constraints on humanitarian access around the country. The UK restates its commitment to supporting the triple transition in Burma: from military rule to democratic civilian government, from conflict to peace, and from a closed economy to an open one.

Further information

• Follow Foreign Office Minister Mark Field @MarkFieldUK
• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn

The Government is phasing out ‘.gsi’ from official email addresses. As part of this change, the PCA will remove ‘.gsi’ from its email addresses.

From Tuesday 15 May 2018, existing PCA email addresses will change to:

enquiries@pubscodeadjudicator.gov.uk
referrals@pubscodeadjudicator.gov.uk
office@pubscodeadjudicator.gov.uk

The PCA website and Enquiry Line telephone number remain the same – www.gov.uk/pca and 0800 528 8080.

Parties in arbitrations have been notified of this change and reminded to direct future correspondence to the new email addresses from 15 May 2018.

Any queries should be referred to office@pca.gsi.gov.uk before 15 May 2018 and office@pubscodeadjudicator.gov.uk from 15 May 2018.

The consultation – ‘Addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past’ – includes proposals to implement the four new legacy institutions set out in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement (SHA) and the Government’s manifesto for Northern Ireland 2017.

A key element of the Stormont House Agreement is that all of these bodies will be under statutory obligations to act in ways that are balanced, proportionate, transparent, fair and equitable.

The consultation will run until 10 September and provide an opportunity for all to see the proposed way forward and contribute their views. The consultation also provides important information about the implications of leaving the current system unchanged.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt. Hon. Karen Bradley MP, said:

I welcome the opportunity to launch the consultation today, seeking views on how to address the legacy of Northern Ireland’s troubled past. Since my appointment as Secretary of State I have heard deeply moving stories about the suffering that victims and survivors have lived with for decades and the profound and lasting impact on individuals, families and communities.

This consultation provides the opportunity to begin a process that has the potential to provide better outcomes for victims, survivors and their families.There is broad agreement that the current complex system does not work well for anyone and we are determined to put that right.

In an area as sensitive as the troubled past in Northern Ireland, it is important that we recognise and listen to all views. Any way forward will only work if it can command confidence from across the community. Now is the time for everyone with an interest in addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland’s troubled past to have their say.

The UK Government has committed £150m over five years to help establish the SHA institutions, which together would put the needs of victims and survivors first.

Feedback from victims and survivors has been taken into consideration to facilitate participation from all interested individuals and groups, especially those directly impacted by the Troubles. This includes making consultation documents available in a variety of formats – including online and in easy read format – for an extended period until 10 September to ensure that everyone with an interest in the legacy issues of the Troubles has the opportunity to take part. The Northern Ireland Office will work with advocacy groups who wish to hold information events for their members during the consultation period.

The consultation will close on 10 September 2018. To have your say, please visit : www.gov.uk/nio

ENDS.

Notes to editors

1. The four institutions in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement are:
   • A Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) to take forward outstanding investigations into Troubles-related deaths. The consultation proposes that the HIU would take on the outstanding work of the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI’s) Historical Enquiries Team and the outstanding legacy work of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. The HIU will have significant improvements over the current police process, and will be tasked to finish its work in five years. The new legislation will also prevent new inquests being opened into cases that are in the caseload of the HIU, until the HIU completes its work on that case and then an inquest can only be reopened in exceptional circumstances.
   • An Independent Commission on Information Retrieval (ICIR) established by international agreement between the UK Government and the Irish Government, that enables family members to seek and privately receive information about the Troubles-related deaths of their relatives. Engagement with the ICIR would be entirely voluntary and the ICIR would only seek information in those cases where families have submitted a request. Families from the United Kingdom and from Ireland would be able to seek information from the ICIR.
   • An independent Oral History Archive (OHA) to enable people from all backgrounds to share experiences and narratives related to the Troubles. A research project would be established as part of the OHA to produce a factual historical timeline and statistical analysis of the Troubles. The archive would be the responsibility of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
   • An Implementation and Reconciliation Group (IRG) to promote reconciliation and anti-sectarianism and to review and assess the implementation of the other legacy institutions proposed in the Stormont House Agreement. After five years, the IRG would commission an independent academic report on themes using an evidence base established by the work of the other legacy institutions.