FEWER than one in seven paedos have their lenient sentences appealed, damning new stats show.

       The last three years has seen a huge drop in the number of cases kicked back by the Attorney General.

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       Fewer than one in seven paedos have their lenient sentences appealed

       Under the Unduly Lenient Sentences scheme, ministers can push cases up to the Court of Appeal if they consider them to be too soft, to urge judges to think again.

       But less than one in four were submitted last year (24 per cent) — down from just under one in three (29 per cent) between 2015 and 2018, shocking analysis by Labour revealed.

       Nearly 1,000 cases were submitted to the scheme in 2021 — but hundreds were thrown out.

       And the stats were worse for sick paedo offences like making or distributing indecent pictures of children — where Suella Braverman referred just six out of 42 sentences for not being tough enough.

       75 murderers had their case put forward to try and get a tougher sentence, but 61 were thrown out, and just 14 were successful.

       And only one in five deaths by dangerous driving sentences were looked at again too.

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       However, more rape and sexual assualt cases were sent to the nation's top lawyers to look at again.

       Emily Thornberry, Labour’s Shadow Attorney General, said: "People in our communities are clearly demanding a tougher response to crime, but the government either doesn’t want to listen or doesn’t want to act.

       "Behind any indecent image of a child is the sexual abuse of that child, and it is vital to send the message through our courts and through this scheme that all sexual offences involving children will be treated with the seriousness they deserve."

       And she urged ministers to send a stronger message on drug gangs and crime by looking at more of those cases too.

       Insiders hit back last night, saying the scheme was hugely widened in 2019 to include more than a dozen extra offences like stalking and harassment.

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