Lee Bartram- Credit;SWNS
A paedophile policeman who avoided jail after being caught with hundreds of sick child abuse images WON’T have his sentence reviewed despite outcry from his own force.
Lee Bartram, 44, was handed a 16 month suspended sentence for making over 450 indecent images of children – including the filming a boy of six while on duty.
The West Midlands Police officer even admitted he “may have tried to touch a child” if his offending had gone undetected.
Last month he walked free from court after being made subject of a ten year sexual harm prevention order and slapped with a three month curfew.
A judge even praised Bartram for being a man of “exemplary character” and said it was “right” he should not be sent to prison.
After the case a top cop slammed the “lenient” sentence handed to one of his own officers and said he would be appealing the decision.
But today (Wed) it emerged that the case will not be referred to the Court of Appeal after “careful consideration” by the Solicitor General.
A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said : “A referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to the Court of Appeal can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.
“The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case.”
Bartram was already accused of receiving special treatment after police bosses asked reporting of his address to be banned in case he was targeted by terrorists.
The order was eventually lifted after Bartram admitting a total of ten counts of making and distributing indecent photographs of children at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Bartram had recorded one young boy focusing on his buttocks and legs while blaming the boy’s parents for dressing him in an “attractive way”.
The court heard he also filmed a 15-year-old boy with commentary outlining his fantasies about what he wanted to do to him.
Bartram, an inspector based at Birmingham city centre at the time, was arrested last August after uploading illegal pictures to the photo-sharing website Tumblr.
He was released on bail but re-arrested when an examination of his iPhone and iPad uncovered further images in a folder called ‘Lads’.
Bartram, of Bustleholme Lane, West Bromwich, pleaded guilty to the offences which took place between October 23, 2011 and August 6 last year.
Judge James Burbidge QC told Bartram his crimes had shown a “a spectacular fall from grace to disgrace.”
But he decided to suspend the sentence after describing him as a man of “exemplary character” and said work colleagues had “praised him in every manner possible.”
After the case, Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Dave Thompson blasted the sentence.
He said: “Bartram was convicted of possessing indecent images of children and misconduct in public office.
“The public expect the protection of the police and do not expect officers to break the law.
“This case is very serious and the sentence, in my view is too lenient for such crimes.
“West Midlands Police officers are today discussing the sentencing decision with the Crown Prosecution Service and the subject of an appeal against the sentence.”
