To ask the Solicitor-General whether the Attorney-General considered lodging an appeal against the sentence imposed on Patrick Brendon Smith by Preston Crown Court in October 2008. (288093)

Mr. Smith was convicted of attempting to abduct a child and was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment. Section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 empowers the Attorney-General to refer certain sentences to the Court of Appeal for review. The offence of child abduction is not an offence to which section 36 applies and the Attorney-General could not therefore consider referring the case.