Under the e-petition system, petitions are live for six months. Those that pass 1,000 signatures receive a response from a minister.
And this week the petition started by campaigner Cheyenne O’Connor calling for the government to change the law, so that it includes a minimum of three years in prison for offenders and for them to remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life, crept over the 5,000 mark. This means it will now be considered for debate. It had been due to expire on 4 July.
Miss O’Connor called on politicians to now give the petition the consideration she said it deserved.
‘Obviously I am very happy it has got to the 5,000 mark. I am just hoping they actually debate it,’ she said. ‘The sentences are appalling over here. In addition, I believe all offenders should be monitored, whether that is the people that might be seen as lower risk and monitored less to those at high risk – they should never be off it [the register] because look what’s happened over and over again [with reoffending].’
In February more than 100 people attended a protest in the Royal Square organised by Miss O’Connor calling for tougher sentences for child sex offenders. And in March Miss O’Connor, who has helped to bring numerous offenders to justice by posing as girls and boys on the internet, announced she was planning to produce advice booklets for parents to help keep their children safe on social media apps.
