A MAN who fled to Ireland after being bailed as part of an investigation into child sex offences has had his unduly lenient sentence increased.
Derek Johnson, 59, was extradited from Ireland in June last year and later admitted to 14 counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of causing or inciting a chid to engage in sexual activity.
Johnson, who befriended and groomed three girls online before travelling to meet them and sexually abuse them, was sentenced last November to 15 years in prison and five years on extended licence.
However, the Crown Prosecution Service referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal to be reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
Given the serious nature of his offending, Johnson's sentence was quashed and last week he was handed a new term of 19 years and six months' imprisonment, with the five-year extended license period still in place.
"Johnson is a dangerous man who subjected children to horrific crimes that will have an enduring psychological impact on them,” said Detective Inspector Simon Goodenough.
Gardaí arrest
Between 2020 and 2023, Johnson committed sexual offences against at least three children, all aged under 16 at the time.
Gloucestershire Police launched an investigation in November 2024 after a victim, then aged 17, reported what Johnson had done to her.
She said that Johnson first got in contact with her on a micro-blogging website when she was 14 years old and after grooming her and communicating with her online for around a month, he travelled to Gloucestershire to meet her.
Johnson took her to a hotel and went on to commit a number of sexual offences against her.
In police interview, she described how Johnson tried to scare her and how she would cry when he used items to hurt her while he sexually abused her.
He then moved to the county to be closer to the girl and continued to abuse her for a further two years.
Johnson was identified by Gloucestershire Police in January 2025 and arrested the following month at his home address in Stevenage by officers from Hertfordshire Constabulary.
Numerous electronic devices were seized from his home along with items that matched descriptions provided by the child.
Johnson was extradited from Ireland after being arrested by gardaí in Galway (Image: Hertfordshire Constabulary via Gloucestershire Police)To allow for further enquiries to take place, Johnson was released on police bail with strict conditions, however, he breached those and then failed to answer police bail.
Johnson was found to have travelled to Ireland and on May 6, 2025 an extradition warrant was issued for him.
He was arrested by gardai in Co. Galway the same month and after appearing before the High Court, was extradited back to Britain on June 3, 2025.
Meanwhile. a review of the devices seized by officers subsequently identified two more victims from Cornwall and West Yorkshire.
They too described how Johnson had made contact with them online when they were aged under 16 and had communicated with them for a period of time before meeting up and sexually abusing them.
Forensic work on the devices revealed folders titled with different female names that included videos of child sexual abuse, including 42 Category A videos of one of the girls and six Category A videos of another girl.
Officers also discovered that Johnson had logged details of his offending in a calendar app on one of his devices.
Following his extradition, Johnson was arrested upon his arrival at Heathrow Airport and charged with offences against all three children.
Victim thought she would be killed
Gloucestershire Police said Johnson filmed himself sexually abusing the girls and groomed them into sending him videos of things he had asked them to do.
He persistently showed levels of abuse, degradation, control and manipulation against the children.
One of the two victims identified from the content on Johnson's devices, who was aged 13 at the time, thought Johnson would kill her if she did not meet him.
During the original trial, she told the court that Johnson picked her up in his car, took her phone off her and then took her to a secluded woodland area in Dartmoor and raped her in a tent.
The child tried to end contact with Johnson afterwards but he told her that he would show her family what had taken place if she did so.
Gloucestershire Police traced the third victim to West Yorkshire and she told officers that Johnson had sexually abused her when she was 14.
Following Johnson's new sentence, DI Goodenough once again thanked the survivors 'for their tremendous strength and bravery'.
"I hope it encourages other people to feel confident in reporting rape and sexual offences to police and demonstrates that our officers will stop at nothing to ensure justice for victims," he added.
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