Wife who had sex with soldier's 14-year-old son AND his 17-year-old brother is jailed for three years

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Caroline Salisbury, who has been jailed for three years after her suspended sentence for having sex with a 14-year-old was overturned

A corporal's wife who had sex with a soldier's 14-year-old son and his 17-year-old brother has been jailed for three years today after having her previous suspended sentence overturned for being too lenient.

Caroline Salisbury, 28, from Suffolk, was acting as a bus monitor, supervising children travelling to and from a British Army base to school, when she groomed and seduced the underage victim.

Salisbury, who had sex with the boy four times, later claimed she had acted as she had because she had been 'starved of affection' by her husband David Salisbury - then a corporal in the Royal Engineers, based in Germany - who has since left the army.

She also confessed to a relationship with the boy's older brother, who was over the age of consent, when talking to probation officers. 

A service civilian court sitting in Colchester earlier this year handed Salisbury a suspended two year sentence, with Judge Advocate Emma Peters telling her to 'stay away from young boys.'

But today, three judges sitting at the Court of Appeal in London, ruled it had been 'unduly lenient' to set her free and handed her an immediate jail term of three years.

Sir Brian Leveson, Mr Justice Kenneth Parker and Mr Justice Stewart were ordered to look at the case by Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC after complaints from the victim’s family and a concerned MP that the sentence was far too soft.

At the hearing Oliver Glasgow, counsel for the Attorney General called it 'bizarre' that military police has initially merely issued a 'warning to Salisbury, who preyed on a young boy for sex.

Slamming the army’s handling of the case, Mr Glasgow said: 'It is a bizarre situation when the Royal Military Police are alerted to a sexual relationship between an adult and a child and what they do is issue a warning rather than taking matters further.'

He also told the court that after abusing her position of trust as a monitor, Salisbury had 'encouraged the boy in his infatuation with her.'

The pair met when she became a bus monitor escorting children of soldiers based in a British garrison in Germany to school.

The court was previously told that Salisbury, and the boy, had unprotected sex four times at her married quarters whilst her husband was out and sent him a Facebook message saying: 'I cannot wait for you to f*** me again.'

The 28-year-old persisted, even after being warned off by the boy's family and the military police, and when she was eventually arrested, she sought to claim that her victim had forced himself on her.

At the Service Civilian Court in Colchester, Essex in March she was handed a suspended sentence and ordered to sign the sex offender’s register.

She was also banned from having any boy aged under 16 in her home without parental consent.

But today Salisbury sat stony-faced at the Court of Appeal to hear the appeal against the leniency of her sentence.

Wearing a bright pink blazer, white scarf and pink flower in her hair, she sat motionless as the court was told that the victim’s family, as well as an MP, had complained about her sentence.

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The court was previously told that Salisbury, and the boy, had unprotected sex four times at her married quarters whilst her husband, who was a corporal in the army was out

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Salisbury being led away from the High Court in London today to a waiting prison van after being jailed for three years 

Mr Glasgow added: ‘The offender was married to a serving soldier who was based in Germany and at the time she was employed as a bus monitor which meant she had supervision of children both coming too and from school at the base.’

‘On one occasion she used alcohol, which they both drank to further sexual activity.

He also said Salisbury had confessed to a relationship with the boy’s older brother when talking to probation, saying: 'She had a previous sexual relationship with the older brother of this victim.

‘He was 17 at the time and therefore above the age of consent.’

But Peter Glenser, for Salisbury, argued that she had deserved the 'wholly exceptional' get out of jail free card handed to her by the military judge.

He told the court that, despite the 13-year age gap, there was little difference between her and her 14-year-old victim in terms of maturity.

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Today, three judges sitting at the Court of Appeal in London, pictured, ruled it had been 'unduly lenient' to set Salisbury free and handed her an immediate jail term of three years

However, Sir Brian Leveson, called the argument 'bizarre', saying: 'The aggravating features are many and varied.

'You’ve got a vulnerable young boy who was prey to the misconduct of this mature lady who had children who were only seven years younger then her victim.

“Her statement that she had not been a willing participant was utterly undermined by the message on Facebook.

‘I have never seen such a case where an offender has been warned by the police, where the conduct is of real gravity, not once but twice. I have never seen it.’

The judge also criticised Judge Advocate Peters, who had called the sentencing guidelines ‘brutal’ at the original hearing.

‘I wonder if she would have said they were brutal if it was a male on a 13-year-old [sic] girl’, he said.