IT is difficult to comprehend the pain and anguish suffered by Michael Wheeler's young victims and their families. They will be punished for the rest of their lives.

Their ability to cope with the harrowing crimes committed by Wheeler was made even more difficult by his lenient custodial sentence.

Three-and-a-half years behind bars did not match Wheeler's premeditated and systematic crime of using Internet chatrooms to groom young girls for sex and sexually abusing two 13-year-old girls.

The speed with which the Attorney General acted in appealing against the sentence, and the speed with which the Court of Appeal heard the case are to be applauded.

The appeal judges' conclusion that the original sentence was substantially lenient was entirely in keeping with the sentiments of the public.

It was important that the torment of the victims and their families was not increased by an unnecessarily prolonged appeals process.

And it was important that the message was sent out that paedophiles who are prepared to exploit the Internet will face substantial prison sentences.

The original sentence did not reflect the revulsion felt for the crimes committed by Wheeler.

The Court of Appeal acted within the restraints provided by existing legislation. The onus now is on Parliament to reform existing laws to reflect the growing menace of paedophiles using the Internet.

A maximum sentence of two years for unlawful sexual intercourse with girls aged between 13 and 16 is far too lenient.

A maximum term of 14 years, proposed in the Sexual Offences Bill, currently before Parliament, reflects society's abhorrence of the crime and the need to protect the public.

Home truths

THE criticism directed at Turkey defender Alpay for his antics in Saturday's match against England is perhaps justified.

But we must not get carried away to the extent that we think that ugly scenes on the pitch are the sole product of overseas players.

To highlight the fact that similar problems are faced in this country, let us reflect on the guilty pleas yesterday by Arsenal and five of their players of nine separate misconduct charges following their goalless draw at Manchester United last month.