A former Northern Ireland official caught in an underage sex sting has been given an extra 20 months in jail after US judges ruled his original sentence was too lenient.
John Mallon (62), of Belfast, was sentenced to 41 months for trying to lure someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl named Marny into a sexual encounter. Marny was actually a Chicago police officer assigned to catch adults who contact youngsters over the Internet.
Mallon, former head of the Ulster Scots Agency created by the Northern Ireland peace agreement, appeared in court via video link from Allenwood Correctional Facility. He angrily denounced Assistant US Attorney Markus Funk, who prosecuted the case, and declared that he was being sentenced for committing a "victimless crime".
A district judge had sentenced Mallon to 21 months, but a three-judge panel of the US Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with prosecutors the sentence was too lenient. -(PA)