Mark Page’s sentence increased to 18 years after ex-Radio 1 DJ found guilty of child sex offences

Mark Page, former Radio 1 DJ, has had his sentence for attempting to arrange sex with children as young as 12 in the Philippines increased from 12 to 18 years today.

Page was at Teesside Crown Court in March after being convicted of arranging the commission of a child sex offence between 2016 and 2019, however Court of Appeal judges have added six years to the original sentence.

Three appeal judges on Friday concluded the 12-year sentence was unduly lenient, at a Court of Appeal hearing in , after an application by Solicitor General Alex Chalk.

The 63-year-old divorced father-of-three was convicted of four out of five counts of arranging the commission of a child sex offence following a trial. The jury cleared him of one of the charges.

It was previously reported Page, who worked at the radio station in the 1980s, even tried to bargain down the price for a sexual encounter with a girl aged 12 and a boy of 13, arguing that 3,000 pesos (around £44), was too much.

Two of these offences were committed remotely from the UK in 2016, while two happened in the Philippines on separate trips made by Page in 2016 and 2019.

Cleveland Police then carried out a search warrant at the former broadcaster’s home in January 2020, after Facebook grew concerned about messages on its platform and alerted a charity, which in turn informed UK law enforcement.

The disgraced DJ’s tablet, mobile phone, Skype activity, texts, bank account and money transfers, as well as a computer tower, were analysed before he was charged by police.

Page told the court that his devices had been hacked; however, he did not mention this while he was being interviewed by police, as he gave ‘no comment’ answers, and later explained to the jury that he was in shock.

Page, from Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, was well known as the match announcer at Middlesbrough FC games for 20 years until his arrest, and had a lengthy career in broadcasting, even setting up a successful radio station for the British Army.

Prosecutor Jo Kidd drew parallels with higher profile paedophiles than Page during her damning closing speech to the jury.

Page had no previous dealings with police and was of previously good character, but Miss Kidd said: ‘Some of you may be old enough to remember Jim’ll Fix It.

‘You will remember watching It’s a Knockout. You will remember revelling in the size of Gary Glitter’s shoes.

‘They were people who were spoken highly of, even people who were knighted by the Queen.’

She added that there was almost a ‘state funeral’ for Savile, with his golden coffin taken through the streets of Leeds.

The prosecutor continued: ‘I am not saying this on the basis that just because Mr Page was a Radio 1 DJ, that it makes him guilty of these offences.

‘But it is worth noting, when one puts on a public face, when one carries out charity work, it does not mean the underbelly of their sexual depravity is not real.’