Sex offender Paul Tyler, who lured students into van, will serve half his sentence

A SERIAL sex offender who preyed on students in the East Riding will be allowed back on the streets earlier after his sentence was changed.

Paul Tyler was jailed for 16 years for 19 sex offences, including 11 rapes, after he lured students into the back of a white van with blacked-out windows, parked outside the gates of East Riding College.

However, as one of the rapes happened before 2004, he should only serve half of his sentence instead of two-thirds of the sentence given to criminals who commit crimes after 2004.

Tyler complained to his barrister that he had pleaded guilty on the grounds he would serve eight years but when he arrived at prison, the Probation Service sent him a letter stating he would be locked up for more than ten years.

Family Wildlife Discovery Offer

RSPB Blacktoft Sands

View details

Print voucher

Come and discover the wildlife at Blacktoft Sands nature reserve for just £6. Offer includes entry for 2 adults and up to 3 children, binocular hire and activities for children. Normal value £12.

Terms: Redeem voucher at visitor reception during opening hours, 9am to 5pm. Only, one pair of binoculars per voucher, customers will need to leave car keys as a deposit for binoculars.

Contact: 01405 800024

Valid until: Saturday, June 15 2013

Tyler had been given an indication by the judge that he would sentence him to 16 years if he was to plead guilty.

His barrister David Gordon told Hull Crown Court he had not noticed the anomaly and had given Tyler the wrong advice when he pleaded guilty.

He said: "Mr Tyler feels aggrieved about that and I feel with some justification.

"I advised him a 16-year sentence would mean he would be released after eight years and I was wrong about that."

Judge Simon Jack has altered the sentence to ensure Tyler is released after eight years instead of ten.

He said: "I'm satisfied in this case there was an oversight when the defendant was considering pleading guilty to the allegations on this indictment and that oversight is no fault of the defendant's.

"I'm satisfied that had the possible anomaly been spotted, the defendant may well have pleaded not guilty to count two of rape or he would have offered to plead guilty to the same offence at a later date, which would have been treated differently in terms of the early release provisions.

"In these circumstances, I accept there maybe a reasonable and genuine sense of injustice on his part in finding he may have to serve an extra two years in prison."

Tyler, 52, had groomed some of the students at East Riding College by pretending to recruit them to sell porn DVDs before raping them in the back of his van.

Tyler's victims included a 30-year-old man with learning difficulties, three boys aged 17, 15 and 13 and a 10-year-old girl.

Tyler was caught after one victim told staff at East Riding College in St Mary's Walk, Bridlington, about their ordeal.