Caroline Eshghi, a child abuse survivor, is demanding a change in the law after her mother served only eight months in prison for years of horrific abuse. Melanie Burmingham subjected Caroline to beatings, cigarette burns, starvation, and neglect during the 1970s and 1980s in Bristol, Somerset, and Wiltshire.
Outrage Over Early Release
Caroline, now 58, said she was left urinating blood and covered in bruises and injuries. Her mother was sentenced to 20 months in prison in 2025 after a Court of Appeal ruling, but was released in January 2026 after serving just eight months. Under current laws, judges can only impose a maximum sentence of two years for crimes committed before 2005. Today, the same offenses would carry up to 14 years.
Caroline is calling for retrospective sentencing guidelines to be updated. "People like Melanie should not be able to skip justice just because they committed their crimes before 2005," she said. "If we allow the worst crimes to get the weakest sentences, what does that say about our society?"
History of Abuse
Caroline's earliest memories include being kicked across a hallway "like a football" and being left alone as a toddler while her mother partied. She recalls being burned with cigarettes and subjected to constant beatings. Social services were alerted in 1975 but failed to investigate properly. A doctor noted injuries from an assault in 1977, but no action was taken.
Caroline ran away at age 15 and reported the abuse to police in 2019. Burmingham was charged with cruelty to a child under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, which carries a maximum two-year sentence.
Campaign for Change
Caroline has launched a petition calling for sentencing guidelines for historical child abuse to be updated. It has gained over 42,000 signatures. She plans to take it to Parliament later this year. "The only two things that stop monsters are stopping access and exposing them," she said.
MP Andrew George supports the campaign, stating: "A perpetrator of child abuse should not be treated much more leniently just because they committed the offence in 2004 rather than 2005."
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Child abuse is a horrific crime... Courts must sentence offenders according to the law in place at the time the offence occurred, but judges can still consider the full seriousness of the harm caused."
Caroline is also writing a memoir to support other victims. "With this book, I want to create a roadmap for others seeking justice," she said.
