A woman who endured horrific abuse as a child, including being burned with cigarettes, kicked, and starved, is demanding a change in the law after her mother served just eight months in prison. Caroline Eshghi, 58, has launched a petition calling for retrospective sentencing guidelines to be updated, arguing that perpetrators of historical child abuse should face the same penalties as those committing similar crimes today.
Decades of Abuse
Caroline says her mother, Melanie Burmingham, subjected her to years of 'torture' during the 1970s and 1980s in Bristol, Somerset, and Wiltshire. As a toddler, she was kicked 'like a football,' left urinating blood, and covered in bruises and cigarette burns. Burmingham fed her rotten milk and left her alone for hours while she went out partying.
Despite social services being alerted in 1975 when Caroline was eight, no proper investigation took place, and her injuries were not checked. A doctor noted in 1977 that her injuries resulted from an assault by her mother, but no further action was taken.
Legal Loophole
Caroline reported the abuse to police in 2019. Five years later, Burmingham was charged with one count of cruelty to a child under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. She was initially given a suspended sentence, but after Caroline appealed, the Court of Appeal sent her to prison for 20 months. However, Burmingham was released in January 2026 after serving only eight months.
Under current law, judges can only impose a sentence within the maximum term available at the time of the offence. For crimes committed before 2005, the maximum sentence for child cruelty is two years. Today, the same offences carry a maximum of 14 years.
Campaign for Change
Caroline's petition has gained over 44,000 signatures. She plans to take it to Parliament later this year, aiming for 50,000. She says, 'People like Melanie should not be able to skip justice just because they committed their crimes before 2005. It's about bringing retrospective sentencing guidelines up to date with current sentencing laws when it comes to those who inflict harm.'
MP Andrew George, who supports the campaign, said: 'A perpetrator of child abuse should not be treated much more leniently just because they committed the offence in 2004 rather than 2005. But that's how the law sees it.'
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'Child abuse is a horrific crime that can cause everlasting damage. 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 when setting punishments.'
