Sex offence choirmaster Michael Brewer loses appeal

A choirmaster jailed for six years for indecently assaulting a former pupil has lost a challenge against the length of his sentence.

Michael Brewer, ex-music director at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, was jailed in March after he was convicted of child sex offences against Frances Andrade who took her own life at her home during his trial.

His appeal was rejected by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, sitting with two other judges at the Court of Appeal in London. Brewer, 68, who claimed his sentence was “excessive”, was not present.

Lord Judge described it as a “woeful case”.

Announcing the court’s decision to dismiss the sentence appeal, he said: “There is nothing wrong with this sentence. It was an appropriate sentence for the offences committed.”

Brewer, from Birmingham, was convicted of five counts of indecently assaulting Mrs Andrade when she was 14 and 15.