Court of Appeal allows appeal against the severity of sentence imposed in the Central Criminal Court for offences of rape, statutory rape and sexual assault and imposes a sentence of seven years for each rape offence, the last three years to be suspended, finding the trial judge took too severe a view of the case and afforded the offending conduct a higher rating on the spectrum of available penalties than was merited.
Criminal law – sentencing – Central Criminal Court – rape contrary to s. 48 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1961 and s. 2 of the Criminal Law (Rape) Act 1981, as amended – s. 4 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 – sexual assault contrary to s. 2 of the Criminal Law (Rape)(Amendment) Act 1990, as amended by s. 37 of the Sexual Offenders Act 2001 – sentences of nine years imprisonment in respect of each of the rape offences, with the last three years of each of those sentences being suspended – whether trial judge took too severe a view of the case and afforded the offending conduct a higher rating on the spectrum of available penalties than was merited – errors of principle in the original sentencing of the appellant – sentence of seven years for each rape offence, the last three years of which is to be suspended, substituted – appeal against severity of sentence allowed.