Part of my role as Her Majesty’s Solicitor-General of England and Wales is to refer to the Court of Appeal for review those sentences passed in the Crown Court which I consider to be “unduly lenient”.
If the Court of Appeal hears the case that I have sent to them, the senior judges there may either decide that the original sentence should stay the same or that the original sentence is unreasonably low and they may therefore increase it. I have ordered dozens of sentences to be reviewed by the Court of Appeal since I was appointed Solicitor General nearly ten months ago, and I have presented some cases personally at court.
Recently, the sentences in another two cases have been increased following my application. The Court of Appeal have heard these cases via video link. One case involved a rapist who violently attacked two women within hours of each other, resulting in serious emotional trauma. Following my referral to the senior judges, the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 16 years’ imprisonment with a 5-year extended licence, which I hope will bring some comfort to the victims.
Another sentence concerned a callous attack by a woman who “glassed” another woman, who consequently suffered permanent scarring and long-lasting psychological pain. Following my referral, her original sentence of 2 years 6 months’ imprisonment was increased to 4 years’ imprisonment.
You can read more about these two cases here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/london-rapist-has-sentence-increased
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/manchester-woman-who-glassed-another-woman-has-sentence-increased