The Court of Appeal has ordered that the final 12 months of a 15-year sentence be suspended to encourage rehabilitation, and imposed three years of post-release supervision. It said it would hear submissions on the terms of the suspension.
The decision, delivered by Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy on 25 February 2020, resentenced S. C. after an earlier appeal judgment found errors in how the original sentences had been structured. The court said the sentences imposed were otherwise appropriate, taking account of mitigation, the appellant’s circumstances and the principle of totality.
S. C. had been convicted of two counts of rape under the Criminal Law (Rape) Act 1981, one count of rape under the 1990 amendment Act, and three counts of attempted oral rape at common law, all concerning victim B. S. C. had also pleaded guilty to four sample counts of sexual assault involving two other victims, A and C. The original total sentence was 15 years’ imprisonment.
The court described the offending against the three girls as grave and protracted, noting that two were abused during overlapping periods. It said S. C. had abused a position of trust as a father and father figure, and that the impact was severe. It considered the headline sentences selected by the trial judge appropriate.
The court reviewed a Prison Governor’s report and medical reports submitted after the earlier judgment. The Governor’s report said S. C. had enhanced privilege status in custody, worked in the laundry and attended the gym. An October 2019 medical report said an illness had recurred and radiotherapy might be required, though the report described that prospect as uncertain. The court concluded that ill health did not appear to make imprisonment more difficult for S. C. to endure.
The court said the mitigating factors were limited apart from the guilty pleas concerning A and C, which had been entered at a late stage. It did not set out the suspension terms in this judgment, stating that it would hear submissions on them.