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Girl says attacker's sentence not fair

Thursday 10 June 1993 18:02 EDT
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(First Edition)

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl has criticised the judge who freed a man who sexually attacked her claiming that 'she was not entirely an angel'.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Karl Gambrill, 21, who admitted attempting to have sex with her when she was eight, should have gone to prison for two or three years.

Speaking on GMTV yesterday she said: 'It's not fair really because I shouldn't get the blame for something I didn't do.'

Her mother said her daughter was confused and distressed by the judgment. 'She's very upset, very guilty, she thinks it's all her fault now,' she said.

'You can't say things about another human being when you've never met them, never spoken to them, just on the evidence of a barrister.'

Judge Ian Starforth Hill QC, provoked outrage when he gave Gambrill two years' probation at Winchester Crown Court on Tuesday.

He said he would have jailed Gambrill but for his age - 18 at the time of the offence - and 'information which leads me to think she was not entirely an angel herself'.

The case is being reviewed by Sir Nicholas Lyell, the Attorney General, who has 28 days to decide whether to refer it to the Court of Appeal.

The crown court was told that Gambrill had climbed into the girl's bunk bed while babysitting and tried to have sex with her.

The offence did not come to light for two years when the girl told a friend's mother.

Gambrill was to ordered get treatment for sexual problems and pay pounds 100 costs.

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