Scores of prison sentences declared 'unduly lenient' after victims complain

Dozens of prisoners had their sentences extended after complaints that their original tariffs were "unduly lenient".

The Attorney General’s Office said 141 prison terms were increased in England and Wales in 2016 under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

Up by 39 from 2015, it represented a 17 per cent rise from the previous year.

Among the sentences that were increased, 41 were sex offences, 16 associated with robbery and 19 were grievous bodily harm cases.

Fourteen sex offenders are now serving time, when they had originally been let off prison sentences.

One rapist and one attempted murderer have had their original sentences replaced with life sentences. They can now only be released if the parole board grants them permission.

Sex offender Duncan Waterhouse, described as a “predatory paedophile and a dangerous offender” by police had his eight-year sentence increased to 12 years after his conviction for assaulting four girls.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said: “The original sentence did not reflect the very significant impact the offending had upon his victims and their families.”

Other convicted criminals including an arsonist, a person carrying a firearm and two men guilty of child neglect, had their community sentences overturned. They were placed in immediate custody as a result.

The Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC, told the BBC: "The Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme allows victims of crime, their families and the public to challenge sentences that they believe are too low, and last year we saw a record number of sentences increased."

In a separate report, he had earlier said: "A sentencing exercise is not an exact science and in the vast majority of cases, judges get it right.

"The scheme is available to ensure that the Solicitor General and I can independently review those cases where there may have been an error in the sentencing decision."

Reviewing a sentence can be requested by just one person - and they don’t have to be involved directly in the case.

The scheme applies to certain types of offences including murder, rape, robbery, child sex crimes and serious fraud.

The scheme is growing in popularity with the number of cases seen by the attorney general’s office increasing by more than 108 per cent since 2010. In 2015, figures grew from 342 to 713.

However, this represents only a very small proportion of the 80,000 Crown Court cases heard every year.

Next month, the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) procedure will cover an extra 19 terror-related offences, including failure to disclose information about a terrorist attack, taking part in weapons training and supporting extremist organisations.