British Court to Review Judge Sex Abuse Sentence

In January judge Julian Hall imposed a supervision order on a 17-year-old who had abused two children.

A British judge has had a second child sex case sentencing decision in less than a year referred to the Court of Appeal, a spokesman for the Attorney General said on Saturday.

In January judge Julian Hall imposed a supervision order on a 17-year-old who had abused two children.

In October the Court of Appeal doubled a two-year jail sentence imposed in June by Hall on 24-year-old Oxford window cleaner Keith Fenn for raping a 10-year-old girl.

"We've referred the sentence imposed on a 17-year-old male at Oxford Crown Court to the Court of Appeal on the grounds it is potentially unduly lenient."

A Judicial Communications Office (JCO) spokesman added: "From time to time sentencing decisions are referred to the Court of Appeal for them to reconsider, if they are wrong, they are corrected.

"This process shows the strength of the system which provides a proper mechanism for review both of unduly lenient sentence and those which defendants argue are excessive.

The three-year supervision order imposed by Hall involved a package of measures, including the 17-year-old male signing the sex offenders' register.

No date has been set for the Court of Appeal hearing.