Judge Julian Hall gives another lenient sentence to child abuser

22nd Mar 2008 | in

LONDON (Reuters) - A 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.

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As reported in the Telegraph (both cases he has messed up)

Judge’s child sex case ruling disturbing’
By Sarah Radford and agencies
Last Updated: 1:59pm GMT 22/03/2008

A judge who jailed the rapist of a 10-year-old girl for just two
years has had another of his child sex cases referred to the Court
of Appeal.

Judge Hall: ‘Disturbing’

A children’s charity has condemned the sentencing policy of Judge
Julian Hall as "disturbing" after he imposed a three-year
supervision order on a 17-year-old boy who abused two young
children.

The judge, sitting at Oxford Crown Court, opted not to jail the
offender as he didn’t believe he was "sufficiently dangerous".

A spokeswoman for Vera Baird, Solicitor General for England and
Wales, has said that an interested party had asked for the sentence
to be reviewed.

She said: "This case was referred to us and we have decided that it
merits being referred on to the Court of Appeal. We are currently
waiting for a hearing date."

Last June, Judge Hall sparked controversy when he jailed window
cleaner Keith Fenn, 24, for just two years for the rape of a
10-year-old girl.
The jail term was doubled after being referred to the Court of
Appeal, who deemed the sentence unduly lenient.
The director of children’s charity Kidscape, Claude Knights, has
branded the latest case as "another disturbing judgement".
He said: "We are quite worried about Judge Julian Hall. We now have
a second child sex offence case involving a judge who has made some
very disturbing decisions.

"It has been deemed to be out of line enough to be referred to the
Court of Appeal and we would hope that justice will now be seen to
be done."
Judge Hall provoked outrage when he remarked that the 10-year-old
girl, who had sex with Fenn 45 minutes after meeting him in a park
in Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, liked to dress older than her
years and had appeared as old as 16.
In law, a child of 10 cannot consent to sex.
In the latest case, the 17-year-old male was banned from contacting
children by text, telephone or internet for 10 years and was ordered
to sign the sex offenders register.
Under the terms of the three-year supervision order, he was also
barred from living living at any property where children stay
overnight and from associating with any child under the age of 16
not accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Story two

Appeal call over jail term for child rapist
By Daily Telegraph Reporter
Last Updated: 2:03am BST 27/06/2007

Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, is considering an appeal
against a sentence given to a window cleaner for raping a
10-year-old girl.
Keith Fenn, 24, was given concurrent two-year and 18-month jail
sentences at Oxford Crown Court by Judge Julian Hall for two attacks
on the girl in a park.

Judge Julian Hall: Lenient’
Because of the amount of time he has already spent in prison
awaiting sentence, Fenn could be free in a few months.

The sentence was condemned by one MP as "pathetically lenient".

The Attorney General acted after Mike Penning, a Conservative
backbencher, wrote to him protesting about Fenn’s treatment.

A spokesman for Lord Goldsmith said: "He has asked for the papers
from the Crown Prosecution Service so he can consider whether or not
to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient."
Mr Penning said: "I’m very pleased we have got through the first
stage of the process.
"I hope that the Attorney General agrees with the vast majority of
the country that if you want to deter paedophiles you have to give
sentences which are a deterrent.
"Judges have to understand just how abhorrent this sort of case is."
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Mr Penning, MP for Hemel Hempstead, Herts, said he decided to
intervene despite the fact that the victim was not a constituent.
He said: "This young lady is in care and doesn’t have parents who
can stand up for her, so what better job could an MP do?"
In his letter to Lord Goldsmith, Mr Penning says: "Last week Judge
Julian Hall, QC, sentenced Keith Fenn to what has been described as
a pathetically lenient sentence for the rape of a 10-year-old child.
"Fenn will serve only four months, when the judge could have used
his powers to give a much more severe sentence.
"I am appalled at the leniency of this sentence. What sort of
deterrent is this?"
Judge Hall made headlines in February when he suggested that
compensation paid to another child sex abuse victim could be used to
buy a new bicycle to cheer up the child.
In the Oxford case, the judge was reported to have made a reference
to the girl dressing provocatively.
An NSPCC spokesman said of Fenn’s case: "There is no excuse for
having sex with a 10-year-old."
Michele Elliott, the director of the child abuse charity Kidscape,
said: "Given what Judge Hall has said before in another child sex
abuse case, I don’t think he should be sitting on these kinds of
cases."
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Judge Julian Hall gives another lenient sentence to child abuser

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