LONDON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A British appeals court has doubled the sentences of two men who had what they argued was consensual sex with young girls.
The court followed the lead of Patricia Scotland, attorney general for England and Wales. She called the 2-year sentences given Keith Fenn, an Oxford window cleaner, and Simon Foster, a Dartmouth chef, "unduly lenient," The Times of London reported.
The victims, one 10 and the other 12, appeared older than their ages. Scotland said the judges who imposed the 2-year sentences gave too much weight to that and to the girls' consent. One judge caused an uproar by suggesting that a victim had dressed provocatively.
“Keith Fenn and Simon Foster’s victims were young and vulnerable girls, there was a considerable disparity in age between the offenders and victims and the sentences fell substantially short of the sentencing guidelines issued by the independent Sentencing Guidelines Council," Scotland said after learning of the appeals court action.
