Ministers have vowed to give victims of sexual violence “the justice they deserve” as figures showed that growing numbers of sentences for such crimes in England and Wales were being referred back to judges as unduly lenient.
According to internal government figures seen by the Guardian, the number of sentences for rape and sexual assault that were increased by the court of appeal after being referred by the public and the attorney general’s office has risen this year.
Lucy Rigby, the solicitor general for England and Wales, said ministers were using “every possible means” to punish perpetrators who “need to know the book will be thrown at them”.
Rigby oversees referrals to the unduly lenient sentence scheme, which allows anyone who is concerned about the length of a crown court sentence handed down for a serious crime to ask for it to be reviewed by the government. She reviews sentences highlighted by members of the public and refers those she believes appear unduly lenient to the court of appeal.
According to government figures, 62% of the sentences increased by the court of appeal in the first half of this year were for rape and serious sexual offences.
This was up from 30% in the second half of 2024 and 41% in the first half. In 2023, the figures were 25% for the second half of the year and 30% in the first six months.
The proportion of sentences for rape and serious sexual offences flagged as unduly lenient by the public and the attorney general’s office has also risen.
In the first half of this year, 34% of sentences flagged by the public were for such crimes, and comprised 55% of sentences referred by the attorney general’s office to the court of appeal.
In 2024 and 2023 the proportion of such sentences referred by the public to the unduly lenient scheme ranged between 21% and 27%.
Of the sentences then referred on to judges by the attorney general’s office, 29% were for rape and sexual offences in the second half of last year, compared with 33% in the first half. In 2023, the figures were 29% in the second half of the year and 27% in the first half.
Rigby, who is part of the 2024 intake of Labour MPs and was promoted to her ministerial role in December, said in an interview with the Guardian that ministers were “finally treating this incredibly serious issue as the national emergency that it is”.
“It’s not just violent sexual offences where we see sentence increases. We’ve actually seen sentence increases for controlling and coercive behaviour as well, which commands a lower sentence than rape,” Rigby said. “The court of appeal is sending a message as to how it will deal with these type of offences.
“It’s vital that we examine the causes of violence against women and girls, as well as dealing with the offences themselves … It goes to technology. It goes to education. It’s a true cross-government issue.”
Asked about Reform UK’s campaign on crime and women’s safety, Rigby said Nigel Farage’s party was “all protest and no plan”. “They stoke anger. They’ve got absolutely no answers. It’s not leadership, it’s just empty theatrics,” she said.
But she added that crime was something that “comes up again and again” when she spoke to her constituents and that the Conservative government’s handling of the criminal justice system had undermined public confidence and “weakened the perception of the rule of law”.
A total of 28 criminals found guilty of violent and sexual offences against women and girls had their sentences increased by the court of appeal in the first half of this year after referrals to the unduly lenient sentence scheme.
They included Adrian Revill, who repeatedly sexually abused a teenager and had his three-year sentence tripled. Gagandeep Gulati, who filmed himself raping a woman in Leicester city centre before sharing the video with others, had his sentence increased from six years to nine.
In May, three men – Ibrar Hussain and brothers Imtiaz and Fayaz Ahmed – who raped a vulnerable teenager in West Yorkshire over several years in the 1990s had their sentences increased after a referral by Rigby.
The government has promised to halve violence against women and girls by 2034.
