The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has lodged an appeal against what they believe was an ‘unduly lenient’ 10-year sentence given to a Lithuanian man who raped a woman in Northampton.
Gintas Burinskas, aged 36, of Victoria Road, viciously attacked a woman near Northampton Railway Station in the early hours of Boxing Day just one month after he arrived in the UK.
At Northampton Crown Court last month Burinskas, who had previously served 10 years in prison after he raped a woman in his home country, was given a prison term of seven years for rape and four years for grievous bodily harm, to be served concurrently as well as an extra licence period of three years.
However, taking into account time served on remand, Burinskas, who pleaded guilty to the charges, will be entitled to apply for parole after less than five years in custody.
Conservative MP for Northampton North, Michael Ellis, had called for the sentence, handed out by Judge Rupert Mayo, to be referred to the Attorney General.
A spokesman for the CPS this week confirmed that the case had been sent to the Attorney General on the grounds that the sentence was ‘unduly lenient’ and he had decided to refer it on to the Court of Appeal. The case is likely to be reviewed by judges at the Court of Appeal within five to eight weeks’ time.
Mr Ellis said: “I am pleased the Attorney General has taken the view this is an unduly lenient sentence. It would not surprise me if the judges at the Court of Appeal decided to increase the sentence.”