Jail term slashed for Cuckoo Trail rapist
A “despicable” sex beast jailed for luring a vulnerable girl to the Cuckoo Trail with promises of an iPhone before raping her has had his prison sentence cut on appeal.
David Peter Young, 23, of West Hoathly, East Grinstead, was jailed for 11 years at Lewes Crown Court in September last year after he was convicted of three counts of rape 10 indecent assaults on children.
The sentencing judge branded one of Young’s offences “deliberate and despicable”. But three senior judges at London’s Court of Appeal upheld an appeal against his sentence, cutting his jail term by two years.
Mr Justice Field said Young convinced a girl with learning and behavioural difficulties to meet him at a Tesco in Hailsham in 2010.
Young bought items at the supermarket before leading the girl through to the Cuckoo Trail, where he raped her.
“Later that afternoon, she revealed to her carers that Young had raped her on the Cuckoo Trail in return for cigarettes, a phone and a lighter,” said the judge.
Young also abused girls as young as nine between 2004 and 2010. On appeal, his lawyer argued the sentence was “manifestly excessive” as it failed to reflect difficulties Young had experienced in his own life. The appeal judge, sitting with Lord Justice Elias and Judge Paul Batty QC, allowed the appeal and cut the jail sentence from 11 years to nine.
He said, “The sentencing judge had a difficult sentencing exercise to undertake.
“We agree with his description of the rape offence – it was despicable, involving a high degree of planning.
“However, in our view, standing back and looking at this case in the round and taking into account that Young had committed the other offences and the circumstances of his life, we are of the opinion it is appropriate in this case to reduce the overall sentence.”
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Sunday 19 May 2013
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