A London commuter has seen his sentence increased following an intervention by the then Solicitor General, the Rt Hon Lucy Frazer QC MP.
On separate occasions, Gurvinder Singh, 36, sexually assaulted two women whilst travelling on public transport in London. The offender was later identified from CCTV footage, as well as from DNA obtained from the victims.
On 2 July 2021, Singh was convicted of two counts of sexual assault and handed a 12-month community order, with an additional 40 hours of rehabilitation activity.
Following a referral to the Attorney General’s Office, his sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme.
On 23 September 2021, in a hearing at the Court of Appeal, his sentence was found to be unduly lenient and increased to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.
After the hearing at the Court of Appeal, the Solicitor General, Alex Chalk MP, said:
“Sexual assaults on public transport are devastating for victims, and create fear for other members of the travelling public. It was right to challenge such a lenient sentence, and I am glad that the Court of Appeal has increased the penalty so that justice can be served.”