Rapist's unpaid work sentence will not be referred

A decision to sentence a teenage rapist to unpaid work will not be referred to a higher court by the Attorney General's Office.

Thomas Woodall, now aged 19, was found guilty of rape at Gloucester Crown Court. He was a handed a three-year custody sentence, suspended for two years.

The Crown Prosecution Service wrote to the Attorney General's Office to request the sentence to be referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, but the request was rejected.

An Attorney General's Office spokesperson said the threshold for approval "is a high one", and only applies if the sentencing judge has "made a gross error".

The survivor, aged 17 at the time of the attack, said: "The outcome in court wasn't what I expected and I'm disappointed by the sentence, but the main thing is I want people to know that this behaviour shouldn't be normalised."

Woodall was 16 years old when he raped and sexually assaulted the girl at a college in Gloucestershire in 2023.

In a victim impact statement read in court, she said: "What happened that night changed the course of my life and stripped away the things I loved and enjoyed - my freedom, intimacy, and trust.

"Worst of all, it changed who I used to be, someone I never will be again, and I continue to live with the consequences every day."

Following a trial at Cirencester Courthouse in August, Woodall was convicted of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault. He was acquitted of one count of oral rape.

Judge Ian Lawrie sentenced him to 200 hours of unpaid work and to pay costs of £4,380.

Woodall's defence barrister told the court that at the time of the offences, Woodall was a relatively young 16-year-old, with limited previous relationships with girls.

The judge said Woodall would need to be sentenced as a child due to the age he was at the time of the offence.

An Attorney General's Office spokesperson said their thoughts go out to the victim.

"After very careful consideration, the Solicitor General has concluded that this case cannot be referred to the Court of Appeal.

"A referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to the Court of Appeal can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.

"The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case," they added.

Det Con Elle Macleod, from the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team at Gloucestershire Constabulary, said the survivor should be commended for her courage in coming forward to police.

"The strength she demonstrated in giving evidence in front of a jury is remarkable," she added.

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