Caustic soda rape sentencing under review (From Haringey Independent)

Caustic soda rape sentencing under review

5:32pm Tuesday 20th January 2009 in

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The sentencing of three Tottenham men who raped a schoolgirl before covering her in caustic soda is being reviewed by the Attorney General, amid criticism their jail terms were too lenient.

Rogel McMorris, 18, the central figure in the horrific case, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment at Wood Green Crown Court for his role in the gang-rape of a sixteen-year-old girl at an abandoned flat in Anthill Road, Tottenham, last January.

Two of his friends, Jason Brew, 18, from Tottenham, and Hector Muaimba, 20, from Walthamstow, were handed six and eight year prison sentences respectively. Muaimba was additionally sentenced for his role in a robbery.

After the one-and-a-half-hour rape ordeal, filmed on a mobile phone, McMorris poured caustic soda over the 16-year-old girl.

The substance, normally used to unblock drains, left burns on more than 50 per cent of her body. The trauma sent her body into shock and she was left in a coma fighting for her life.

Permanent damage has been caused to her spine and it is unlikely she will ever be able to live a normal, independent life.

A police source said: "Senior officers were furious by the sentencing.

"It is out of our hands now and being looked into by the Attorney General."

A spokeswoman from the office of the Attorney General confirmed the sentencing was being reviewed.

"We have asked the CPS for the papers in the case so that the Law Officers can consider whether the sentence is one that should be referred to the Court of Appeal to consider as an unduly lenient sentence", he added.