A 21-year-old rapist has sparked outrage after he walked free from court having been convicted of attacking a teenage girl.
Court papers show that Sean Hogg, from Hamilton, Lancashire—who was 17 at the time of the attack—threatened and then raped his victim, who was 13 at the time, at Dalkeith Country Park, Midlothian, in 2018.
The judge, Lord Lake, said he took Hogg’s age into account when sentencing him, resulting in a community payback order of 270 hours instead.
“I don’t consider that appropriate and don’t intend to send you to prison,” he said in a trial on Monday (April 3). “You are a first offender with no previous history of prison—you are 21 and were 17 at the time. Prison does not lead me to believe this will contribute to your rehabilitation.”
However, the conversional decision—which follows new guidelines put in place across Scotland—has been slammed, with prominent lawyers, rape charities and politicians calling for a rethink.
Sandy Brindley, chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, said: “This is an extremely serious case and we are shocked this perpetrator has not received a custodial sentence. Given the gravity of this crime and the fact it was tried at the High Court, this sentence appears to us to be worryingly lenient. Our thoughts are with the survivor of this crime. For survivors of any sexual violence, it can be very difficult to see reports of convicted perpetrators walking free from court.”
In a letter to newly-appointed Justice Secretary, Angela Constance, Scottish Tories justice spokesman Jamie Greene added: “It is outrageous and appalling that such a despicable crime has not even been punished with a prison sentence and the public will rightly be wondering why this has happened in this case. The soft-touch approach to justice taken by the Scottish Government is at least partially to blame in this instance.”
Aamer Anwar, who is a prominent solicitor in Glasgow, said that the judge was bound by specific guidelines for young offenders, which is defined as anyone under the age of 25 when they’re found guilty of a crime or if they plead guilty.
Speaking to The National, Anwar said: “There was absolutely nothing in the guidelines preventing the judge from sending Hogg to prison for this horrific crime—it was entirely an independent judicial decision and one expects that the Crown would appeal what is seen by many as an extraordinarily lenient sentence.”
He added: “I implore you to order a review of these sentencing guidelines as is the Scottish Ministers’ right under Section 7 of the 2010 Act with a view to scrapping the guidelines so that rapists and other serious criminals do not avoid prison in future just because they are under 25. As a new Justice Secretary, you have the ability to change the direction of Scottish Government policy to get tough on serious criminals who commit such horrific crimes and I hope you will consider my request today.”
The new measures for sentencing for under 25s was issued by the Scottish Sentencing Council earlier this year, however the final decision on sentencing still lies with judges.
In addition to the 270 hours of unpaid work, Hogg was also put under supervision and the sex offenders register for three years.
