North Yorkshire rapist jailed for longer
Dariush Behdarvandi-Aidi has had his sentence increased following intervention by the Attorney General, Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP.
A double rapist has had his sentence increased following intervention by the Attorney General, Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP.
Dariush Behdarvandi-Aidi, 34, raped two women on two separate occasions in April and December 2017. Both rapes took place while the women were asleep.
The first offence took place in April 2017. Following an evening socialising the first victim fell asleep on the sofa in a flat where Behdarvandi-Aidi was also staying, along with some other friends. Behdarvandi-Aidi sexually assaulted the unconscious victim before being warned off by a mutual friend. Later that night the friend found the offender raping the sleeping victim and ejected him from the flat.
The second offence took place in December 2017 when Behdarvandi-Aidi again stayed in the same house as his victim. She awoke to find the offender raping her and called the police, who promptly arrested him. His arrest for that offence led to his first victim coming forward.
Behdarvandi-Aidi was found guilty of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration. On 16 November 2020, Behdarvandi-Aidi was sentenced to 6 years and 10 months’ imprisonment at Leeds Crown Court.
Following a referral to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme by the Attorney General, on 15 April 2021 the Court found the sentence to be unduly lenient and increased it to 14 years’ imprisonment.
After the hearing at the Court of Appeal, the Attorney General, Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP, said:
Behdarvandi-Aidi raped two women who were asleep and defenceless. I welcome the Court’s decision to increase his sentence and hope this brings some comfort to his victims.