Redditch man sees sentence doubled to 20 years’ imprisonment for multiple rapes
Appeal Court increases the 10 year rape sentence of John Dennis to 20 years after ruling the original sentence unduly lenient.
John Dennis subjected 4 women to a campaign of sexual violence over a period of years. He raped and assaulted his victims, causing actual bodily harm to one of them. The rapes were committed against a background of physical and emotional abuse. Each of his victims described him as a bullying and manipulative and with highly predatory behaviour. When arrested, John Dennis denied the offences and sought to discredit the victims during the trial as liars and fantasists. He maintained that account before the jury.
In April this year, John Dennis was sentenced to a total of 10 years’ imprisonment for 5 offences of rape and 3 offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
That sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme by the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP who said today:
I asked the Court of Appeal to look at this 10 year term under the unduly lenient sentence scheme because of the seriousness and magnitude of rapes committed over a sustained period of time.
John Dennis’s highly predatory behaviour caused untold misery to his victims, who should be commended for finding the courage to come forward. I hope that the doubling of this sentence to 20 years offers some degree of comfort to them and reassures the public that offences of this kind will be treated with the utmost seriousness and the perpetrators will serve a long time in prison.