DUNDEE RAPIST'S MINIMUM SENTENCE SLASHED AFTER APPEAL
A convicted rapist serving a life sentence for two sexual offenses has had his minimum detention period reduced.On appeal, judges reversed a prior court decision that mandated a ten-year wait before he could request parole.
This adjustment was part of a significant legal case that changed the guidelines regarding the punishment component of discretionary life sentences and lifelong restriction orders.
Consequently, Stewart’s punishment period was decreased to five and a half years, with the change applied retroactively from June 2008.
The Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh, with Lord Osborne and Lord Clarke presiding, also determined that the original sentence handed down by the trial judge had been excessively severe.
When Stewart was sentenced in May 2009, the judge, Lord Bannatyne, highlighted that Stewart had been released on bail twice prior to the assault in Dundee, where he used a knife to attack a woman.
Stewart had previously assaulted another woman at a flat, attempting to rape her.
The first attack occurred on 30 November 2007, involving a 40-year-old woman at a Dundee flat, during which he pushed her to the ground, exposed himself, and led her into a bedroom.
His second assault took place on 8 June 2008 when he held a knife to the throat of a 34-year-old woman, forced her to remove her clothes, and then raped her.
Stewart denied the rape allegation, claiming the woman was consensual, but a jury found him guilty.
Recent changes to rules governing the release of prisoners serving life sentences for offences other than murder followed a landmark legal decision earlier this year, allowing inmates to challenge their minimum incarceration periods.
The appeal judges overruled previous guidelines on setting the punishment part of life sentences and lifelong restriction orders.
Lord Osborne remarked that knowing the end of the punishment period does not equate to guaranteed release, as a parole board must still determine if release is safe.
He further noted that this stage might never arrive or could be very distant, meaning Stewart is likely to remain imprisoned for the foreseeable future.
