The Ken Clarke media storm continues. But, talk to lawyers and they complain that the
Justice Secretary did not have sufficient command of his brief to redirect Victoria Derbyshire’s line of questioning. There was one particularly illustrative example when she said:
“(The starting points) for single offence of rape by a single offender are 10 years’ custody if the victim is under 13, eight years’ custody if the victim is 13 but under 16, and five years’ custody if the victim is 16 or over.”
Those numbers look a little light and they create the impression that the justice system is soft on rapists. Clarke should have countered that Derbyshire’s example lies at the very bottom of the CPS’ sentencing guideline scale. Rape is rape, but the CPS recognises numerous ‘types of activity’ which attract different sentences. For example, at the top of the scale, the repeated rape of one or multiple victims carries a starting point of 15 years’ custody.
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