THE sentence of a violent and manipulative rapist who attacked two women was ‘unduly lenient’, a court has found.

The Court of Appeal quashed the original nine-year prison term given to Marc Partridge, who also harassed another woman, increasing it to 12 years.

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The 28-year-old, of Slaidburn Drive, Accrington, had admitted two counts of rape and another of harassment.

A judge heard how he threatened one of his victims with a knife, slapped another and kept the third against her will. He also threw a cup of tea over one of the women.

Robert Buckland QC MP, the solicitor general, said he asked for the case to be re-examined. He said: “Partridge carried out serious physical and sexual violence against three women over a period of three years. He was on bail in relation to the assaults on two of these women when he raped the third victim.

“The assaults have had a huge impact on the lives of the three victims who were each subjected to horrendous violence.

“I asked the Court of Appeal to examine whether the sentence was unduly lenient given the seriousness of these offences. Partridge committed multiple offences and made threats of violence.

“I am pleased that the Court found that this sentence was unduly lenient and imposed a sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment.”

Under the Criminal Justice Act of 1988, the attorney general’s office has the power to refer sentences passed in certain cases to the Court of Appeal for review if they conclude that the sentence was unduly lenient.

A sentence will only be unduly lenient if it falls significantly below the sentence that any Judge could reasonably have passed.

Speaking after the original sentence at Preston Crown Court by Judge Woolman in January, one of the victims told the Lancashire Telegraph she believed her attacker should have been sent to prison for longer.

She said: “It is a joke. I do not understand how they do not see him as a danger to the public.”

“I think the judge has been extremely lenient, but I am happy because he is not walking the streets anymore.”

During the sentencing, Judge Woolman said: “Although you are a risk of causing harm to women, you are not at risk of causing serious harm and I trust that after a period in prison, those risks will be reduced.

“I accept that in all other respects, you are the law-abiding hard-working person.”