Sentences for Jamaican rapist and his accomplices are to be reviewed

The English Attorney General is considering whether three men who gang-raped a 16-year-old girl before dousing her in caustic soda received unduly lenient sentences, her office has said. The victim, who had a mental age of just eight, was disfigured for life in the attack in Tottenham, north London, in January 2008. Rogel McMorris, 18, Jason Brew, 19, and Hector Muaimba, 20, were each jailed for up to nine years at London's Wood Green Crown Court. Charities representing people with learning difficulties condemned the sentences as too short. Richard Curen, chief executive of Respond, said: "This was a horrific and cowardly attack that scarred and traumatised this young woman both physically and mentally. These sentences are another injury and I fear it will take even longer for her to recover." Attorney General Baroness Scotland's office has requested the papers in the case to consider whether the sentences should be referred to the Court of Appeal for review. The girl's attackers used their mobile phones to record her suffering, the trial heard. They hoped the caustic soda, a powerful corrosive, would destroy forensic evidence. As the victim writhed in agony, they poured water on her, intensifying the burning. The alarm was raised by a neighbour, who heard her frantic cries and found her covered with raw patches on her face and body. A year on from the attack, the girl still faces further surgery and continues to undergo counselling. Jamaican-born McMorris, of Antill Road, Tottenham, north London, was jailed for nine years after being convicted of two rape counts and one of causing grievous bodily harm. Co-defendants Brew, of High Cross Road, Haringey, north London, and Angolan immigrant Muaimba, of Guildford Road, Waltham Forest, east London, were both found guilty of one charge of rape. They were each jailed for six years for attacking the girl, although a further two years was added to Muaimba's sentence for a separate Old Bailey conviction for robbery.

Related:

Rape trio sentence to be reviewed