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| No appeal over Rolf Harris sex offences sentence | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Rolf Harris's sex offences sentence will not be referred to the Court of Appeal, despite 150 complaints over its "leniency", the attorney general's office has said. | Rolf Harris's sex offences sentence will not be referred to the Court of Appeal, despite 150 complaints over its "leniency", the attorney general's office has said. |
| The disgraced entertainer was jailed for five years and nine months for 12 indecent assaults on four girls. | |
| Complaints were lodged following his sentencing earlier this month. | Complaints were lodged following his sentencing earlier this month. |
| In a statement, the office said the attorney general understood the decision would cause disappointment. | In a statement, the office said the attorney general understood the decision would cause disappointment. |
| It said Attorney General Jeremy Wright would not refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal as "he did not think they would find it to be unduly lenient and increase it". | It said Attorney General Jeremy Wright would not refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal as "he did not think they would find it to be unduly lenient and increase it". |
| 'Just and proportionate' | |
| The office said the judge had been required to take Harris's age into account. | |
| "The sentencing judge was bound by the maximum sentence in force at the time of the offending," it added. | |
| "The judge made some of the sentences consecutive to reach the total sentence, but he could not simply add up sentences on individual counts; the overall sentence had to be just and proportionate to the overall offending." | |
| Harris, 84, was prosecuted in line with legislation in force during the period his offences were committed - when the maximum sentence for indecent assault was two years in prison, or five years for offences committed against victims under 13. | |
| His offences took place between 1968 and 1986 against four girls aged seven or eight to 19. | |
| Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police has confirmed it has received "a number of allegations" against Harris since his conviction. | |
| A spokesman said these further allegations were being considered. | |
| Peter Saunders, of the National Association of People Abused in Childhood, said Harris's sentencing could not make up for the suffering he had caused. | |
| "A lot of people have said to me that they think that Rolf Harris got a very lenient sentence," he said. | |
| "But whether he was sentenced to five years or 20 years in prison, it cannot make up for the lifetime of suffering experienced by his victims." |