Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage has welcomed news from the Court of Appeal that the sentence given to a youth who brutally attacked a Gosport man has been increased.
Samuel Armstrong was sentenced in September to 64 months in a young offenders' institute after he attacked Andrew Toseland off Forton Road in Gosport, leaving him with life changing injuries.
After conversations with Mr Toseland's family, the MP wrote to the Attorney General in October to express concerns about the punishment given to the attacker and to ask for the case to be referred to the Court of Appeal.
Mr Armstrong's sentence was increased to nine years at a Court of Appeal hearing earlier today, where the judge said that his crime had been a "wicked offence with devastating consequences".
Speaking after the announcement was made, Caroline said:
"The priority in this case has been to seek justice for Andrew Toseland and his family, whose lives have all been devastated by this horrific attack in which he suffered a brain injury so severe that he will require 24 hour care for the rest of his life. The Court of Appeal's decision to increase the sentence sends out a firm message that brutal behaviour of this nature is not acceptable and will be punished."
