Nigerian Jailed 15 Years For Rape In UK Flees To Nigeria
The Court of Appeal in England has upheld the sentence and increased the jail time of Kelechukwu Orji, a 48-year-old rapist who fled to Nigeria after being convicted of multiple sex crimes.
A Crown Court at Lewes, a county town of East Sussex, England, had on 22 November 2023 convicted Mr Orji of two counts of rape, one count of attempted rape, one count of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault.
After his conviction that day, the trial judge ordered a pre-sentence report to consider whether the convict represented a significant risk of serious harm from the commission of further specified offences.
The judge then adjourned the case to the following day and released Mr Orji from detention to allow him to put his affairs in order before sentencing and imprisonment.
But the convict failed to appear in court the next day. The court later found that he fled England on the evening of 22 November 2023 on a flight to Nigeria, where he is now believed to be hiding.
However, the court proceeded on 21 February 2024 to sentence Mr Orji in absentia as follows: count 4 (rape) nine years’ imprisonment; count 7 (attempted rape) five years’ imprisonment; count 8 (sexual assault) three years’ imprisonment; count 9 (assault by penetration) five years’ imprisonment; count 10 (rape) 10 years’ imprisonment.
All of the sentences were ordered to run concurrently. The total sentence was ten years’ imprisonment.
The then Solicitor General for England and Wales, Robert Courts, was dissatisfied with the judgment, saying the sentence was unduly lenient. He then filed an appeal under section 36 of the country’s Criminal Justice Act 1988.
In their unanimous judgment on 13 June 2024, Lord Justice William Davis, Mrs Justice McGowan, and Mrs Justice Cockerill agreed with the solicitor general and consequently increased Mr Orji’s jail term from 10 to 15 years.
The court criticised the original sentence, saying it failed to reflect the severity of Mr Orji’s crimes.
The judges noted that Mr Orji’s purported good character was of little weight, given the gravity of the offences, and that the sentence needed to be increased to ensure public confidence in the judicial system.
But the convict is evading justice, having escaped to his home country, Nigeria, where he is believed to be hiding.
