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A Chertsey builder who sexually assaulted a drunk woman leaving her with "uniquely horrific" injuries has had his prison sentence increased.

Lawyers for the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC, urged the Appeal Court to review Perry Chennell's original seven-year term, which was imposed in June this year after he was previously found guilty of two counts of assault by penetration and one of causing grievous bodily harm.

Sitting on Friday, three top judges deemed that the sentence was "unduly lenient" and increased it to 12 years.

The court was told Chennell's victim was "near comatose" through drink during the prolonged assault in the back of his car in Chertsey in October 2012, which left her with "devastating and life-changing" injuries.

Lord Justice Treacy said Chennell had met the woman in a pub earlier that night and the two initially engaged in "consensual sexual activity".

But the woman was so drunk she lapsed into a semi-conscious state, the court heard, and her next memory was of waking to find herself in a state of "excruciating" pain.

Chennell, of Barker Road, inflicted "quite appalling" internal injuries on his victim, who was also severely mentally scarred by her ordeal.

'Dreadful offences'

Medics who operated on her said they found it "hard to believe" the extent of her injuries, said Lord Justice Treacy, while one expert believed the damage was done by using "enormous blunt force".

It was impossible to pinpoint the precise weapon used, but the medic considered she was probably attacked with "a blunt object such as a bottle".

Lord Justice Treacy, sitting with Mr Justice Hickinbottom and Mr Justice Nicol, noted that Chennell was high on drink and drugs at the time, and that his victim was acutely vulnerable due to drink.

The judge stressed that there was no clear intent to cause severe injuries behind his attack, but went on: "It is clear to us that, while a desire to perform these brutal sex acts on a near comatose woman drove his actions, he was reckless in the highest degree whether his conduct would cause her serious injury.

"Seven years was wholly inadequate and unduly lenient," he added. "These dreadful offences required significantly more severe punishment".

Chennell, a father of one, was a man of previous good character whose life before the attack had given no clue about his "grossly perverted" conduct that night.