Kington woman jailed for sex abuse after Court of Appeal ruling Published duration 18 October 2016

A pregnant deaf woman has been jailed for sexually abusing a boy after her suspended sentence was quashed.

Julie Fellows, 30, from Herefordshire, was jailed for five years after judges at the Court of Appeal found the suspended term "unduly lenient".

The judge at Fellows' trial at Worcester Crown Court in August had said jail would be "inappropriate" and lead to her complete isolation.

The Court of Appeal said the sentence did not reflect the case's gravity.

Fellows, from Kington, who is due to give birth in January, was convicted of one charge of indecent assault and of sexual activity with a child.

She has always denied the charges which relate to when the boy was aged between six and nine and to a later period when he was between 14 and 15, and claimed that they were fabricated.

Lord Justice Davis said the boy had been profoundly affected.

He said while trial judge Robert Juckes was entitled to give the fullest weight to Fellows's previous good character, her deafness, and pregnancy as well as potential significant difficulties for her in prison, he went "altogether too far" in departing from the sentencing guidelines.

Fellows was ordered to surrender to Hereford Police Station to start her sentence.

Her case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Solicitor General Robert Buckland, who welcomed the judges' decision, saying the original two-year suspended sentence "did not properly reflect the severity of the case".