A DEAF and pregnant woman from Kington who avoided prison for sexually abusing a young boy has now been jailed for five years after top judges said her original sentence was too soft.

Julie Fellows first molested the victim when he was just six-years-old and abused him again when he was a teenager.

The 30-year-old, of Llewellin Road, Kington, denied any wrongdoing but was found guilty of indecent assault and sexual activity with a child following a trial at Worcester Crown Court in August.

She was pregnant when handed a two-year suspended sentence, after Judge Robert Juckes QC said she would be "completely isolated" behind bars because of her deafness.

But she was today handed a five-year jail term by judges sitting at the Court of Appeal, in London, who said the original sentence was "unduly lenient".

Lord Justice Davis said the judge was right to take into account her deafness and the fact she was pregnant, having previously suffered a stillbirth.

However, he said the judge went "altogether too far" and didn't give enough weight to the serious offences and the severe impact on the victim.

The court heard Fellows groomed and abused the boy when he was six and she was 14.

During a later encounter, when he was a teenager, she reminded him of the abuse and engaged in sexual activity with him.

Her sister Jennifer, 32, of Hatton Gardens, Kington, who is also profoundly deaf, abused the same victim and was given a one-year suspended sentence after admitting indecency with a child and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Jennifer's sentence was not challenged, but the attorney general, Jeremy Wright QC, complained that Julie's was nowhere near tough enough.

Lawyers representing Mr Wright argued that, because Julie's crimes were more serious and because she continued to deny her guilt, she should have been handed a lengthy jail term.

Agreeing, and jailing her for five years, Lord Justice Davis said her crimes were so serious that the suspended sentence was not enough, especially as she had shown "no remorse".

Sitting with Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb and Judge Peter Rook QC, he added: "In our view, the sentence imposed doesn't reflect the gravity and sustained nature of all that occurred.

"During the first offending, the victim was very little, he was a boy of six-years-old, and she was significantly older.

"It has been said she was a child herself, but the fact is she was much older than him, she would've known what she was doing was wrong, and there were elements of grooming.

"The damage to the victim has been profound."

Fellows must surrender to Hereford police station by 4pm tomorrow to start serving her sentence. Her baby is due in January.