Norwich rapist gets prison term reduced
A man who ambushed a woman in a Norwich street and forced her to perform a sex act has had his jail term cut to seven-and-a-half years on appeal.
Joseph Edwards, 36, of Fakenham Road, Taverham, grabbed his victim on Lower Clarence Road in February 2009.
He threatened to kill her and told police she was a prostitute, the Criminal Appeal Court heard.
A judge agreed the rape was in the lower category of seriousness and reduced his nine-year jail term.
Edwards was jailed on 21 July after being convicted at Norwich Crown Court.
'Humiliating and insulting'
Sitting at the appeal court, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith said: "This was an extremely serious incident. The appellant had been drinking all day.
"There were a number of people who spoke highly of him and said he was a different person whilst sober.
"But he targeted this woman, who was alone, detained her against her will and issued threats to kill her.
"Later, he said she was a prostitute who had argued over the price of sex. She found the allegations that she was a prostitute extremely humiliating and insulting."
Justice Calvert-Smith added that though it was a "terrible offence" it was "not enough to take it out of the lower category of seriousness."