Press release: Coventry rapist has sentence increased after Solicitor General’s referral

A man who sexually abused a severely autistic person has today had his sentence increased after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal for being too low.

Alex Jordan Waddoups, now aged 24, anally raped a severely autistic person on multiple occasions. He made threats against the victim and their family if they were to tell anyone what had happened.

Waddoups was originally sentenced at Warwick Crown Court in April, where he was given 7 years’ imprisonment, ordered to sign the sexual offenders register for life, and had to pay a £120 victim surcharge. Today, after the Solicitor General’s referral, the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Commenting on the sentence increase, the Solicitor General said:

“Waddoups targeted a vulnerable individual he knew he could dominate both physically and mentally. While it is important to recognise the mental health of the offender, we cannot let this distort our judgement when it comes to protecting members of the public, and as such I am pleased that the Court of Appeal has agreed with my referral.”