By Staff Reporter

Last updated at 14:52, Friday, 01 March 2013

A nightclub boss jailed for indecently assaulting a 10-year-old girl has had his prison sentenced slashed.

Sex offender Richard Kane’s victim suffered in silence for nearly 20 years before having the courage to come forward and tell police what had happened to her.

The former manager of Rouge in Englishgate Plaza, Carlisle, twice touched the same girl when he was about 18 in the 1990s.

He was jailed for a year-and-a-half at the city’s crown court in November.

But judges at London’s Court of Appeal upheld a challenge against his jail term, cutting it by a third to a year, while expressing sympathy for the 37-year-old’s victim.

The victim said Kane, of Blackwell Road, Currock, put his hand over her mouth and threatened to “smother her with a pillow” the next time he saw her and warned she would “never see her parents again” if she said anything.

The attack did not to come to light until September, 2011, when the girl decided to call police.

Kane, married by this time, denied the allegation but was convicted by a jury.

On appeal, Kane’s barrister, Farrhat Arshad, argued the sentence was manifestly excessive as it failed to adequately reflect her client’s clean record since the attack, his age at the time and the fleeting nature of the offence.

The appeal judge, Mr Justice Griffith Williams, sitting with Judge Charles Wide QC, said: “We have concluded that a significant reduction was not given for these three factors.

First published at 14:26, Friday, 01 March 2013
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk