No sentence increase for Common ‘bullies’
Aunt and niece attacked woman
TWO bullies who attacked a young woman over a cracker for a laughing gas canister will not have their sentences increased, the solicitor general has said.
Aunt and niece duo MinnieMo Hunt, 25, and Daisy Hunt, 23, were sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on February 1 for their attack on Rebecca Grant on Southsea Common last year as the city exited Covid restrictions.
Portsmouth Crown Court previously heard the pair had joined 20-year-old Ms Grant’s group uninvited while they were sitting near the Queen’s Hotel on June 17 before taking the device used to open canisters.
Ms Grant was stamped on and kicked after standing up to the Hunts, who thought the group would be ‘too frightened’ to get the device back.
The younger Hunt, of Berkshire Close, Landport, was jailed for three years after admitting attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.
Her aunt Minnie-Mo Hunt, of High Street, Cosham, was cleared of the charge but admitted causing actual bodily harm.
The case was referred under Unduly Lenient Scheme, where members of the public can ask for certain sentences to be increased.
But the former solicitor general Michael Ellis QC – who was replaced yesterday – said the legal ‘test was not met’ for it to be sent to the Court of Appeal.
An Attorney General’s Office spokesman said: ‘The solicitor general was shocked by this case and wishes to express his sympathies to the victim of Daisy and MinnieMo Hunt.’
‘After careful consideration, the solicitor general has concluded that he could not refer this case to the Court of Appeal.
‘A referral under the Unduly Lenient
Sentence scheme to the Court of Appeal can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside of the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.
‘The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case.’
Minnie-Mo Hunt was handed an 18-month jail term suspended for two years with 20 days’ rehabilitation activities.