Gay rapist wins plea over indefinite jail term

Joseph Ripley (22), of Royds Close Crescent, Thrybergh, was orginally jailed indefinitely at Sheffield Crown Court after pleading guilty to two charges of rape and two charges of assault.

But the sentence was replaced with an eight-year jail term, plus four years of extended licence by judges at the Court of Appeal in London.

The court heard that Ripley had found his victim, who was so drunk that he didn’t realise that he had been raped until he sobered up in a specialist unit at Rotherham Hospital, slumped in a doorway.

The appeal court judges said that because Ripley “trawled the streets at night looking for sex” there was a risk of him re-offending, but Ripley’s remorse and his clean previous record meant that he didn't deserve an indefinite sentence.

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