A man who filmed himself raping a vulnerable woman after a night out before claiming she had “forced” him to commit the offence has had his prison sentence increased after the Court of Appeal ruled it was “unduly lenient”.
Gagandeep Gulati, 20, sent some of the nine videos he took of the attack in Leicester last September to others before telling police that he was the victim in the incident.
He was convicted at Leicester Crown Court in March of rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault and sharing or threatening to share an intimate photograph or film, and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in a young offenders institution.
Barristers for the Solicitor General, Lucy Rigby, told the Court of Appeal on Thursday that the sentence was “unduly lenient” and should be increased, while lawyers for Gulati claimed that it was appropriate.
Three senior judges ruled that the sentence for the rape should be increased to nine years, while imposing concurrent sentences for the assault by penetration and sexual assault of four years and six months respectively.
Lord Justice Popplewell, Mr Justice Bryan and Judge Martin Picton also ruled that the offence of sharing or threatening to share an intimate photograph or film would be quashed as a nullity due to it having been incorrectly tried in a Crown Court, instead treating the filming as an aggravating feature of the rape.
Lord Justice Popplewell said that Gulati’s motive for taking videos of the attack was “seeking to give the false impression of consent”, which was a “significant aggravating factor”.
He concluded that the original sentence “was not merely lenient, but unduly so”.
The judge said that Gulati, then aged 19, encountered his victim in Leicester city centre on the night of September 23 last year as they both made their way home from nights out.
He took the woman, whom Mr Justice Bryan described as “completely out of it” due to being intoxicated, to a secluded location in the city’s Castle Gardens and attacked her.
After his arrest, Gulati, then studying business at university in the city, told police: “She forced me, I did not force her. I am a religious person. I did not do anything wrong.”
Lord Justice Popplewell said Gulati told police that his victim forced herself on him, and that he had considered reporting her to the authorities.
Gulati also suggested that the videos he took of the incident showed “he was afraid for his life at the time of the activity”, the judge said.
After being convicted, the sentencing judge said that Gulati filming the attack was “nothing more than a cynical and contrived attempt to protect himself” and showed him “boasting of his predatory sexual prowess”.
Dan Bishop, for the Solicitor General, told the hearing on Thursday that Gulati’s crimes were “serious sexual offences” against “a highly vulnerable victim … who was unable to consent”.
He said that the sentence was “not just a lenient sentence, but was one that was unduly lenient”.
Katya Saudek, for Gulati, said his future opportunities had been “completely destroyed by his own opportunistic actions”.
She said: “I can’t say it was not a generous sentence, I can’t say it was not lenient, but in my submission not unduly lenient.”
Gulati, who appeared at the hearing via video link from HMP Swinfen Hall in Staffordshire, showed no immediate reaction as his sentence was increased.
Ms Rigby said: “Gagandeep Gulati’s rape of a vulnerable young woman before sharing his awful crimes with other people was sickening.
“I welcome the court’s decision to increase his sentence following my intervention.”
