October 2011 Girl’s sex attacker wins rethink over indefinite jail term A man jailed indefinitely for a sex attack on a 12-year-old girl has had his potentially lifelong sentence overturned at the Court of Appeal. Postman Alan John Fenton (30), formerly of Aylestone, Leicester, so terrified his young victim she jumped out of a first-floor window to escape after the attack. In March, after earlier admitting sexual activity with a child, he was jailed indefinitely for the public protection at the city’s crown court. The sentence meant Fenton could potentially spend the rest of his life in prison as he would have to convince the Parole Board he was safe before he could be freed from custody. The judge told him at the time that he must serve a minimum of four-and-a-half years before he would be eligible to be considered for release. But yesterday, after an appeal by Fenton’s barrister Adrian Harris, three Appeal Court judges quashed the sentence. They imposed instead a nine-year term, with five years of extended licence conditions on his release. Giving the judgement, Mr Justice Holroyde, who heard the appeal with Lord Justice Hooper and Mr Justice Supperstone, said Fenton’s actions would have had a “traumatic” effect on his young victim. The girl had been forced to strip to the waist by Fenton, and he had touched her inappropriately. He then made her touch him, and told her: “If you don’t do what I say, I’ll rape you.” The frightened girl took a chance to escape and jumped from a first-floor window before raising the alarm with a member of the public. The sentencing judge said at the time that Fenton posed a significant risk of causing serious harm to young girls. The appeal judges agreed Fenton was a “dangerous” offender, but said a sentence with a guaranteed release date, with the support of extended licence conditions, was enough to manage that danger. “In our judgement, the circumstances of these offences show a clear inability on the part of the appellant to control his sexual urges,” Mr Justice Holroyde said. “But we accept the evidence that he is genuinely remorseful and genuinely motivated to address his offending behaviour.” He said the appeal judges were persuaded that the appropriate sentence in this case was one with an extended licence. The abuser, postman Alan John Fenton, forced the frightened victim to perform sex acts on him, after threatening to rape her. The court was told Fenton overheard the girl, who was aged under 16, innocently talking to a friend about a childhood game. He later asked her if it was a sexual game. On a different occasion, he lured her into an upstairs room and tried to kiss her, but she avoided him. He took the girl’s top off and touched her inappropriately. He then made her touch him and told her: “If you don’t do what I say, I’ll rape you.” David Herbert, prosecuting, said: “She believed he was going to do that.” She was frightened and performed a sex act upon him, after which he called her “a dirty bitch”. Mr Herbert said: “She was scared and upset.” Fenton then told the girl he was sorry and that what had happened would probably “mess her up”. Mr Herbert said: “She couldn’t understand his behaviour. “He went out of the room and she heard what she thought was the rattle of knives in a drawer. “She jumped out of a first floor window and crashed to the ground, injuring herself.” Fenton ran off, and someone who saw the injured girl helped her and called the police. Fenton was arrested two days later, in the Narborough Road area of the city.