Rapist and paedophile appeal to have their minimum jail terms reduced

TWO notorious sex offenders tried to have their minimum jail terms cut yesterday in appeals that could benefit some of Scotland's most reviled criminals.

Morris Petch, 53, and Robert Foye, 31, both convicted rapists, were each given an order for lifelong restriction (OLR), under which they can be detained indefinitely.

Those serving an OLR sentence have to be told the period they must spend in custody before they can be considered for parole. In Petch's case the period was set at 12 years, and for Foye it was nine years.

Lawyers for the two men are arguing to a bench of seven judges in the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh that the complicated formula to set custody periods in OLR cases is flawed and a different method should be used.

If adopted, it could lead to shorter periods being fixed, and other offenders who have been given OLR sentences would expect to win similar appeals.

Petch, of Edinburgh, was convicted after a trial in 2007 of raping two girls in the 1980s and 1990s.

One of the victims, Dana Fowley, has given up her anonymity and written a book about her childhood experiences.

Foye raped a teenager in 2007 in Cumbernauld, while on the run from an open prison. He was serving a ten-year sentence for the attempted murder of a policeman and was allowed out of Castle Huntly open prison, Tayside, to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

The Petch/Foye appeal is due to last two days, and the judges are not expected to issue a ruling for some time.