A beast who raped two young women has had his jail sentence increased following a successful appeal by the Crown.
Connor McNealis was given a six-year sentence in April 2024 after being found guilty following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The 27-year-old’s vile offending took place in the Paisley and Edinburgh areas. He had denied a series of charges during his earlier trial.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) asked the court to consider imposing a longer custodial term due to the “serious nature” of the offences.
The Appeal Court agreed with the Crown appeal which argued the sentence was unduly lenient.
The original sentence has been quashed and replaced with a nine-year term.
Kenny Donnelly, deputy crown agent for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: “COPFS is committed to improving the criminal justice journey for victims, from the stage of reporting all the way through to sentencing.
“Prosecutors have a responsibility in legislation to consider appeals based upon undue leniency in sentencing. Such appeals are rare but important to ensure the public interest is properly served.
“They allow the court to review sentences that the Crown believe fall outside the range of punishment reasonably considered appropriate.”
He added: “COPFS believes that it is important that the harm caused by sexual offending, and the culpability of the convicted person, must be consistently reflected in sentencing decisions.”
McNealis attacked and raped his first victim on two separate occasions between May and September in 2016 when he was aged 19. He carried on his sickening crime spree in Renfrewshire as he raped the second woman on various occasions in 2020 and 2021 at flats in Paisley.
Earlier this year, the Paisley Daily Express told how, at the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Weir said they were “very serious offences” and a sentence of imprisonment was the necessary consequence of the verdict.
It was then that he was initially sentenced to six years imprisonment.
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