Rapist loses appeal

The Court of Criminal Appeal has upheld the 10-year sentence handed down to a former soldier who repeatedly raped a 12-year-old girl over a four-year period.

The court ruled today that there was no error in principle in the imposition of a 10-year jail term on retired army private Thomas Cunningham (aged 43), having taking in to account the number and quality of all aggravating and mitigating factors in the case.