Anger at 'lenient' jail term for baby rapist

A man who raped a 13-month-old baby was jailed for five years yesterday, sparking calls for tougher sentencing.

James Taylor, 43, who has three children, admitted raping the baby girl during a case described as "gut wrenchingly appalling" and "repugnant".

Advocate Colin Boyd QC, the most senior legal officer in Scotland, called for a report to be conducted into the case to determine whether it was "unduly lenient".

Taylor had also pleaded guilty at the High Court in Dunfermline to lewd and libidinous behaviour towards a six-year-old girl and to possessing indecent images of children. He committed the offences at his home in Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, over a period of four years.

The SNP shadow justice minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "In this gut wrenchingly appalling case, most people will be perplexed at the leniency of the sentence."

Annabel Goldie, the Scots Tory justice spokeswoman, added: "The public will find incomprehensible a sentence which in real terms amounts to approximately two years for a crime which was by any standards horrific."