South Warwickshire man who was spared prison for a sexually assaulting a sleeping woman has now been jailed for the offence

A south Warwickshire man who was spared jail for a sexual assaulting a sleeping woman has now been jailed for the offence.

Joe Holtham, 33, of Henley in Arden, was given a suspended prison sentence in June for sexual assault - but that sentence was changed following an intervention by the Solicitor General, the Rt Hon Lucy Frazer QC MP.

The offence happened after a wedding in April 2019. Holtham and a group friends returned to their hotel where they had booked multiple rooms. The group could not locate two of the room keys and decided to all sleep in the offender’s room.

While one woman was asleep beside him, Holtham sexually assaulted her, causing her to wake up. Once she became aware of what was happening, she tried to wake another guest and fled to the bathroom.

The next day, the missing keys to the hotel rooms were found in Holtham’s pocket.

On May 7, Holtham was convicted of two counts of assault by penetration. On June 15 he was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment suspended for 24 months at Gloucester Crown Court.

At the trial in May, Holtham told the jury he had not done any of the things the woman had alleged but he did 'feel her bottom.'

"I actually stopped myself when I realised who it was. I thought it was [my wife],” he said.

Following the court’s decision, the Solicitor General referred Holtham’s case to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme. Today (August 20), the court found his sentence to be unduly lenient and handed down an immediate term of three years and six months’ in prison.

After the hearing at the Court of Appeal the Solicitor General, Rt Hon Lucy Frazer QC MP, said: “This was a shocking assault that has traumatised the victim. I am glad the Court of Appeal has increased his sentence today and I hope this brings the victim some comfort.”