Serial rapists Joseph McCann and Reynard Sinaga have had their minimum jail terms increased from 30 to 40 years by the Court of Appeal – but judges have refused to impose whole life terms on the notorious sex offenders.

A panel of five judges decided on Friday that both men’s sentences would be increased by 10 years to reflect that their crimes were ‘some of the most serious offences of rape to have been tried within England and Wales’.

McCann, 35, was handed 33 life sentences at the Old Bailey in December for a string of sex attacks on 11 women and children – one aged 11 – during a 15-day cocaine and vodka-fuelled rampage.

Sinaga, 37, was handed a life sentence at Manchester Crown Court in January after being convicted of more than 150 offences. This includes 136 counts of rape, committed against 48 men.

The Attorney General’s Office referred the 30-year minimum jail terms handed to McCann and Sinaga to the Court of Appeal as ‘unduly lenient’ earlier this year.

Solicitor General Michael Ellis QC asked the court to impose whole life terms on both men at a hearing in October.

However, Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett said today: ‘The offending in the cases of McCann and Sinaga, very serious indeed though it is, does not, in our judgment, call for either to receive a whole life tariff.

‘This is not to minimise the seriousness of their offending but instead to ensure that the most severe sentence in our jurisdiction is reserved, save exceptionally, either for the most serious cases involving loss of life, or when a substantive plan to murder of similar seriousness is interrupted close to fulfilment.’

He added: ‘Neither man has shown any remorse and the long-term psychological damage for at least some of the victims in both trials is profound and will only be understood in the years to come.’

McCann and Sinaga’s release from jail will depend on the Parole Board’s assessment of the risk they pose after they have served their minimum jail terms.

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