A BELFAST judge jailed a man for five years for rape yesterday and then immediately gave him leave to appeal. Mr Justice Sheil told Craig Francis Taylor (24), of the Donegall Road area of Belfast, he was granting him leave to appeal on my own motion".
Sentencing Taylor for the June 1993 rape, the judge said his case had no aggravating features and Taylor had thought his victim had consented to having sex. Taylor was convicted last month by a 10-2 majority in the Belfast Crown Court at his fourth trial for raping the 37-year-old Shankill Road woman on June 15th, 1993.