A man given a suspended sentence for repeatedly kicking his pregnant girlfriend in the head has been jailed for four years after an appeal.
The Court of Appeal ruled the sentence imposed on Matthias Dawson, 29, was “significantly unduly lenient”.
The woman had a miscarriage soon after the attack at Kings College Hospital in south London in June 2006.
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, ordered Dawson, who was not in court, to surrender to a police station.
The appeal court heard that doctors could not establish whether the miscarriage suffered by Dawson’s girlfriend – who was 20 at the time – was as a result of the attack.
Dawson was given a 12-month suspended sentence in August after admitting GBH with intent at Inner London Crown Court.
The appeal against the sentence was brought by the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC – the first time he has taken such action since taking office in May.
Following the ruling a statement from the attorney general’s office said justice had been done.
It said: “Matthias Dawson carried out a brutal assault on this young woman, and were it not for public spirited individuals who intervened, the consequences of his actions might have been even more serious.
“I am pleased that the Court of Appeal has quashed his original 12-month suspended sentence and replaced it with one of four years imprisonment.”
Lord Judge ordered Dawson to surrender to police by 1630 GMT.
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