A 31-year-old man who drank himself into a stupor before knocking on a pensioner’s door and ‘spontaneously’ sexually assaulting her will not have his jail sentence reviewed, after a referral to the Attorney General under the unduly lenient sentence scheme was rejected.

Asadul Karim was jailed for nine months at Burnley Crown Court after being convicted at trial of sexual assault.

The court was told how on May 28, 2021, Karim, of Beveridge Mews in the Stepney Green area of London, was for some reason in Burnley and had found himself in an intoxicated state.

At around 9.45pm, he had knocked on the door of a 79-year-old woman’s house before entering and sexually assaulting her.

Karim was handed a nine month jail sentence and told to sign the sex offender’s register for 10 years.

A member of public asked for his sentence to be reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme, and had the appeal been successful, the case would then have been sent to the Court of Appeal.

The highest court in the land would have then either extended the sentence, left it the same, or refused to hear the case.

However, after consideration, the Attorney General’s office made the decision not to refer Karim’s case to the Court of Appeal.

This means his sentence will remain the same.

Even if a case is passed on to the Court of Appeal it is not a guarantee the sentence will be extended.