A BULLIED Darlington teenager who was jailed for raping a young boy and abusing three more has had his sentence slashed on appeal.

Mark Anthony Smith, 19, preyed on the four boys, subjecting them to vile sexual abuse and raping one of them when he himself was still only 17.

Last November, he was jailed for nine years and four months at Teesside Crown Court for ten sexual assaults and one rape.

But yesterday, (Thursday, April 16) three senior judges at the Court of Appeal said the sentence was 'manifestly excessive' and slashed it to seven years.

At Smith’s original hearing, the court heard that he committed the abuse after watching similar acts on YouTube and had searched the internet for "naked children", "kids in the bath" and "kids on X-Factor".

An impact statement by one of the victim’s mothers told how the abuse had a “massive” impact on her family and made her a “nervous wreck” who felt like she had failed to protect her children.

However, at the Court of Appeal, Mr Justice William Davis said the original sentence did not properly reflect the troubles which Smith has in his own life.

The court heard that the rape was 'very short-lived' and not part of a sustained course of conduct and Smith’s barrister, Joanne Kidd, argued the teenager’s mitigation and young age was not fully reflected in the original sentence.

She said that the teen, of Park Lane, Darlington, had problems of his own, including suffering from Tourette's Syndrome, which made him a target for others.

Giving judgment, Mr Justice Davis said: “Due to his condition, he had been bullied by his peers from a young age.

“He had associated problems of social isolation and low self-esteem.

“He was not simply a 17-year-old; he was an emotionally damaged and immature young man.

“In our judgment, the judge, faced with an extremely difficult sentencing problem, should have reduced the sentence rather more than he did.”

The appeal judge, sitting with Lord Justice Elias and Sir John Griffith Williams, cut the overall term to seven years.

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