Emad Kaky, who was jailed for four-and-a-half years in October 2024 for conspiring to commit female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage against a young girl, has had his sentence increased to seven years.

On 18th February 2025, the Attorney General confirmed that Kaky’s sentence was substituted for seven years’ in prison on 24 January 2025, after it was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme*.

The ULS scheme allows anyone to ask for certain Crown Court sentences to be reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office if they think the sentence is too lenient. The review is ultimately conducted by the Law Officers (Attorney or Solicitor General) and if they consider the sentence appears unduly lenient, they can ask the Court of Appeal to review the sentence**.

Speaking of the increase in prison sentence, Afrah Qassim, Founder and CEO of Savera UK said: “This was a landmark case and the first time that a charge of conspiracy to commit FGM was successfully prosecuted. 

“This increase in jail sentence to seven years, after the case was referred to the Court of Appeal, sends an even stronger message to perpetrators – this abuse of human rights will not be tolerated and those facilitating them will face sentences that reflect the severity of this crime..

“We commend those who referred the sentence for review and welcome the increase in Emad Kaky’s prison sentence.”

*Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/man-who-conspired-to-commit-fgm-has-jail-sentence-increased

**Source: https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/unduly-lenient-sentences 

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