Vic DPP appeals jail term given to rapist

Victoria's Direction of Public Prosecutions has appealed against the leniency of a jail term given to a predator who followed a young woman off a tram and raped her.

Jamie Evan MacArthur was jailed in June for seven years and nine months, with a minimum of five years, after assaulting a number of people, mainly young women, at the Melbourne Central shopping complex in March last year. He also followed a young Melbourne visitor from a tram and sexually assaulted her.

In a statement on Wednesday, DPP Kerri Judd QC argued his sentence failed on several fronts, including a failure to give enough weight to the gravity of offending, the impact on the victim, protection of the community, deterrence and the maximum penalties.