'Victims put last' says father as child rapist wins life term appeal

Stephen Peter Ayre, who raped the 10-year-old boy, won the appeal yesterday but the country's top judge stressed the chances of him ever being released remain "remote in the extreme".

The "highly dangerous" murderer will now serve a minimum of 10 years behind bars for the sick ordeal he subjected his young victim to, just 10 months after his early release from a murder sentence.

Ayre had served 20 years of a 25-year term for the murder of Irene Hudson in Shipley when he was released – going on to attack the boy because he "wanted to go back to jail".

The boy's father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "He did what he did to my son to go back to jail so give him jail. Every day victims are put last.

"There are so many occurrences of crimes and incidents that just should not have happened because of the justice system and no-one is tidying it up. It's always someone else's job.

"The rest of my son's life has been altered and yet Stephen Ayre is getting looked after – they have even given him a light at the end of the tunnel now.

"Everything is the wrong way round with the justice system. The victim should come first.

"I know there are laws and judges have to abide by laws and everyone has the right to appeal.

"It just feels like the victim is not considered and how the victim is going to feel does not enter into anything.

"It's all about the criminal's rights and how he is going to feel and how upset he will be about never getting out of jail.

"If he has won one appeal he can win another. He couldn't cope with being out of jail the first time. That's why he did what he did. What will happen if he gets out again?"

By Ayre's own admission, the offences were "sadistic and brutal", London's Criminal Appeal Court heard yesterday.

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, ruled that Ayre, 48, should never have been given a "life means life" sentence for raping the boy – and that the ultimate penalty should only be used sparingly in the most serious cases of all.

Ayre was, until yesterday, one of only 36 people in the country serving "whole life" sentences – and was the only non-murderer and non-mandatory lifer in the group, the court heard.

A report produced before his sentencing revealed that he suffered from a psychopathic disorder, but was untreatable.

Lord Judge, who sat with Mr Justice Wilkie and Mr Justice Maddison, emphasised that, although Ayre can technically now seek parole after

serving his 10-year minimum term, "this offender is unlikely

in the extreme ever to be released.

"This particular series of offences were vile and ghastly. They were committed by a man who had already committed a dreadful offence of murder.

"Given the fact that he was on licence for murder at the time these offences were committed, any determinate sentence would have had to be extremely severe."

Ayre, of Bingley Road, Shipley, Bradford, was convicted at Bradford Crown Court in April 2006 of two counts of rape, one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one of abducting a child.

He was jailed for life and told he would never be freed.

The court heard that Ayre lured the young boy to his home, promising to show him a BMX bike.

Once outside the property, he carried the boy inside, holding a knife to his throat and threatening to kill him if he did not comply with his twisted demands.