Judges double sex assault jail sentence for former BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall

LONDON – British appeals judges have doubled the jail time of former BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall for sex offences after ruling that his 15-month sentence was inadequate.

After initially denying the charges, Hall pleaded guilty in May to 14 counts of indecent assault against girls as young as 9 between 1967 and 1986.

Appeals judges in London upped Hall’s sentence to 30 months on Friday, with justice Igor Judge saying that the broadcaster’s previous denial was a “seriously aggravating” feature of the case.

The 83-year-old Hall — who listened to the proceedings via video link from prison — showed no reaction when the decision was announced.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve, who had challenged the 15-month sentence, said the ruling showed “that historical sexual offences are always taken very seriously.”