Sex attacker's sentence reviewed

The Metropolitan Police apologised for failings in the Reid inquiry

The sentence of a serial sex attacker who preyed on women in south-west London for more than two decades is to be reviewed by the Attorney General.

Kirk Reid was jailed for life in June and ordered to serve at least seven-and-a-half years after his conviction for two rapes and 24 sexual assaults.

The 44-year-old children's football coach from Balham targeted women in Balham, Clapham and Tooting.

Baroness Scotland is to consider whether his term was unduly lenient.

Mark Clarke, the Tory parliamentary candidate for Tooting, was one of several people who complained to the Attorney General that the sentence was too light.

Police apology

He said: "I wrote to the Attorney General because when you look at the sentence, he essentially got three-and-half months for every attack.

"People get longer in prison for failing to pay their council tax."

A spokeswoman for the Attorney General said: "In response to several requests from members of the public, the Attorney General is looking at the papers in the Kirk Reid case."

She has 28 days to consider whether to send the case to the Court of Appeal, which has the power to increase the prison term.

Detectives are continuing to investigate whether the serial sex attacker was behind a further 71 attacks on women.

The Metropolitan Police was forced to apologise to his victims after it was disclosed he was not arrested until four years after he became a suspect.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating blunders that allowed him to roam the streets for so long.