A man who filmed himself committing rape against a vulnerable woman has had his prison sentence increased after the Court of Appeal ruled the original term unduly lenient. Gagandeep Gulati, aged 20, encountered the victim in Leicester city centre on the night of 23 September 2024, as both were making their way home from nights out. The woman, described by Mr Justice Bryan as 'completely out of it' due to intoxication, was taken by Gulati to a secluded spot in the city's Castle Gardens, where he carried out the assault.
Gulati, who was 19 at the time of the offence and studying business at a university in Leicester, recorded nine videos of the attack using his phone. He subsequently shared some of these videos with others before his arrest. When questioned by police, Gulati inverted the narrative, claiming that the woman had forced herself upon him and that he was the true victim. He told officers: 'She forced me, I did not force her. I am a religious person. I did not do anything wrong.' He even suggested he had considered reporting her to the authorities and that the videos demonstrated he was 'afraid for his life' during the incident.
Gulati was convicted at Leicester Crown Court in March 2025 of rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault, and sharing or threatening to share an intimate photograph or film. He was initially sentenced to six years' imprisonment in a young offenders institution. However, barristers for the Solicitor General, Lucy Rigby, argued at the Court of Appeal that the sentence was 'unduly lenient' and warranted an increase. Lawyers for Gulati contended that it was appropriate, with Katya Saudek stating: 'I can’t say it was not a generous sentence, I can’t say it was not lenient, but in my submission not unduly lenient.'
On 19 June 2025, a panel of three senior judges—Lord Justice Popplewell, Mr Justice Bryan, and Judge Martin Picton—ruled in favour of the appeal. They increased the sentence for rape to nine years and imposed concurrent terms of four years for assault by penetration and six months for sexual assault. The charge related to sharing intimate images was quashed as a nullity, having been incorrectly tried in a Crown Court; instead, the filming was treated as a significant aggravating factor of the rape. Lord Justice Popplewell remarked that Gulati’s motive in recording the attack was 'seeking to give the false impression of consent', describing it as a 'significant aggravating factor'. He added that the original sentencing judge had viewed the filming as 'nothing more than a cynical and contrived attempt to protect himself' and evidence of Gulati 'boasting of his predatory sexual prowess'. The judge concluded: 'The original sentence was not merely lenient, but unduly so.'
Dan Bishop, representing the Solicitor General, described Gulati’s crimes as 'serious sexual offences' against 'a highly vulnerable victim … who was unable to consent', emphasising that the sentence was 'not just a lenient sentence, but was one that was unduly lenient'. Following the hearing, Solicitor General Lucy Rigby stated: 'Gagandeep Gulati’s rape of a vulnerable young woman before sharing his awful crimes with other people was sickening. I welcome the court’s decision to increase his sentence following my intervention.' Gulati, appearing via video link from HMP Swinfen Hall in Staffordshire, showed no immediate reaction to the increased term. The case was referred by the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, highlighting the severity of the offences committed by Leicestershire Police's jurisdiction.