Levitt sentence a 'sick joke'

A TORY MP will tomorrow ask the Attorney General to refer the case of Roger Levitt to the Court of Appeal, amid claims that City fraudsters are receiving inadequate sentences, writes Jojo Moyes.

Levitt was given 180 hours' community service for a fraudulent trading offence which left banks with debts of pounds 9m. He was described by Mr Justice Laws at Southwark Crown Court as 'thoroughly and markedly dishonest'.

But, the judge said, Mr Levitt had the support of very distinguished businessmen and had been a 'very substantial benefactor to a whole series of institutions'.

John Marshall, Conservative MP for Hendon South, described the sentence yesterday as 'a sick joke'. 'It will do nothing to deter others and merely infuriate his victims,' he said. 'I shall be asking the Attorney General on Monday to refer it to the Court of Appeal.'

The sentence has provoked cross-party criticism and a spokesman for Fimbra, the finance industry's regulatory body, said light sentences for financial fraud were sending out the wrong signals.