The Oxford Mail has been praised by children’s campaigners and a victim’s mother for leading the fight to get a child rapist’s sentence doubled.

The defendant was originally sentenced by Judge Julian Hall at Oxford Crown Court to two years for raping a ten-year-old girl.

The case caused an uproar, not only for the leniency of the sentence, but also because Judge Hall labelled the victim “sexually precocious” and said the case was exceptional because of her perceived maturity.

The Oxford Mail immediately started campaigning for prosecutors to appeal the sentence as unduly lenient.

The newspaper pressed the case until the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, appeared before the Court of Appeal and argued the sentence was woefully inadequate.

Three senior judges agreed and the sentence was doubled to four years.

The Oxford Mail came in for praise by the girl’s mother and also children’s charities, including the one led by Sara Payne.

The victim’s mother said: “I’m really pleased with the result – it’s great news because he has got a bit of what he deserved. But he should have got longer.

“He should have got at least 20 years because he has taken everything away from my child.”I want to thank everyone who has supported me, including my family and the Oxford Mail, because without their coverage, I do not think we would have got this result.”

Oxford Mail editor Simon O’Neill said: “We believed the sentence by Judge Hall had been too short and that the newspaper had to campaign for some increase, in its role as community champion.

He said: “These cases are sometimes delicate but it was just obvious that someone had to fight against such a light sentence on behalf of the community.

“Two years for the crime of rape, particularly of such a young girl, is a disgrace and, as Baroness Scotland told the Court of Appeal, sends out the wrong message to predatory men.

“While even four years is not a long time, we are proud to have played our part in getting this case back into court and the agreement of the Court of Appeal he should have been sentenced for longer.”

Sara Payne – the mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah – joined the fight to have the case reviewed.

A statement from Phoenix Chief Advocates, the charity she fronts with sexual abuse victim Shy Keenan, said: “The undue leniency shown by Judge Hall has been out of touch and unreflective of the terrible impact upon the victims

“We want to thank the Oxford Mail for not only highlighting this problem, but for empowering their readers with the information they needed to do something about it.”

Kidscape charity spokesman Claude Knights added: “We still feel the sentence doesn’t fully reflect the severity of this horrific crime.”

The girl had agreed to have sex but under law she was too young to legally consent and so he was guilty of rape.