A FORMER Team GB gymnast from Basingstoke who walked free from court after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a vulnerable woman will not have his sentence reviewed.

As previously reported, Alexander Hicken, of Loggon Road, in Cranbourne, was found guilty in August following a trial at Winchester Crown Court, where it was heard that he abused a vulnerable woman after bragging to his friends “I’m going to **** her”.

Last month his sentence was referred to the Attorney General for review as ‘unduly lenient’.

The 23-year-old, who used to be a coach at Basingstoke Gymnastic Club, was given a suspended sentence of 21 months in prison in October, meaning he walked free from court.

The tumbling coach, who had a girlfriend at the time of the assault, preyed on his intoxicated victim after she was put to bed at a party because she was drunk.

Hicken ignored her demands to stop during the eight-hour ordeal and repeatedly sexually touched her.

The Attorney General was asked to review his ‘unduly lenient’ sentence.

Members of the public can ask the Attorney General’s office to examine sentences handed down by crown courts in England and Wales within 28 days of sentencing, under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme (ULS).

The Attorney General then has the power to refer sentences for certain offences which they believe to be unduly lenient to the Court of Appeal.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office told the Gazette that Hicken’s sentence has not been referred to the Court of Appeal.

They said: “After careful consideration the solicitor general has concluded that he could not properly refer this case to the Court of Appeal.

"A referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to the Court of Appeal can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.

"The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case.”

Hicken, who represented the junior Team GB at Loule Gymnastic World Cup in Portugal in 2012, was aged 21 at the time of the assault and escaped an immediate prison sentence after the judge said his age was taken into consideration.

In court, the victim said Hicken "abused me, my body and my trust" and said the attack had led her to become depressed, suffer from anxiety and have suicidal thoughts.

In a statement read to the court, she said: "I can say with all certainty this assault has changed my life 100 per cent.

"I blame myself constantly for what happened... since this occasion I will never drink to excess, I don't like the idea of not being in control.

"Since this happened I have nightmares where I think Alex is sitting at the end of my bed. I often find myself looking around my room to check he isn't there."