WINNIPEG - A judge's decision sentencing Graham James to two years in prison for repeatedly sexually abusing two junior hockey players in his charge was neither clear or rational, Manitoba's Court of Appeal was told Monday.

The sentencing judge "erred in both her approach to sentencing and in her application of sentencing principles," Crown attorney Liz Thomson said.

James pleaded guilty to repeatedly sexually assaulting former NHL star Theo Fleury and Fleury's cousin, Todd Holt, between 1983 and 1994. He was sentenced last March to two years in prison, four years less than recommended by the Crown.

Thomson said the sentencing judge misapplied the totality principle, giving James too much credit for his 1997 conviction and 3 1/2 year sentence for similar offences.