The Court of Appeal will review the non-custodial sentences given to three teenage boys for the rape of two girls, Keir Starmer has announced. The boys, two aged 15 and one 14 at sentencing, received youth rehabilitation orders after the judge said he wanted to 'avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily'. The decision sparked public outcry, with former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips calling the sentences 'unduly lenient'.
The Attorney General, Richard Hermer KC, referred the case after receiving multiple complaints under the unduly lenient sentences scheme. Starmer said: 'There are questions about the sentence. The attorney general has now exercised that power. So I can announce that case now will go to a court of appeal… and that is clearly the right outcome.'
The attacks occurred in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January 2025. In the first, a 15-year-old girl was raped by two 14-year-old defendants. In the second, the three boys threatened a 14-year-old girl with a knife; two raped her while the others encouraged and filmed. The boys were sentenced on 21 May at Southampton Crown Court.
One victim, now 16, told the BBC: 'What was the point in putting me through that?' She said the judge's decision 'almost made it seem as if what the boys did was not OK, but it was OK in the eyes of the law because they were still children'. The Prime Minister described the case as 'really distressing' and praised the victims' courage.
