Jess Phillips, the former minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, has strongly criticised the non-custodial sentences handed to three teenage boys for the rape of two young girls, describing them as “unduly lenient”. The Labour MP, who resigned from her ministerial role earlier this month, stated that the imposition of youth rehabilitation orders sends a “bad message” to society.
Details of the Attacks
The two separate incidents occurred in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January 2025. In the first attack, a 15-year-old girl was raped by two of the defendants, both aged 14 at the time. In the second assault, the three boys threatened a 14-year-old girl with a knife, with two of them taking turns to rape her while the others encouraged the offending and filmed the assaults.
Sentencing at Southampton Crown Court
On Thursday, at Southampton Crown Court, two boys, now aged 15, were each sentenced to a three-year youth rehabilitation order with intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS). The third boy, aged 14, received an 18-month youth rehabilitation order. Judge Rowland explained the reasoning behind the sentences, stating the need to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily” and to “support their reintegration into society”. He also noted that “peer pressure played a large part in what went on”.
Reactions from Phillips and Others
Phillips told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It seems unduly lenient to me and has wider public interest beyond just the case itself in the message that it sends. For those young women, going through a rape trial like this will not have been a simple thing to do, it will have been many, many months, if not years, to achieve any sort of justice, and I am afraid to say it sends a bad message.” She added that the boys were “essentially raping for content in order to put it on social media and share it to their friends, gloating about raping these poor young women.”
Donna Jones, the Hampshire police and crime commissioner, echoed Phillips’ criticisms, offering to support the victims’ families if they wished to appeal. “This is an extremely disturbing case,” said Jones. “I’m deeply concerned these boys felt they could carry out such terrifying acts and share them online and not go to prison. Their sentences reflect a clear focus on rehabilitation rather than criminalisation. They are far too lenient. As they stand, they offer little comfort to their victims as they try to rebuild their lives after such harrowing experiences.”
Government Review Underway
A government spokesperson confirmed that the attorney general’s office had received “multiple” requests for the sentences to be reviewed under the unduly lenient scheme. “We share the public’s shock at the details of this horrific case, and our thoughts are with the young victims during this distressing time. The law officers are urgently reviewing the case with the utmost care and attention,” the spokesperson said.
Background of the Defendants
The court heard that one of the 15-year-old defendants had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and “longstanding anxiety”, while the other had an IQ in the “bottom 1% of his contemporaries” and had also been diagnosed with ADHD. The 14-year-old was described as having “mild cognitive impairment”.
Victim Impact
The girl who was the victim of the second attack said in a statement that she continues to suffer from nightmares. “The person I was before the incident has completely gone and sometimes I feel like I am grieving the person I used to be,” she said. The case has sparked widespread outrage and renewed calls for tougher sentencing in cases of serious sexual offences involving minors.
