Two 15-year-old boys who avoided custody for raping two girls have been jailed for four years after the Court of Appeal overturned their original sentences. The boys, identified as X and Y, were initially given youth rehabilitation orders (YROs) and placed on a supervision programme by Judge Nicholas Rowland at Southampton Crown Court in May. However, Attorney General Lord Hermer referred their cases to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, leading to today's ruling.
Details of the Offences
The rapes occurred in separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, during November 2024 and January 2025. One victim was subjected to rape three times. The boys distributed footage of the attacks via social media. A third boy, aged 14 and referred to as Z, received a YRO for encouraging one of the perpetrators and for an indecent images offence relating to the January incident.
Court of Appeal Ruling
Delivering the ruling, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, alongside Lord Justice Edis and Ms Justice Norton, addressed the boys via live video link. Baroness Carr stated: "We have decided that we do need to change your sentences and that both of you do need to go into detention. We have made that decision because we think that what you both did was so bad that we have no other choice. You both raped two girls on two different occasions. You were enjoying it and you were egging each other on. You made it worse by filming what you did, which was horrible. We have decided that both of you need to go into detention for four years."
Criticism of Original Sentencing
Baroness Carr revealed that Judge Rowland had not sufficiently considered the victims' young ages and vulnerability, nor the psychological toll of the offences. He had "undervalued" the gravity of the crimes and the distress caused to the girls by the humiliation of being filmed during the attacks. The fact that the boys perpetrated two distinct offences heightened the severity of the charges, she noted. The judges had dedicated considerable time deliberating the case.
Arguments from the Attorney General
Tom Little KC, representing the Attorney General, argued that elements of Judge Rowland's approach to sentencing were "fundamentally flawed" and "appear to minimise aspects of the case", including the harm inflicted upon the victims. He contended that each victim and the evidence of the "extensive harm" they had endured was afforded only a line-and-a-half within part of the judge's sentencing remarks. He said: "It is submitted that is symptomatic of an approach which was, regrettably, incomplete and inadequate by the judge." Mr Little continued: "It is difficult to understand how the judge could properly have come to the conclusion that he did, given the sheer number of rape offences, which the judge does not properly address in any way in... his sentencing remarks, the underlying seriousness of the offending and the harm sustained."
Defence Arguments
Clare Wade KC, representing X, argued: "The sentences imposed broadly provide the best opportunity for the child offenders to learn and develop and provide the most effective way of protecting women and girls in future by preventing future offending." Edward Henry KC, acting for Y, maintained his client possesses a "constellation of comorbid conditions that dramatically reduced his culpability" and that the Attorney General had failed to demonstrate Judge Rowland committed a "gross error". He described Y's sentence as a "rigorous, structured, rehabilitative programme", asserting it represented "the best opportunity to ensure that this child, for all the defects that fate has vested upon him, becomes an adult who poses no risk to anyone".
Original Sentences
At Southampton Crown Court, X received a three-year youth rehabilitation order with 180 days of intensive supervision and surveillance for raping and taking indecent images of both victims. Y was handed the same sentence for three charges of rape against each of the two victims and four counts of taking indecent images by filming the incidents. Z was given an 18-month YRO for two charges of rape relating to the latter victim, after encouraging the second defendant, and for an offence of indecent images.
Victim Impact
Ahead of the hearing, the victim from the initial assault released a statement expressing it had "left me harmed so severely that I do not think I will ever be the same" and that the trial of her attackers "broke something inside me".
