Two 15-year-old boys have been sentenced to four years' detention by the Court of Appeal after their original non-custodial sentences for 10 counts of rape were ruled unduly lenient. The boys, identified as X and Y, along with a 14-year-old known as Z, were involved in a combined 10 counts of rape and seven indecent image offences against two victims in separate attacks in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January 2025.
Details of the Attacks
The two older boys participated in both attacks, while the 14-year-old encouraged the rape of the second victim. One of the victims was attacked in an underpass beside the River Avon. In May, a judge at Southampton Crown Court imposed non-custodial sentences, stating he should “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily” and that detention was a “last resort”. However, the Attorney General referred the sentences to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient.
Court of Appeal Ruling
At a hearing on Wednesday, lawyers for the Attorney General argued that detention was the “only appropriate sentence”. Barristers for the boys maintained that the original sentences were correct and focused on rehabilitation. On Thursday, the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Lord Justice Edis, and Ms Justice Norton sentenced X and Y to four years’ detention, while leaving Z’s sentence unchanged.
Judgment Delivered
Reading a summary of their judgment to X and Y, who appeared by video link from Southampton Crown Court, Baroness Carr said: “We have decided that we do need to change your sentences and both of you do need to go into detention.” She continued: “What you did was so bad that we have no other choice.” Addressing Z, who also attended Southampton Crown Court, Baroness Carr said: “We have decided that because you were very young and find some things really very difficult to understand, and because you were only involved on one occasion, we do not need to change your sentence.”
