Three teenage boys convicted of rape and serious sexual assault of girls as young as 14 have been given youth rehabilitation orders and ordered to pay just £26 in court fees, sparking calls for urgent reform. The cases, which occurred over the past year in north-east England, were tried under youth court rules that prioritise rehabilitation over punishment.
One victim, now 16, told the Guardian she felt her attacker “got away with it”. She said: “I didn’t feel as though the punishment given was justice for me. He is still able to live his life normally.” She added that the sentence was no deterrent and that she constantly fears bumping into him.
In one case, a 14-year-old boy was found guilty of raping a victim aged 16 or over in August 2023, along with two other sexual offences. He was sentenced in December 2025 at Teesside magistrates court to a youth rehabilitation order and 30 months on the sex offender register. In another, a 15-year-old was convicted of sexual assault by penetration against a 14-year-old girl in April 2024, receiving a similar order and 42 months on the register. A third case involved a 17-year-old convicted of raping a 15-year-old in September 2025, given a rehabilitation order and 30 months on the register; he has since turned 18.
The £26 surcharge, imposed on all youth defendants receiving rehabilitation orders, funds victim services. A justice group described the fee as “less than a parking fine”. The cases came to light after victim advocates from the Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre (RSACC) in Darlington and County Durham, who supported the girls, decided to expose the sentences.
The revelations follow public anger over a similar case in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, where three teenage boys received rehabilitation orders for raping two girls aged 14 and 15. That sentence has been referred to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General as unduly lenient. Keir Starmer called the case “appalling”.
The victim in the third north-east case said her attacker should be on the sex offender register for life, not 30 months. “It would be good for the public to know the struggles this has caused,” she said. “I trust people less because of this.”
