Three teenage boys convicted of knife-point rape and other serious sexual offences against two teenage girls in Hampshire have been given non-custodial sentences, with the judge stating he wanted to avoid criminalising them unnecessarily. The boys, aged between 13 and 14 at the time of the attacks, physically overpowered and sexually assaulted the victims, who were 14 and 15 years old, in separate incidents two months apart.
Sentenced at Southampton Crown Court, the boys received youth rehabilitation orders ranging from 18 months to three years. One 15-year-old, convicted of three rape charges and four counts of taking indecent images, will undergo 180 days of intensive supervision. The court heard he had an IQ in the bottom 1% of his peers and was diagnosed with ADHD. Another 15-year-old defendant also had ADHD and anxiety, while the third, now 14, had a mild cognitive impairment.
Judge Nicholas Rowland told the boys: “None of you need to go to prison today.” He emphasised their young age, low intelligence, limited understanding of consent, and the role of peer pressure. “I should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily,” he said, while acknowledging the seriousness of their crimes, which were brazenly filmed on mobile phones.
Hampshire’s police and crime commissioner, Donna Jones, criticised the sentences as “far too lenient” and offering “little comfort to their victims”. She expressed concern that the boys felt they could commit such acts without going to prison and offered support if the victims decide to appeal.
The court heard harrowing victim impact statements. One victim, who was threatened with a knife and raped in a secluded field, read a poem saying: “All I want to do is die.” The second victim, raped in an underpass by the River Avon, described feeling “ashamed, insecure and uncomfortable in my own body” and suffering from nightmares. The judge praised their bravery.
Siobhan Blake, head of the CPS Rape and Serious Sexual Offences unit, said the case was part of a worrying trend of youth-on-youth sexual violence involving more serious and violent behaviour.
