Three teenagers have avoided prison following the rapes of two girls in separate incidents in the New Forest town of Fordingbridge, Hampshire. The attacks occurred on 26 November 2024 and 17 January 2025, with both incidents filmed by the perpetrators.
Sentencing at Southampton Crown Court
On Thursday, a 15-year-old boy was sentenced to a three-year youth rehabilitation order with 180 days of intensive supervision and surveillance for raping both girls and two charges of making indecent images. The court heard he had been diagnosed with ADHD and long-standing anxiety.
A second 15-year-old received the same sentence for three rape charges against both victims and four counts of taking indecent images related to filming the incidents. The court was told he also had ADHD and an IQ in the bottom 1 per cent of his peers.
A third defendant, aged 14, was given an 18-month youth rehabilitation order for encouraging the second defendant to rape one victim and an indecent images offence. He was described as having mild cognitive impairment.
Judge's Remarks
Judge Nicholas Rowland told the defendants: "I have to remember that you are not small adults. I have to think how likely you are to do serious things again and I need to make sure you do not do serious things again in the future."
Explaining his sentencing, he added: "I should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily and understand the effects of their behaviour and support their reintegration into society." He noted that "peer pressure played a large part in what went on."
Victim Impact Statements
The victim of the first rape attended court and, screened from the boys, read her impact statement alongside a poem directed at her attackers. She said her mental health had deteriorated and she had isolated herself from friends. "I was caught off-guard, I never want that to happen again, I will never get that innocence back again," she said.
Her poem included the line: "All I want to do is die, I no longer have fear for when that comes." She added: "No one deserves the trauma of being raped."
In a statement read on behalf of the second victim, she said her school attendance had suffered and she felt "overwhelmed, anxious and emotionally exhausted to the point where sitting in a classroom becomes unbearable." She described nightmares and difficulty sleeping, adding: "I feel ashamed, insecure and uncomfortable in my own body. The person I was before the incident has completely gone and sometimes I feel like I am grieving the person I used to be."
Court Proceedings
The judge praised the bravery of both girls, telling the first victim: "I hope when you look back on today's date you will take some comfort from the fact you have shown that courage in coming along to court. You and [the second girl] have shown great courage in coming along to the trial and speaking as you did." He added: "The sentence I am going to pass cannot possibly undo what happened to you."
The boys were also made subject to a three-month curfew and given a 10-year restraining order not to contact their victims.
Jodie Mittel KC, prosecuting, told the trial that the girl in the November incident, aged 15 at the time, visited the first defendant after meeting him on Snapchat. After performing sex acts on the boy, then 14, she became "scared and anxious" when the second defendant joined with a third boy who was not charged. She felt "cornered and trapped" and "petrified" as the two defendants raped her while filming. Videos were later circulated, and she received messages calling her a "slag."
The complainant in the January incident, aged 14 at the time, was raped in a field near Fordingbridge recreation ground while being filmed.
Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673).
