Three teenage boys who avoided imprisonment for the rape of two schoolgirls may face revised sentences after being deemed ‘unduly lenient’.
The Attorney General’s office has reportedly received several appeals urging the Court of Appeal to review and possibly adjust the sentences under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.
Lord Hermer is currently examining the case and may refer it back to the court. This could result in increased sentences, potentially leading to the boys being incarcerated.
Controversy erupted after a judge commended the boys for their behavior during the trial and issued youth rehabilitation orders, even though they perpetrated two brutal assaults, taking turns to rape the victims while recording the acts.
Two of the boys were just 14 years old during the assaults, which took place in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, a few weeks apart in 2024 and 2025. The third boy, who was 13, was involved in aiding and abetting the rape of the second victim.
In the second incident, the victim was gang-raped at knifepoint. The boys, all belonging to the Traveller community, encouraged each other to further humiliate her.
They were convicted of a total of 11 counts of rape, but walked free from Southampton Crown Court after Judge Nicholas Rowland said they had ‘done very well’ dealing with restrictions imposed during the trial.
The two older boys were given three-year youth rehabilitation orders instead of being jailed.
The youngest boy was given an 18-month rehabilitation order. These orders carry a range of different requirements such as unpaid work. All three were also given a ten-year restraining order.
Pictured: One of three teenage travellers convicted of rape following a five-week trial at Southampton Crown Court with the two older boys – both just 14 at time – also found guilty of taking indecent images of a child, relating to the recordings they made of their attacks
All three boys were spared jail despite the horrific nature of the attacks they carried out
Pictured: The youngest of the three rapists in a photograph posted on his TikTok account just two weeks prior to the rape which showed him out late at night hunting rabbits and hares with his lurcher dog, a practice known as ‘lamping’ – a criminal offence
Judge Rowland told them: ‘None of you need to go to prison today.’ He added: ‘None of you have been in any big trouble before. You have all done very well with the restrictions put in place throughout the trial.’
He said they were very young, had low intelligence, a limited understanding of consent and were susceptible to peer pressure.
Today, Conservative MP Alicia Kearns confirmed she had asked the Attorney General to consider the case for review.
She wrote to Lord Hermer: ‘Despite having committed gang rapes of two young girls, they received merely three youth rehabilitation orders instead of the custodial sentences I, and clearly the vast majority of the British public, believe they should have received.
‘These three boys committed horrific, premeditated offences against two innocent young girls, who will now carry the trauma of these attacks for the rest of their lives. Yet our justice system seems more concerned with protecting the offenders’ futures rather than protecting the victims.’
She said the rehabilitation orders marked ‘an insult to the victims’.
‘What message does this send to survivors of sexual violence when the punishment for premeditated gang rape is nothing more than a smack on the wrist? What deterrent exists if the brutal gang rape of children isn’t deemed worthy of a custodial sentence?’ she added.
The victim of the first incident came to the court for the sentencing hearing and, screened from the view of the boys, read her victim impact statement as well as a poem she had written directed towards her attackers.
She described how her mental health had deteriorated since the incident leading her to isolate herself from her friends.
She said: ‘I was caught off-guard, I never want that to happen again, I will never get that innocence back again.’
The poem included the line: ‘All I want to do is die, I no longer have fear for when that comes.’
In a statement read on behalf of the second victim, she said her school attendance had suffered and added: ‘I often feel overwhelmed, anxious and emotionally exhausted to the point where sitting in a classroom becomes unbearable.’
She described suffering nightmares and struggling to sleep and added: ‘I feel ashamed, insecure and uncomfortable in my own body.’
She added: ‘The person I was before the incident has completely gone and sometimes I feel like I am grieving the person I used to be.’
Reacting to the sentences on Thursday, Donna Jones, Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said: ‘I’m deeply concerned these boys felt they could carry out such terrifying acts and share them online and not go to prison.
‘Their sentences reflect a clear focus on rehabilitation rather than criminalisation. They are far too lenient. They offer little comfort to their victims as they try to rebuild their lives after such harrowing experiences.’
Det Sgt Naomi Stocker from Hampshire Police added the force was ‘liaising with our partners at the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to the sentence passed’.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp also condemned the sentence, telling the Daily Mail: ‘These despicable traveller youths should have been jailed. This is a sickening case of soft justice.
‘Repeated gang rapes against schoolgirls deserve the harshest penalties – as a punishment and as a deterrent.
‘This soft judge is sending a signal that these appalling crimes will go without proper punishment, encouraging other offenders.’
The first 14-year-old assailant, who is now 15, was given a three-year youth rehabilitation order with requirements of ‘intensive surveillance and supervision’ for 180 days, after being convicted of two counts of rape and one count of taking indecent images of a child.
The second 14-year-old attacker, also now 15, was likewise given a three-year youth rehabilitation order with the same requirements for six counts of rape, while the 13-year-old attacker, now 14, was handed an 18-month rehabilitation order after being convicted of two counts of rape.
