Three boys accused of raping lady after they had been 12, 13 and 14 discovered not responsible

Three lads accused of raping a girl when they were 12, 13 and 14 have been acquitted of all charges. Prosecutors previously claimed the defendants – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – ‘[took] it in turns’ and ‘swapped positions’ during the incident.

The three lads rejected the charges and maintained at trial it was ‘consensual’. Minshull Street Crown Court heard part of the alleged attack was recorded on a mobile phone. Footage was subsequently ‘circulated among themselves’ and ‘others’, prosecutors said.

After a two-week trial, the now 16-year-old and the now 15-year-old were both acquitted of rape. The lads were also cleared of two ‘joint enterprise’ counts.

Jurors were asked to determine whether the third lad, now aged 14 and previously deemed unfit to stand trial, had committed the acts and whether he had encouraged the other lads. Delivering their verdicts, they found he had not committed the offences, reports the Manchester Evening News.

The teenage girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was allegedly raped just off a footpath near to Newbold tram stop in Rochdale in February 2024, the court previously heard.

The jury was told the girl was ‘physically pushed and bent over forward’ as she was raped. Prosecutor Kim Whittlestone said the lads then ‘all swapped’. She said it ‘would have been obvious’ that she ‘did not want this to happen’. “It would have been clear that she was not consenting,” she told the jury. A friend the girl was with ‘stepped in to stop what was happening’ and the now 15 and 16-year-olds ran away from the scene, it was said.

Jurors were told ‘some’ of what happened was filmed on a mobile phone. The girl was ‘not asked if she consented to filming’, jurors heard.

In the footage, which was played to the jury, ‘clapping’ noises could be heard, along with a voice telling the girl to ‘s*** it’. It was said the now 16-year-old could be seen behind the girl, whilst the now 15-year-old was filming. The now 14-year-old was said to have ‘slapped her bottom’, prosecutors alleged.

“The prosecution say that they took it in turns and swapped positions,” Ms Whittlestone said. She was asked if she wanted to have sex and replied ‘no’, the jury heard, which was heard by the friend she was with.

In the hours before the attack, the boys were seen on CCTV in Rochdale town centre before heading to Rochdale tram station, jurors heard. The victim, who later told police she was going to McDonald’s, was waiting at the stop with a friend, the court heard. They all got on the tram and got off at Newbold tram station.

“There is some interaction on the tram, but not consistently throughout the journey,” Ms Whittlestone said. The boys could be seen ‘blocking’ the path of the girls when they all got off at Newbold, with the now 15-year-old putting his arm around her shoulders, prosecutors alleged. The Crown claimed they were ‘manhandled by the boys’ and that the girl was forced into the bushes off a pathway leading from the tram stop.

Giving evidence, the now 16-year-old said the girl said she ‘fancied him’ and that there was ‘talking and flirting’ on the tram. He said she ‘voluntarily’ went first into the bushes and began to perform a sex act on his co-defendant.

The now 15-year-old boy said the girl had ‘asked [him] for sex’ and that he could tell she ‘fancied [him]’ because of ‘the way she was looking at [him]’. They both said in evidence that it was ‘consensual’.

The court heard the now 14-year-old has a diagnosis of ADHD and a learning difficulty with ASD traits and was found unfit to stand trial. Instead jurors were asked to find ‘whether he did the act’ and whether he ‘encouraged’ it to happen without the girl’s consent.

In closing speeches from the defence, Rachel Shenton, who represented the now 16-year-old said consent was ‘more nuanced’ than ‘please may I do this to you? Yes’. She added: “It starts with banter, and flirting, with someone walking into bushes. They are not middle aged people, these are adolescents.

“[The alleged victim] herself said ‘I didn’t say yeah’. Is that enough?” Ms Shenton said the girl had been ‘untruthful’ and said she flirted on the tram. The evidence, she told jurors, showed the girl had been ‘inconsistent’. “[Her friend] told them to f*** off,” Ms Shenton stated. “I asked [the alleged victim] if she told them to ‘f*** off’. She didn’t. She went into the bushes. I’m not trying to cast aspersions on her. She’s a young girl… immature. Why didn’t she shout? Why didn’t she scream?”

Ms Shenton suggested that the girl had been mortified after being labelled a ‘sl*g’ by two passers-by. She continued: “How does she react? ‘I was raped’. It’s a get out of jail free card. This wasn’t a rape, it was a shameful encounter.”

Peter Gilmour, defending the now 15-year-old, said: “These are children. We mustn’t judge children by adult standards.”

He pointed out his client was only 13 at the time and had never had sex before, adding: “She was flirting with him on the tram. They discuss ‘sh*gging’ on the tram. Over in the bushes she doesn’t shout or scream or push anyone away.

“If there was a moment she had second thoughts, she didn’t give any indication. And she immediately regretted that and tells her friend she had been raped. She went into the bushes willingly. Her response was ‘I never said yeah’. How was he supposed to know?”

After 9 hours and 46 minutes of deliberation, the jury acquitted all three boys on all charges.