Attorney common critiques case of youth boys who raped two ladies after decide ‘allow them to off’

Former Home Office minister Jess Phillips has criticised the sentences given to the youths, who avoided custodial sentences, as sending a ‘bad message’ to victims

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The attorney general’s office has confirmed it has received “multiple” requests to scrutinise the “lenient” sentences handed to three boys involved in the rape of two girls, adding “law officers are urgently reviewing the case”.

Former Home Office minister Jess Phillips has condemned the sentence given to the youths, who evaded custodial sentences, as conveying a “bad message”. The trial at Southampton Crown Court heard that two girls were raped in two separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, the first assault on November 26, 2024 and the second on January 17, 2025.

The three boys, two aged 15 and one aged 14, were issued youth rehabilitation orders (YRO), with the older duo also subjected to intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS).

Ms Phillips, who held the position of minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls until earlier this month, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It seems unduly lenient to me and has wider public interest beyond just the case itself in the message that it sends.

“For those young women, going through a rape trial like this will not have been a simple thing to do, it will have been many, many months, if not years, to achieve any sort of justice, and I am afraid to say it sends a bad message.

“These young people, it seems, were essentially raping for content in order to put it on social media and share it to their friends, gloating about raping these poor young women.”

Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones has pledged to back the victims’ families if they choose to challenge the “leniency” of the sentences. She stated: “This is an extremely disturbing case. 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. As they stand, they offer little comfort to their victims as they try to rebuild their lives after such harrowing experiences.

“The education of young people about sexual violence and misogynistic attitudes is vitally important if we’re to prevent crimes like this from happening again.”

A Government spokesperson revealed that the attorney general’s office had received “multiple” requests for the sentences to be reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Scheme.

He commented: “We share the public’s shock at the details of this horrific case, and our thoughts are with the young victims during this distressing time. The law officers are urgently reviewing the case with the utmost care and attention.”

In the sentencing hearing on Thursday, a 15-year-old lad was given a three-year YRO with 180 days of ISS for the rape of each of the two girls and two indecent images charges. The court was informed that he had been diagnosed with ADHD as well as “long-standing anxiety”.

A second lad, aged 15, received the same sentence for three counts of rape against each of the two victims and four charges of taking indecent images related to the filming of the incidents. The court heard that he had an IQ in the “bottom 1% of his contemporaries” and had been diagnosed with ADHD.

The third boy, aged 14, was handed an 18-month YRO for two counts of rape in the January incident by encouraging the second defendant and an offence of indecent images. He was described as having a “mild cognitive impairment”.

Judge Nicholas Rowland addressed the defendants, saying: “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 decision, 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”.

The judge commended the “bravery” of the two victims for giving evidence at the trial and for providing statements on how the offences had impacted them. The complainant of the first incident told the court: “No-one deserves the trauma of being raped.”

The second girl detailed in a statement how she continued to suffer from nightmares, adding: “The person I was before the incident has completely gone and sometimes I feel like I am grieving the person I used to be.” The judge addressed them, saying: “The sentence I am going to pass cannot possibly undo what happened to you.”

The boys were also subjected to a three-month curfew and issued with a restraining order for 10 years prohibiting them from contacting their victims. Jodie Mittel KC, prosecuting, informed the trial that the girl involved in the November incident, who was 15 at the time, had visited the first defendant after connecting with him on Snapchat.

The prosecutor stated that after engaging in sexual acts with the boy, who was then 14, she became “scared and anxious” when the second defendant arrived, and the pair raped her while the incident was filmed.

Ms Mittel revealed that following the incident, videos of the assault had been circulated and others made jokes about her, and she received messages labelling her a “slag”.

The complainant in the January incident, who was 14 at the time, was raped in a field near Fordingbridge recreation ground while the incident was also filmed.

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