Two girls were raped in two separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, with three teenage boys avoiding a prison sentence – the judge said he didn’t want to ‘criminalise them’
Three teenagers from the travelling community have escaped jail sentences for raping two girls after a judge said he didn’t want to “criminalise them.” The teens were told they “don’t need to go to jail” adding that “peer pressure played a large part in what went on”.
The trial at Southampton Crown Court heard that two girls were raped in two separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, with the first attack taking place on November 26, 2024 and the second on January 17, 2025.
A 15-year-old boy was given a youth rehabilitation order (YRO) for three years with 180 days of intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS) for the rape of each of the two girls and two indecent images charges. The court heard that he had been diagnosed with ADHD as well as “long-standing anxiety”.
A second 15-year-old received the same sentence for three charges of rape against each of the two victims and four counts of taking indecent images in relation to filming of the incidents.
The court was told that he had an IQ of the “bottom 1% of his contemporaries” and had been diagnosed with ADHD. A third boy, aged 14, was given a YRO for 18 months for two charges of rape in the January incident by encouraging the second defendant and an offence of indecent images. He was described as having “mild cognitive impairment”.
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 sentence, 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” and told them “none of you need to go to prison today.”
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp 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 victim of the first incident attended the court for the sentencing hearing and, shielded from the boys’ view, read out her victim impact statement as well as a poem she had penned addressing her attackers.
She detailed how her mental health had worsened since the incident, leading her to withdraw 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.” She added: “No-one deserves the trauma of being raped.”
In a statement read on behalf of the second victim, she revealed 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.”
The judge praised the bravery of the two girls for providing their statements and giving evidence, 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 subjected to a three-month curfew and issued a restraining order for 10 years prohibiting them from contacting their victims.
Jodie Mittel KC, prosecuting, told the trial that the girl involved in the November incident, who was 15 at the time, had visited the first defendant after meeting him on Snapchat.
The prosecutor explained that after performing sex acts on the boy, who was then 14, she became “scared and anxious” when the second defendant joined them with a third boy who was not charged.
Ms Mittel said that the girl felt “cornered and trapped” and “petrified” as the two defendants raped her while the incident was filmed.
Ms Mittel disclosed that afterwards, videos of the incident had been circulated and other people 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 to Fordingbridge recreation ground while the incident was also filmed.