The sentences of three teenage boys who were spared jail over the rape of two girls are being sent to the Court of Appeal after a review under the unduly lenient scheme.
Attorney General Lord Hermer said there was “an epidemic of violence against women and girls in this country” after Sir Keir Starmer announced the “distressing” case would be referred following a public outcry.
Two 15-year-olds were given non-custodial sentences after raping the two girls in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, by a judge at Southampton Crown Court who said he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”.
A third boy, now aged 14, was also convicted of his involvement in the second attack and an indecent images offence.
Asked about the sentencing of the first two boys, the Prime Minister said he had found the case “distressing as a politician” and “as a father”.
“There are questions about the sentence. The Attorney General has power to refer a case to the Court of Appeal if the Attorney General thinks that the sentence is too lenient,” he told reporters during a visit to East Sussex.
“The Attorney General has now exercised that power. So, I can announce that that case will now go to the Court of Appeal and the Court of Appeal will now review the sentence in that case, and that is clearly the right outcome.”
At a hearing on Thursday, one of the 15-year-olds was handed a three-year youth rehabilitation order (YRO) with 180 days of intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS) for the rape of each of the two girls, who were aged 14 and 15 at the time, and two indecent images charges.
The second 15-year-old, who was described as having an IQ in the “bottom 1% of his contemporaries”, was given 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.
Both were aged 14 at the time of the attacks, which occurred in November 2024 and January 2025.
A third boy, who is 14 and was 13 at the time, was given a YRO for 18 months for two charges of rape in the second incident by encouraging the second defendant and an offence of indecent images.
He was described as having “mild cognitive impairment”.
Lord Hermer’s office confirmed that the sentence of the younger boy was also being sent to the Court of Appeal.
In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, one of the victims, now 16, said of the boys’ sentence: “The words hit like a rock straight in my face.”
Prosecutors said the girl was raped by two boys while the incident was filmed before videos were sent around and other people made jokes about her.
The victim said she “wanted to die” when she later received messages calling her a “slag”.
The family of one of the girls told the BBC they hoped the “correct punitive sentence” would be handed out following the review and that “moving forward it serves as a message to judges, be sure the sentence fits the crime.”
At the end of the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Rowland said “nobody pretends these are easy cases for anyone to be involved in,” adding: “It’s testament to how the system works that this sort of case can be dealt with in this way.”
The judge had 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 said: “I should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily and understand the effects of their behaviour and support their reintegration into society.”
He added that “peer pressure played a large part in what went on”.
Lord Hermer, the Government’s top law officer, said on Tuesday: “There has understandably been a huge amount of public interest, and concern, at this horrific case.
“I directed my officials to work urgently, to allow me to consider this decision swiftly, and to begin to bring closure to the victims and their families.
“It is clear to me from their powerful personal statements, that these girls have displayed immense bravery in coming forward.”
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones welcomed the referral, describing the YROs for such “despicable” offences as “clearly unduly lenient”.
“It is absolutely right these sentences are reviewed,” she said.
“I want to place on record my thanks to the two victims and their families for speaking out to kickstart this vital process.
“I will do everything I can to continue to support them.”
Former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said she was “thrilled” the case was being referred, adding it was “obvious” what the outcome of the trial should have been.
Speaking on Sky News, the Labour MP said: “We have a massive problem in our country with regard to child sexual abuse being perpetrated by children, and that is the responsibility of parents.
“But it’s also a responsibility of the state to look at the statistics where over half of all child sexual abuse in our country is perpetrated by somebody aged 10 to 17, about what we should be doing in the prevention space.
“It is very obvious to anyone in the British public what the outcome of that case should have been.”
