Attorney general had ‘no doubt’ on reviewing teen boys’ rape sentences

Attorney-General Lord Hermer said he had “no doubt” the case of teenage boys who raped two girls should be referred to the Court of Appeal.

The news that three boys were spared prison sentences for rape sparked outrage, with one girl telling the BBC that hearing this sentence “hit me like a stone in the face”.

Two girls, aged 15 and 14, were raped by two 14-year-old girls in separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January 2025. Another boy, then 13, was also convicted for his involvement in the second attack.

“I had no doubt that this was a sentence that I thought should be referred to the Court of Appeal,” Lord Hermer told BBC Radio 4’s Political Thinking podcast with Nick Robinson.

The three boys were given a youth rehabilitation order (YRO) from Judge Nicholas Rowland, who wanted to prevent the “criminalisation” of “very young” boys and praised them for their behavior during the trial.

The children, whose names cannot be given because they are minors, denied the accusations but He was found guilty in March after a trial at Southampton Crown Court.

The Sentencing Council for England and Wales states that even in very serious cases, courts should prioritize the rehabilitation of children and use custody as a last resort.

second daughter He told BBC Newsnight earlier this week Her father wanted to be able to “go for a walk without fear” because he said the attack had a “lifelong impact” on his daughter.

Lord Hermer, after hearing the boys’ first sentencing, said he “wanted to know the details as quickly as possible so that I could decide as quickly as possible” so that the two girls were “haunted by uncertainty”.

Lord Hermer said: “As part of my assessment of the case, I read the victim’s statements” and praised the “courage of those girls” for “putting themselves through the ordeal of a trial”.

“But even more so, to continue the campaign to ensure justice when they receive these sentences.”

Lord Hermer said courts across the country were sentencing people to “very long prison sentences for sexual offences”.

“We are committed to making sure the criminal justice system works for victims.”

The Attorney General acts as the chief legal advisor to the government and the Crown and also oversees the Law Officers Departments.

Under the Extremely Lenient Sentencing (ULS) scheme, a member of the public can go to a government website and ask the attorney general to look into the outcome.

If the Chief Public Prosecutor and expert lawyers agree that the punishment for such a crime is contrary to normal expectations, they send the file to the Court of Appeal.

There, three of the most senior judges in England and Wales will hear arguments on whether the sentence was too short or appropriate, taking into account detailed instructions to trial judges and the particular circumstances of the case.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch previously shared that the three boys received “no punishment” at X.

Reform England’s treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick had also previously condemned the sentence in a statement to the BBC: “It can never be right for a young person to kill someone or rape someone and not go to prison.”