UK judge’s decision not to jail boys for rape like a ‘rock straight in my face’, says victim, 16 | England
A judge’s decision not to jail two teenage boys who raped two girls has been described as a “serious stone” by one of the victims.
The girls were raped in two separate attacks in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, the first on 26 November 2024 and the second on 17 January 2025, a hearing at Southampton crown court heard.
15-year-old boys were ordered into youth rehabilitation and were subject to intense supervision and surveillance. Their sentences will be reviewed by the chief prosecutor’s office.
In an interview on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, one of the victims, who was 15 at the time, asked: “What was the point of putting me through this?”
Speaking anonymously with her family, the girl, now 16, said the judge’s decision “made it seem like what the boys did was almost not right, but in the eyes of the law it was okay because they were still kids.”
Prosecutor Jodie Mittell KC told the hearing that the girl visited one of the defendants in November 2024 after meeting him on Snapchat. The prosecutor said that after performing a sexual act on the boy, who was 14 at the time, he became “frightened and worried” when the second defendant arrived, and the couple raped him while the incident was being filmed.
Mittell said videos of the incident later spread around, others made jokes about her, and she received messages calling her a “slut.”
In the incident in January, the 14-year-old complainant was raped in an area close to the Fordingbridge recreation area, and the incident was filmed.
At a sentencing hearing on Thursday, a 15-year-old boy was given a three-year youth rehabilitation order with 180 days of probation and supervision on charges of raping each of two girls and two indecent images charges. The court heard he was diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety.
A second 15-year-old boy was given the same sentence on three counts of rape against each of the two victims and four counts of indecent photography related to the filming of the events. The court was told he had an IQ in the “bottom 1 per cent of his contemporaries” and was diagnosed with ADHD.
A third boy, aged 14, was given an 18-month youth rehabilitation order on two rape charges for inciting the second defendant and broadcasting indecent images in the January incident. It was stated that he had “mild cognitive impairment”.
Judge Nicholas Rowland told the defendants: “I need to remember that you are not little adults. I need to think about how likely you are to do serious things again, and I need to make sure you don’t do serious things again in the future.”
Announcing his sentence, he said: “I must avoid unnecessarily criminalizing these children, understand the effects of their behavior and support their reintegration into society.”
He added that “peer pressure played a big role in what happened.”
During the BBC interview, the girl’s mother made a call to Keir Starmer and asked: “Would you be happy if it was your daughter, your niece, your son, your nephew, your family member?
“Because we’re not happy, and I don’t think any other member of society would be happy either. So you have the power to help, so please help.”
Hampshire police and crime commissioner Donna Jones offered support to victims’ families if they wanted to appeal the “leniency” of the sentences.
Jones said: “This is an extremely disturbing case. I am deeply concerned that these children think they can commit such horrific acts and post them online and not go to jail.”
A government spokesman said the attorney general’s office had received “multiple” requests for sentences to be reviewed under the “overly lenient” plan.
“We share the public’s shock at the details of this horrific case and our thoughts are with the young victims at this sad time. Law enforcement are urgently examining the case with great care and attention.”
