The sentences handed to three boys convicted of raping two teenage girls in Hampshire will be referred to the Court of Appeal after urgent review by the attorney general, following widespread public concern.
The offences took place in Fordingbridge in separate incidents in November 2024 and January 2025. The victims were 15 and 14 at the time. Two of the defendants were 14 when the assaults occurred; a third boy, then 13, was convicted for his role in the second attack.
All three were found guilty at a trial at Southampton Crown Court in March. Despite 10 convictions between them, the boys were given youth rehabilitation orders and left court without immediate custodial sentences. That outcome prompted strong reactions from the victims’ families, political leaders and campaigners.
The attorney general, Lord Hermer, said he had ordered officials to work urgently so he could consider whether the sentences were unduly lenient. The prime minister described the case as distressing and said there were questions about the appropriateness of the sentences. The victims’ family said they hoped “the initial sentence will be overturned and the correct punitive sentence handed out,” and urged other victims not to be deterred from coming forward.
Court evidence described prolonged, coercive assaults. The 15-year-old was attacked three times in an underpass beside the River Avon; prosecutors said she was pressured into compliance while being filmed and feared she might be thrown into the river. The 14-year-old was attacked at Fordingbridge Recreation Ground and in a nearby field; one assailant pushed her down and used a knife to cut her clothing before forcing himself on her. The assaults were filmed on phones and some footage was shared online.
Explaining his sentencing decision, Judge Nicholas Rowland stressed the seriousness of the crimes and the aggravating factor of filming, but also emphasised the defendants’ very young ages. He said he wished to avoid “criminalising these children unnecessarily” and hoped to support their reintegration into society. Two of the boys’ mothers were visibly upset as the sentence was read out.
The decision to refer the sentences will take the matter to the Court of Appeal, where a panel of senior judges will publicly examine whether the original punishment fell within the range appropriate for comparable cases. The attorney general’s office first asks prosecutors to advise whether a sentence was out of line with expectations, given judicial discretion. If the Court of Appeal finds the sentences unduly lenient, it can increase them.
Victims and campaigners expressed distress and frustration at the non-custodial outcomes. One victim told the BBC the judge’s decision had hit her “like a rock straight in my face.” Public figures who spoke out included an arts festival head who said she was deeply shocked the offenders had been allowed to regain their freedom.
The attorney general praised the victims’ bravery in coming forward and said there is an “epidemic of violence against women and girls” that the government must address. The victims’ family said their hope is that any revision of the sentences will send a clear message that such crimes are not acceptable and that justice will be served.
