In a move that has surprised absolutely no one who read the original sentencing decision, the government has announced it will review the case of three teenage boys who raped two girls in separate attacks in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in 2024 and 2025. The boys - two aged 15 and one aged 14 - escaped custodial sentences and instead received youth rehabilitation orders, walking out of court with 11 rape convictions between them. They had, as the court heard, 'brazenly filmed' the assaults on their phones and shared footage online.
The attorney general's office said it had received 'multiple' requests under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, and that it shared the public's shock at the 'horrific case.' Law officers now have 28 days to decide whether to refer the matter to the Court of Appeal.
Former Home Office minister Jess Phillips called the sentences 'unduly lenient,' noting that the victims had endured months or years to achieve 'any sort of justice' and that the outcome 'sends a bad message.' She suggested social media had negatively influenced the boys, saying they were 'essentially raping for content in order to put it on social media and share it to their friends gloating.' Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the sentences 'a disgrace,' and shadow justice minister Dr Kieran Mullan said it 'cannot be right that teenage boys can commit brutal crimes of rape like this and avoid prison entirely.'
The boys denied the charges but were found guilty in March after a trial at Southampton Crown Court. In sentencing, Judge Nicholas Rowland said he wanted to avoid 'criminalising' the 'very young' boys, while acknowledging the 'seriousness' of the crimes. The first victim, aged 15, was raped three times in an underpass after meeting one boy on Snapchat; the second, aged 14, was raped repeatedly in a nearby field. Video footage showed her lying motionless while another boy shouted encouragement. Prosecutor Jodie Mittel KC said videos of the first incident were shared online, leading to jokes and messages calling the girl a 'slag.'
In court, one victim read a poem including the line: 'All I want to do is die, I no longer have fear for when that comes.' The other described nightmares and feeling 'ashamed, insecure and uncomfortable in my own body.' Phillips accused social media companies of experimenting on young people and said 'very little' had been done to study the effects of violent pornography on youth, adding that these victims 'paid the price.'
Hampshire Police said it was liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service 'in relation to the sentence passed.'