The British government is reviewing the ‘Youth Rehabilitation Order’ sentences given to two teenage rapists by a judge who said he didn’t want to “criminalise” the perpetrators.
Two 15-year-old boys were spared jail sentences by a British court last week, prompting one of their victims to come forward and question what the point of going to court at all had been, calling the soft-touch sentence akin to being struck in the face.
The unnamed girl, who was 15-years-old at the time of the November 2024 attack, has now told British state broadcaster the BBC that going through the process of reporting her attack to police and reliving it in detail for the court case had been traumatising. The perpetrators, who were also found guilty of a second gang rape of a teenage girl that took place in the same town at a playing fields in January 2025, were even praised in court by the judge for the way they had behaved while in the dock.
The attacks were filmed on smartphones and the footage, which showed the attackers laughing and encouraging each other, were shared online.
The first victim, who was attacked in an underpass in Fordingbridge, Hampshire by the River Avon in 2024 said, the broadcaster related: “Why did I sit and put myself through the pain of going to court, going through a trial, reliving everything because of evidence and watching it all happen again?… It sort of gave me a sense of what’s the point…what was the point in putting me through that just to say that it’s fine.”
She compared the soft-touch sentencing to being like a “rock straight in my face”.
Judge Nicholas Rowland had said at sentencing: “I have to remember that you are not small adults… I should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily and understand the effects of their behaviour and support their reintegration into society”. One of the attackers, who is now 15-years-old, was found guilty of rape of two girls and two charges of taking indecent images. He was handed a three-year ‘Youth Rehabilitation Order’ (YRO) with 180 days of intensive supervision.
A YRO is a “community sentences given to children” with a maximum term of three years. Requirements of the orders can include being subjected to mental health treatment, a curfew, mandatory drugs testing, and undertaking unpaid work.
The second attacker, also now 15-years-old, was found guilty of three charges of rape and four charges of taking indecent images. He received the same sentence.
A third teenager, who is now 14-years-old, was present at the second attack and was found guilty of aiding and abetting. He was given an 18-month YRO.
The court heard that one of the rapists had a “bottom one per cent” IQ score, and another of the convicted teenagers had a “mild cognitive impairment”. None of the victims or attackers have been publicly identified because of their ages.
The mother of the first victim, also speaking to the BBC, appealed to the government for help. Addressing the Prime Minister directly to intervene in this “slap on the wrist” sentencing, she is reported to have said: “Please help. If it was your daughter, your niece, your son, your nephew, your family member, would you be happy? Because we’re not happy and I don’t think any other member of the public will be happy too. So you’re in a position of power to help, so please help.”
The sentencing was roundly criticised in the political sphere, including by the government and the Prime Minister himself, who said he found the case appalling. It was stated the government is reviewing the case “urgently” and may exercise its prerogative to refer the sentencing to the Court of Appeal.
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