Jess Phillips, the former minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, has condemned the non-custodial sentences handed to three teenage boys for the rape of two young girls as 'unduly lenient.'
Details of the Case
The two girls were raped in separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January last year. In the first attack, a 15-year-old girl was raped by two defendants, both aged 14 at the time. In the second assault, the three boys threatened a 14-year-old girl with a knife, with two of them taking turns raping her while the others encouraged the offending and filmed the assaults.
On Thursday, at Southampton Crown Court, two boys, now aged 15, were each sentenced to a three-year youth rehabilitation order with intensive supervision and surveillance. The third boy, aged 14, received an 18-month youth rehabilitation order.
Phillips' Reaction
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Phillips said: 'It seems unduly lenient to me and has wider public interest beyond just the case itself in the message that it sends. For those young women, going through a rape trial like this will not have been a simple thing to do, it will have been many, many months, if not years, to achieve any sort of justice, and I am afraid to say it sends a bad message.'
She added: 'These young people, it seems, were essentially raping for content in order to put it on social media and share it to their friends, gloating about raping these poor young women.'
Criticism from Police Commissioner
Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones echoed Phillips' criticisms, offering support to the victims' families if they wish to appeal. 'This is an extremely disturbing case. I'm deeply concerned these boys felt they could carry out such terrifying acts and share them online and not go to prison. Their sentences reflect a clear focus on rehabilitation rather than criminalisation. They are far too lenient.'
Government Response
A government spokesperson confirmed that the Attorney General's office had received multiple requests for the sentences to be reviewed under the unduly lenient scheme. 'We share the public's shock at the details of this horrific case, and our thoughts are with the young victims during this distressing time. The law officers are urgently reviewing the case with the utmost care and attention.'
Court Details
The court heard that one of the 15-year-old defendants had been diagnosed with ADHD and longstanding anxiety, while the other had an IQ in the bottom 1% of his peers and also had ADHD. The 14-year-old was described as having mild cognitive impairment. Judge Rowland explained that he sought to avoid criminalising the children unnecessarily and to support their reintegration into society, noting that peer pressure played a large part in the offences.
The victim of the second attack said in a statement that she continues to suffer from nightmares: 'The person I was before the incident has completely gone and sometimes I feel like I am grieving the person I used to be.'
