Two 15-year-old boys, identified only as X and Y, have been sentenced to four years' detention for the rape of two girls in separate attacks in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, after the Court of Appeal reviewed their original sentences. The boys were initially spared custody in May and given youth rehabilitation orders (YROs) with supervision, but Attorney General Lord Hermer referred their cases to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
Details of the attacks
The attacks occurred in November 2024 and January 2025, with one victim raped three times. A third boy, aged 14 and known as Z, was also given a YRO for encouraging one of the offenders and for an indecent images offence related to the January attack. The boys shared footage of the attacks on social media.
Delivering the ruling, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, sitting alongside Lord Justice Edis and Ms Justice Norton, addressed the boys via live video link. She stated: "We have decided that we do need to change your sentences and that both of you do need to go into detention. We have made that decision because we think that what you both did was so bad that we have no other choice."
Court of Appeal's reasoning
Baroness Carr highlighted that the boys had raped two girls on two different occasions, were enjoying it, egging each other on, and made it worse by filming the attacks. She added: "We have read a lot of information about what you did to those two girls. We have watched the video that you took and we have read about how the two girls feel about what you did to them and how it affected their lives."
The judges decided not to alter the sentence of the third boy due to his young age and lack of physical contact with the victims.
Original sentencing criticized
When sentencing the boys at Southampton Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Rowland said the offences "crossed the custody threshold" but that detention was a "last resort." However, Baroness Carr noted that Judge Rowland had not fully considered the young ages and vulnerability of the victims, nor the psychological impact of the offences. He had "undervalued" the gravity of the crimes and the humiliation experienced by the girls due to the filming.
Tom Little KC, representing the Attorney General, argued that the sentencing judge's approach was "fundamentally flawed" and appeared to minimize aspects of the case, including the harm to the victims. He noted that each victim's extensive harm was afforded only a line-and-a-half in the judge's sentencing remarks.
Victim impact
In a statement ahead of the hearing, the victim of the first attack said it had "left me harmed so severely that I do not think I will ever be the same" and that the trial "broke something inside me."
Defense arguments rejected
Defense barristers argued that the original sentences were appropriate, with X's counsel Clare Wade KC stating the YROs provided the best opportunity for rehabilitation and protection of women and girls. Edward Henry KC, representing Y, argued his client had a "constellation of comorbid conditions that dramatically reduced his culpability" and that the Attorney General had not established a "gross error." However, the Court of Appeal rejected these arguments, concluding that detention was necessary.
The boys were convicted of a combined ten rape and seven indecent image offences following the attacks.
