Two teenage boys who walked free after being convicted of raping two girls in Fordingbridge have been sentenced to four years after their original sentence was found to be ‘unduly lenient’.
The case went to the Court of Appeal after nationwide outrage over their sentences, which saw Judge Nicholas Rowland say he wanted to ‘avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily’.
Three boys, two aged 15 and one aged 14, were spared any custodial sentence at Southampton Crown Court and were given youth rehabilitation orders.
This is despite Judge Rowland admitting their offenses, which combined was 10 counts of rape and seven indecent image offenses, ‘crossed the custody threshold’.
They had attacked one girl who thought she was going on a first date in November 2024, sharing footage on social media.
Along with the encouragement of a third boy, the pair attacked and filmed a second girl in January last year. Footage shows her lying motionless in a field with ‘her face buried in her hands’.
Their lenient sentences led to public outrage, with one of the victims saying she does not think ‘she will ever be the same’, while the other said: ‘I am the one being punished.’
Even Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the case as ‘appalling’ and escalated the decision to the Court of Appeal.
They today decided the sentences of the two 15-year-old boys were ‘unduly lenient’, and they have now been sentenced to four years in detention.
The sentence of a 14-year-old boy who encouraged one of the rapes did not change.
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Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr said: ‘We have decided that we do need to change your sentences and both of you do need to go into detention. What you did was so bad that we have no other choice.’
Tom Little KC, speaking for the Attorney General, said Judge Rowland’s sentencing remarks were ‘entirely lop-sided’ with the discussion of the offenders given much more weight compared to the victims.
In the sentencing judge’s original remarks, the word ‘rape’ was not mentioned, and the impact of the victims was given only a line and a half each.
Mr Little argued the judge ‘failed to grapple with the seriousness of the offending’.
He said: ‘The judge was wrong to conclude that neither the first victim nor the second victim suffered severe psychological harm.’
Dr Charlotte Produdman, barrister for one of the victims Jazmine*, told Metro: ‘Today’s judgment is a landmark moment for Jazmine, her family and for every survivor who has watched this case wondering whether the criminal justice system truly understands the lifechanging harm caused by rape.
‘Jazmine has shown extraordinary courage in pursuing justice despite the immense personal cost.
‘One case cannot change a system, but the opportunity this case offers to make a fresh start genuinely putting victims at the center of our system of justice must not be wasted.’
Southampton Crown Court heard the perpetrators recorded the attacks on their phones, laughing while outnumbering their ‘cornered and petrified’ victims.
Between them, they were guilty of 10 counts of rape and seven indecent image offenses related to two victims.
The Attorney General argued that previous sexual activity involving the survivors had swayed the judge’s decision, which was described as a ‘significantly outdated approach’.
One of the victims, named Jazmine*, said she is ‘traumatised’ and ‘cannot move on’.
She said: ‘When I gave evidence, I was questioned in detail about what I apparently did. I was asked about the details of what happened. I was asked why I had two hands around the perpetrator’s penis.
‘It was implied that I wanted it. It was implied that I was experienced in what I was doing. It was implied that I had chosen it or taken part in it. I cannot explain how humiliating and painful that was.
‘I was 15 years old. I am a child who has been raped. I felt like I was being treated like I had done something wrong. The hardest part was being accused of lying. I knew I was telling the truth.
‘I knew what had happened to me. I tried so hard to do my best whilst talking about something which has left me with such lasting pain. That broke something inside me.’
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