Judge wrong to spare rapists from custody, court told
BBC News 2026-07-01 13:51:41
Context: In Fordingbridge, Hampshire, three teenage boys, X, Y, and Z, were convicted of raping two teenage girls, C1 and C2, in separate incidents in 2024 and 2025. The boys were given community sentences, which the Attorney General Lord Hermer referred to the Court of Appeal as "unduly lenient." The Court of Appeal is now considering whether the sentences were too lenient.
Key Facts
- The three boys, X, Y, and Z, were convicted of 10 rape offences between them, with X and Y raping C1 in an underpass near the River Avon in Fordingbridge in November 2024, and X and Y raping C2 in a recreation ground in Fordingbridge in January 2025.
- The boys were given Youth Rehabilitation Orders (YROs) with 180 days of intensive surveillance and supervision, with X and Y receiving three-year YROs and Z receiving an 18-month YRO.
- The judge, Nicholas Rowland, took into account that X and Y had served the equivalent of 18-month and 17-month sentences while awaiting trial under curfews, and aimed to avoid "criminalising" the boys unnecessarily.
- The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) issued an inaccurate press release suggesting a knife was involved in the rapes, which was criticised by the Lady Chief Justice, Sue Carr, who expressed deep concerns that it took weeks to correct the press release.
- One of the victims, C2, described the sentences as a "slap on the wrist" and told BBC Newsnight that she was suffering from vivid flashbacks and feared seeing the boys again.