Judge wrong to spare rapists from custody, court told

The Court of Appeal is considering whether the sentences given to three boys convicted of rape were unduly lenient

A judge was "wrong" to pass community sentences on three boys convicted of raping two teenage girls in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, the Court of Appeal has heard.

The sentences were referred to the Court of Appeal as "unduly lenient" by Attorney General Lord Hermer.

Tom Little KC, for the attorney general, told the court: "It is submitted that the extent and nature of the offending was so serious such that the only appropriate sentence for [the boys] was detention."

But lawyers for the boys argued the judge had approached sentencing correctly, giving the best chance of rehabilitation while protecting against future offending.

One of the girls was raped in an underpass near the River Avon in Fordingbridge

Warning: This story contains details some may find distressing

All the children in the case have been granted anonymity because of their young age - with the offenders referred to as X, Y and Z.

One of the girls - C1 - was 15 when she was raped by X and Y in November 2024 at an underpass near a river in Fordingbridge after first engaging in some consensual sexual activity with X. Parts of the rape were filmed.

The second girl - C2, who was 14 - was raped by X and Y in January 2025 in a recreation ground in Fordingbridge. Again there had been some consenseual sexual activity before the rape began and, again, parts of the rape were filmed, this time by boy Z.

At the time of the rapes X and Y were 14 and Z was 13. They were convicted of 10 rape offences between them.

Tom Little KC said the judge in the case was "wrong to conclude that a community sentence could be justified for any of them".

"Had the judge properly assessed the seriousness of the offences, he could only reasonably have concluded that lengthy sentences of detention were required for both X and Y and that a sentence of detention was required for Z," he said.

The second girl was 14 when she was raped in a field at Fordingbridge Recreation Ground

During the hearing, the Lady Chief Justice Sue Carr criticised the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for putting out an inaccurate press release suggesting a knife was involved in the rapes.

When Judge Nicholas Rowland passed the sentences at Southampton Crown Court in May, there was an outcry from the girls and their families and from politicians. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described it as "an appalling case".

One of the girls described the sentences as a "slap on the wrist".

She told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssber