A girl who was raped by two teenage boys has told the BBC that a judge’s decision to spare them jail sentences felt like a “rock straight to my face.”
Speaking exclusively to Laura Kuenssberg, the girl, now 16, said: “What was the point in putting me through that?”
The girl, who spoke anonymously alongside her family, said the judge’s decision “almost made it seem as if what the boys did was not OK, but it was OK in the eyes of the law because they were still children.”
The Attorney General is set to review the sentence handed down by Judge Nicholas Rowland, who said on Thursday that he wanted to avoid “criminalising” the “very young” boys.
The teenager was 15 when she was raped in an underpass near the River Avon in Fordingbridge, Hampshire.
She had travelled to meet one of the boys for the first time in November 2024 after he had begun a “relationship” with her on the social media platform Snapchat.
The two defendants, now aged 15, were also convicted of attacking a second victim, who was raped in a field in January 2025. Another boy, now 14, was also convicted for his involvement in the second attack.
The boys filmed the rapes on their phones and later shared some of the footage online.
During the sentencing hearing at Southampton Crown Court, the judge stressed the “seriousness” of the crimes and said the filming of the assaults made them even “more serious.” After commenting on their age, he also praised the boys for their behaviour during the trial.
However, the girl and her family want the sentences changed and the boys sent to jail, saying the punishments amounted to a “slap on the wrist.”
The Attorney General now has 28 days to decide whether the sentences should be referred to the Court of Appeal.
The girl’s mother appealed directly to the Prime Minister, saying: “Please help. If it was your daughter, your niece, your son, your nephew, your family member, would you be happy?
“Because we’re not happy, and I don’t think any other member of the public will be happy either. You’re in a position of power to help, so please help.”
Her mother’s partner, who was in court when the sentences were handed down, said he felt “physically sick” when he heard the judge’s decision.
He said: “It seems to me that the victims are the ones suffering, while the perpetrators have seemingly got away scot-free.”
During the sentencing hearing, one of the 15-year-olds was given a three-year Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO), including 180 days of intensive supervision and surveillance, for the rape of each of the two girls and two charges related to indecent images.
The other 15-year-old received the same sentence for three counts of rape against each victim and four counts of taking indecent images.
The 14-year-old boy was given an 18-month YRO after being found guilty of rape in the January 2025 attack by encouraging one of the other defendants.
A government spokesperson said: “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.”
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