Court of Appeal imposes four‑year detention on three teenage rape offenders
The Court of Appeal reviewed the sentences of three teenage boys for rape offences and ordered four‑year detention after finding the original sentences unduly lenient.
The Court of Appeal reviewed the sentences of three teenage boys – two aged 15 and one aged 14 – for rape offences after Attorney General Richard Hermer referred the case under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. The appeal court found the original sentences unduly lenient and ordered the boys to be detained for four years.
Judge Nicholas Rowland said the offences crossed the custody threshold, that detention was a last resort, and that he wanted to avoid criminalising the children unnecessarily. The Court of Appeal described detention as the only appropriate sentence for the three teenage boys (gdelt).
The boys had originally received non‑custodial youth rehabilitation orders for a combined ten counts of rape and seven indecent‑image offences. The attacks on the two victims took place in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January 2025.
According to gdelt, the two 15‑year‑old boys were involved in both attacks, while the 14‑year‑old encouraged the rape of the second victim.
dailymail.com reported that Attorney General Lord Hermer earned at least £170,000 in taxpayer‑funded legal‑aid fees over a four‑year period, receiving £25,720 in 2013, £35,620 in 2014, £82,836 in 2015 and £26,991 in 2017.
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0 contested (attributed to both sides), 4
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