Image: BBC. Coverage of the Southampton Crown Court sentencing in the Fordingbridge rape case.- Three teenage boys avoided custody after the rape of two girls in Fordingbridge, Hampshire.
- Two boys, now 15, received three-year Youth Rehabilitation Orders with intensive supervision; a third, now 14, received an 18-month order.
- Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones called the sentences “far too lenient,” and the Attorney General’s office has reportedly received multiple review requests.
Sky News reported that three teenagers have avoided jail after the rape of two girls in Hampshire. The case was heard at Southampton Crown Court and involved two separate attacks in Fordingbridge, one in November 2024 and another in January 2025.
BBC and Metro reporting say the boys were aged 13 and 14 at the time of the offences. Because they are children, they are not named in the reports reviewed here.
What the court heard
According to the BBC, the first victim was 15 when she was raped in an underpass by the River Avon after travelling to meet one of the boys, whom she had met through Snapchat. The court heard she felt cornered and trapped.
The second victim was 14 when she met the boys at Fordingbridge Recreation Ground and was raped in a nearby field. The court also heard that video was recorded and shared in connection with the attacks, which the judge said made the crimes more serious.
The sentences
Judge Nicholas Rowland said he had to avoid “criminalising these children unnecessarily” and support their reintegration into society, while also stressing the seriousness of the offences.
The BBC reported that two boys, now 15, were given three-year Youth Rehabilitation Orders with 180 days of intensive supervision and surveillance. A third boy, now 14, received an 18-month Youth Rehabilitation Order. All three were also made subject to a three-month curfew and 10-year restraining orders barring contact with the victims.
Image: Solent News / Metro. Southampton Crown Court, where the sentencing took place.Why the reaction is intense
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones said she was “deeply concerned” that the boys could carry out such acts, share them online and not go to prison. She called the sentences “far too lenient.”
Metro reported that former Home Office minister Jess Phillips described the sentence as appearing “unduly lenient,” while Conservative MP Alicia Kearns said she had referred the sentences to the Attorney General under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. A government spokesperson said the Attorney General’s office had received multiple requests for review.
What matters now
The legal question is whether the sentences will stand or be reviewed as unduly lenient. The public question is broader: how the justice system weighs rehabilitation for child offenders against the severity of rape, the trauma to victims and the fact that the attacks were filmed and shared.
The victims’ identities remain protected. Reporting should stay focused on the court outcome, the sentencing rationale and any official review — not speculation about the girls or identifying details.
NoDechev rating: verified court outcome, disputed sentence. The boys avoided custody; the controversy is now whether the sentence was too lenient for the seriousness of the offences.
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Three teenage boys avoided custody after the rape of two girls in Fordingbridge, Hampshire. Two received three-year youth rehabilitation orders; one received 18 months. Police and politicians are now questioning whether the sentences are far too lenient.
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