The three boys, two aged 15 and one aged 14, were given youth rehabilitation orders (YRO) (Image: Getty)
A serving female police officer has issued a heartbreaking four-word statement over the failure of a court to jail three boys convicted of the rape of two girls. A trial at Southampton Crown Court this week heard that two girls were raped in two separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, the first attack on November 26, 2024, and the second on January 17, 2025.
The three boys, two aged 15 and one aged 14, were all spared prison sentences and only given youth rehabilitation orders (YRO) and the two older ones were also made subject to intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS). Speaking to presenter Tom Swarbrick on LBC radio, a caller identified only as Polly, said she was a serving police officer, adding: “I am absolutely disgusted.”
Polly continued: “It’s a slap in the face. The fact that there was, as there hardly ever is in rape convictions, video evidence and they still did not get a custodial sentence.” Polly added that instances like that “were almost unheard of”, before Tom said he did need to correct himself for his introduction where he said the teens raped “two women”, he added: “They didn’t, they raped two children.” “They did yeah, they raped two children,” agreed Polly.
The sentences of three teenagers who have avoided custodial sentences for their roles in the rape of two girls in a New Forest town have been described as “far too lenient” by the police and crime commissioner for Hampshire. Donna Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and Isle of Wight, said that she was concerned that the boys could commit such “terrifying acts” and not face a custodial sentence.
She added that she would support the families of the victims if they sought to appeal against the “leniency” of the sentences.
She said: “This is an extremely disturbing case. I’m deeply concerned these boys felt they could carry out such terrifying acts and share them online and not go to prison.
“Their sentences reflect a clear focus on rehabilitation rather than criminalisation. They are far too lenient. As they stand, they offer little comfort to their victims as they try to rebuild their lives after such harrowing experiences.
“Should the victims and their families take the decision to appeal the sentences, I will offer my support.
“The education of young people about sexual violence and misogynistic attitudes is vitally important if we’re to prevent crimes like this from happening again.
“My thoughts remain with the two young girls and their families.”
A 15-year-old boy was sentenced to a three-year YRO with 180 days of ISS for the rape of each of the two girls and two indecent images charges. The court heard that he had been diagnosed with ADHD as well as “long-standing anxiety.”
A second 15-year-old was given the same sentence for three charges of rape against each of the two victims and four counts of taking indecent images in relation to filming of the incidents. The court was told that he had an IQ of the “bottom 1% of his contemporaries” and had been diagnosed with ADHD.
A third boy, aged 14, was given a YRO for 18 months for two charges of rape in the January incident by encouraging the second defendant and an offence of indecent images. He was described as having “mild cognitive impairment.”
The rapes took place in the New Forest town of Fordingbridge, Hants (Image: Getty)
Judge Nicholas Rowland told the defendants: “I have to remember that you are not small adults. I have to think how likely you are to do serious things again and I need to make sure you do not do serious things again in the future.”
Explaining his sentence, he added: “I should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily and understand the effects of their behaviour and support their reintegration into society.”
He added that “peer pressure played a large part in what went on”.
The victim of the first incident came to the court for the sentencing hearing and, screened from the view of the boys, read her victim impact statement as well as a poem she had written directed towards her attackers. She described how her mental health had deteriorated since the incident leading her to isolate herself from her friends.
She said: “I was caught off-guard, I never want that to happen again, I will never get that innocence back again.”
The poem included the line: “All I want to do is die, I no longer have fear for when that comes.”
She added: “No-one deserves the trauma of being raped.”
In a statement read on behalf of the second victim, she said her school attendance had suffered and added: “I often feel overwhelmed, anxious and emotionally exhausted to the point where sitting in a classroom becomes unbearable.”
She described suffering nightmares and struggling to sleep and added: “I feel ashamed, insecure and uncomfortable in my own body.”
She added: “The person I was before the incident has completely gone and sometimes I feel like I am grieving the person I used to be.”
The judge praised the bravery of the two girls for providing their statements and giving evidence and said to the first victim: “I hope when you look back on today’s date you will take some comfort from the fact you have shown that courage in coming along to court.
“You and (the second girl) have shown great courage in coming along to the trial and speaking as you did.”
He added: “The sentence I am going to pass cannot possibly undo what happened to you.”
The boys were also made subject to a three-month curfew and given a restraining order for 10 years not to contact their victims.
Jodie Mittel KC, prosecuting, told the trial that the girl in the November incident, who was 15 at the time, had visited the first defendant after meeting him on Snapchat.
The prosecutor said that after performing sex acts on the boy, who was then 14, she became “scared and anxious” when the second defendant joined them with a third boy who was not charged. Ms Mittel said that the girl felt “cornered and trapped” and “petrified” as the two defendants raped her while the incident was filmed.
Ms Mittel said that afterwards, videos of the incident had been sent around and other people made jokes about her and she received messages calling her a “slag”. The complainant in the January incident, who was 14 at the time, was raped in a field near to Fordingbridge recreation ground while the incident was also filmed.
Lucy Paddick, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This is a deeply concerning case which involved a disturbing level of encouragement between young boys, who acted together to rape two young girls in separate incidents. These girls were forced into sexual activity by boys who brazenly filmed the deeply distressing incidents.”
Siobhan Blake, national CPS lead for rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO), said: “It is vital young people are educated and informed about consent and that harmful and misogynistic attitudes are tackled as early as possible to prevent these crimes. Everyone has a part to play.
“Young people must understand that sexual activity without consent is a serious criminal offence that can lead to them being prosecuted.”