Attorney General Lord Hermer says he had “no doubt” about referring the case of teenage boys who raped two girls to the Court of Appeal.
The three boys were spared custodial sentences over the rapes, sparking backlash, with one girl telling the BBC hearing the sentence was like a “rock in my face”.
Two girls, then aged 15 and 14, were raped in separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January 2025, by two 14-year-olds. Another boy, then 13, was also convicted for his involvement in the second attack.
“I was in no doubt that it was a sentence that I felt had to be referred to the Court of Appeal,” Lord Hermer told BBC Radio 4’s Political Thinking with Nick Robinson podcast.
The three boys were given youth rehabilitation orders (YRO) from Judge Nicholas Rowland, who wanted to avoid “criminalising” the “very young” boys and praised them for their behaviour during the trial.
The boys, who cannot be named because they are children, had denied the charges but were found guilty in March after a trial at Southampton Crown Court.
The Sentencing Council for England and Wales states even in very serious cases courts should prioritise rehabilitation for children and use custody as a last resort.
The second girl told BBC Newsnight earlier this week she wanted to “be able to go on a walk without being scared” as her father said the attack caused a “lifelong impact” on his daughter.
Lord Hermer said after hearing of the initial sentence for the boys, he “wanted to know the detail as quickly as possible so I could make a decision as quickly as possible” so “uncertainty was not hanging over” the two girls.
“As part of my consideration of the case, I read the victim statements”, Lord Hermer said, praising “the bravery of those girls” for “putting themselves through the ordeal of a trial”.
“But what is more, when they got those sentences, to carry on campaigning to secure justice.”
Attorney General Lord Hermer speaking to Nick Robinson [BBC]
Lord Hermer said courts across the country sentence people “to very long periods in prison for sexual offences”.
“We are determined to make sure that the criminal justice system works for victims.”
The attorney general acts as the chief legal adviser to the government and the Crown as well as overseeing the Law Officers’ Departments.
Under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme, a member of the public can go to a government webpage and ask the attorney general to look at the outcome.
If the attorney general and expert lawyers agree that the sentence is out of line with normal expectations for such a crime, they send the case to the Court of Appeal.
There, three of the most senior judges in England and Wales will hear arguments about whether the sentence was too short or appropriate, taking into account detailed guidelines to trial judges and the specific circumstances of the case.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch previously posted on X that the three boys received “no punishment at all”.
Reform UK’s treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick also previously condemned the sentence, telling the BBC: “It can never be right that a young person kills someone or rapes someone and they do not go to jail.”
