london —
Last week, three teenage boys convicted of raping two girls were allowed to leave a British court without custodial sentences, sparking a nationwide outcry.
The verdict in the case, which British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described as “tragic” and “appalling”, will be reviewed after the country’s attorney general referred it to the Court of Appeal on Tuesday.
Asked about the decision which saw the teenagers receive community reintegration orders instead, Mr Starmer said: “I think it’s painful for everyone to see and hear,” adding that it was painful “as a politician” and “as a father”.
“I can announce that the matter will go to the Court of Appeal and the Court of Appeal will consider the sentencing of that case. That is clearly the correct outcome,” he said on Tuesday.
Details of the two attacks in the small town of Fordingbridge in southern England have horrified the nation and led to multiple charges under an unfairly lenient sentencing system that allows anyone to ask the Attorney General to review their sentences.
One of the victims, aged 15 at the time, was raped by two boys in an underpass next to a river after she arranged a date with one of the boys. Prosecutors said in court that a video of her 90-minute ordeal was shared on social media.
Another girl, who was 14 at the time, was threatened with a knife and left her cell phone and AirTag at the store so her movements could not be traced. She was forced to walk to a secluded field, where she was raped again by the two defendants, who were filming the attack.
French rape victim Gisele Pericot told the BBC she was shocked that the three boys had been spared custodial sentences. “[I am]deeply shocked that the victims were able to win their freedom again, even though they suffered so much that they will never be able to heal,” she said. “Rape is a crime and justice has an important role to play. In fact, justice exists to name the crime, to recognize the suffering of the victims, and to remember that indeed they should not go unpunished.”
Two of the boys, who were 14 at the time of the crime and are now 15, were given three-year “Youth Rehabilitation Orders” with 180 days of “intensive supervision and supervision”. The third boy, now 14 but 13 at the time, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for two counts of rape, aiding and abetting second degree assault. Two 15-year-olds were also found guilty of taking indecent images of children.
In sentencing, the judge said, “We want to avoid unnecessary criminalization of these children.”
The court heard that one of the boys had an IQ in the “bottom 1% of his peers” and had been diagnosed with ADHD. Another boy was also diagnosed with ADHD and “longstanding anxiety.” The third defendant was described as suffering from “mild cognitive impairment”.
One of the victims told the BBC that he was “shocked, like a stone hit me in the face” after hearing the boys’ sentences.
“He (the judge) made it seem as if what the boys did was wrong, but because they were still children, it was okay from a legal perspective,” she said, speaking anonymously. “What’s the point of putting me through that?”
