PRIME Minister Sir Keir Starmer has described the cases of two girls raped in Fordingbridge as “appalling” – as controversy over the sentences received by teens involved continues.
Three teenage boys – two aged 14 and one aged 13 – were convicted over the incidents, which saw two girls, aged 15 and 14, raped in separate incidents in November 2024 and January 2025.
However, two of them were not given custodial sentences for the attacks, despite sharing 10 rape convictions, instead receiving youth rehabilitation orders (YRO).
Previously, the court heard how the boys “brazenly filmed” the rapes on their phones and later shared some of the footage online.
As criticism of the sentences erupted, the attorney general has confirmed they will be reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme following “multiple” requests.
READ MORE: Three teens – aged 14 and 15 – convicted of raping girls in Fordingbridge
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A Government spokesperson called it a “horrific case” and said law officers, the attorney general and the solicitor general were “urgently reviewing the case with the utmost care and attention”.
It has 28 days to make a decision before the case could be referred to the Court of Appeal.
One of the victims in the cases told the BBC the sentences were like a “rock straight in my face”.
Now 16, the victim said it “almost made it seem as if what the boys did was not okay, but it was okay in the eyes of the law because they were still children”, being punished with a “slap on the wrist”.
The victim and her family called for the sentences to be changed and the boys sent to jail.
“Why did I sit and put myself through the pain of going to court, going through a trial, reliving everything because of evidence and watching it all happen again?” the girl aded.
The Prime Minister said in response to the girl’s comments: “This is harrowing and brave testimony. The girls at the heart of this case have shown extraordinary bravery and strength in heinous circumstances.
“This is an appalling case and it is right that law officers are urgently reviewing the sentences.”
When sentencing the boys, the judge stressed the “seriousness” of the crimes and how filming the attacks made it even “more serious”. But he also praised the boys for how they had behaved during the trial.
Former Home Office minister Jess Phillips, who served as minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls until her resignation earlier this month, said: “For those young women going through a rape trial like this will not have been a simple thing to do, it will have been many, many months if not years to achieve any sort of justice and I am afraid to say it sends a bad message.”
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