Keir Starmer says rape of two girls by boys spared custody 'appalling'

Keir Starmer says rape of two girls by boys spared custody 'appalling' 1 hour agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleAmy WalkerandLaura Kuenssberg,Sunday with Laura KuenssbergPA MediaPrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has described a case in which three teenage boys were spared custodial sentences over the rape of two girls as "appalling".He added that it was "right" that the sentences given by a judge at Southampton Crown Court were being reviewed by the attorney general.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 the second attack.Sir Keir said the girls has "shown extraordinary bravery and strength in heinous circumstances".At a sentencing hearing for the boys on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Rowland said he wanted to "avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily".Instead, the boys were given Youth Rehabilitation Orders (YROs) - community sentences given to children, which can include unpaid work, curfews or a requirement to undertake treatment.But one of their victims told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that the decision was like a "rock straight in my face".The girl, now 16, said it "almost made it seem as if what the boys did was not OK, but it was OK in the eyes of the law because they were still children".She and her family want the sentences to be changed, and the boys sent to jail, saying the sentences amounted to a "slap on the wrist"."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 said.Why did I put myself through the pain of going to court, rape victim tells BBCThe teenager was 15 when she was raped in an underpass by the River Avon.She had travelled to meet on...