Labour launches urgent review after teen rapists who 'laughed' filming sex attacks avoid jail
Labour has launched an urgent review after three teenage rapists avoided jail.
The punishments were handed out to the offending trio after they sexually assaulted two teenage girls and "laughed" while filming the attacks.
The traveller boys, who were aged between 13 and 14 at the time, "brazenly filmed" the rapes on their phones.
They then shared the content online, Southampton Crown Court heard, with the first attack taking place on November 26, 2024 and the second on January 17, 2025.
Shadow justice minister Kieran Mullan and safeguarding minister Alicia Kearns referred the sentences to Lord Hermer under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme for the "horrific premeditated offences".
They argued the sentences failed to reflect the gravity of the offences, the impact on the victims' lives and fell short of maintaining public confidence in the justice system.
As a result, Lord Hermer has announced law officers will review the sentencing of the rapists "urgently".
He said: "We share the public’s shock at the details of this horrific case, and our thoughts are with the young victims during this distressing time.
"The law officers are urgently reviewing the case with the utmost care and attention."
Lord Hermer and Solicitor General Ellie Reeves, who both act as the Government’s primary law officers, will have 28 days to decide on the case and could opt to refer it to the Court of Appeal.
Although the three were convicted of a total of 11 rape charges in a trial in which the victims had to relive the attack, the trio were allowed to walk free.
They received youth rehabilitation orders and were told by the judge they had "done well" with the restrictions put in place during the trial.
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The two older boys were handed three-year youth rehabilitation orders and 180 days of intensive surveillance and supervision.
Meanwhile, the younger boy received an 18-month-long youth rehabilitation order.
During the sentencing, Judge Nicholas Rowland said: "I should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily and understand the effects of their behaviour and support their reintegration into society."
The judge stressed the boys were "very young" and had low intelligence.
The sentencing has sparked backlash from several senior officials, including former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips.
She said: "It seems unduly lenient to me and has wider public interest beyond just the case itself in the message that it sends.
"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."
Meanwhile, Hampshire Police Detective Sergeant Naomi Stocker praised the victims' "immense bravery".
She added her team was liaising with partners at the Crown Prosecution Service "in relation to the sentence passed".
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