Hermer seeks swift review of Hampshire rape case sparking public anger

Lord Hermer moved quickly because the case had become a national flashpoint: three teenage boys in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, were spared custody after raping two girls in separate attacks, and one of the victims later said she wanted “freedom” from fear.

The boys, two aged 15 and one aged 14 at sentencing, were convicted over offences arising from rapes in November 2024 and January 2025. One girl was 15 at the time of the first attack and the other was 14 during the second. One of the boys was also found guilty of encouraging one of the attacks and of an indecent images offence. The attacks were filmed and footage was shared on social media, deepening the sense of public shock.

At Southampton Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Rowland imposed youth rehabilitation orders rather than custody. He said he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily” and stressed rehabilitation. That decision has now been overtaken by a fast-moving appeal process under the Unduly Lenient Scheme, the mechanism that allows the Attorney General to refer a sentence to the Court of Appeal only when it is not merely lenient, but potentially unduly so.

The Attorney General’s Office said it received multiple requests to review the case and examined the papers, the judge’s findings and the sentencing guidelines before deciding the threshold had been met. On 26 May 2026, Lord Hermer said he had directed officials to work urgently so he could consider the matter swiftly and help bring closure to the victims and their families. He said there had been “a huge amount of public interest” and “concern” about the “horrific case”.

The Court of Appeal will now decide whether the sentences were unduly lenient and whether to increase them, or leave them unchanged. That distinction matters: the review is not a fresh trial, but a narrow check on whether the original punishment fell outside the range the law can tolerate.

Hermer also linked the case to wider fears about safety and sentencing, saying it reflected “an epidemic of violence against women and girls” and that the government would not hesitate to act so women and girls can feel safe and have confidence in the justice system.

The victims’ accounts added to the pressure. One told the BBC she wanted “freedom” from fear and was scared of seeing the attackers again. Another said the sentence felt like “a rock straight in my face” and described nightmares and difficulty sleeping. Political reaction cut across party lines, with Sir Keir Starmer calling the case “distressing” and saying there were questions about the sentence, Kemi Badenoch calling it a “disgrace”, and Robert Jenrick saying the judge had made a “very bad error”.