UK court orders detention for teen rapists after sentencing backlash

LONDON: A British appeals court on Thursday ordered two teenage boys convicted of rape to be sent into custody, overturning an earlier decision that had spared them detention and triggered strong public criticism.

The two boys, both aged 15 and unnamed because of their age, had initially been given three-year youth rehabilitation orders by lower court judge Nicholas Rowland in May. At the time, the judge said he wanted to avoid criminalising the children unnecessarily.

The ruling drew a severe backlash, after which Attorney General Richard Hermer, the government’s chief legal adviser, referred the case to the Court of Appeal in London on the grounds that the punishments may have been unduly lenient.

Appeal court overturns earlier sentence

Quashing the original sentences, Judge Sue Carr told the pair by video link that custody was necessary and imposed four years of youth detention on each of them.

Addressing the boys, she said, “What you did was so bad that we have no other choice.”

According to the case details reported in court, the two teenagers raped two girls aged 14 and 15 in separate incidents in Hampshire, southern England, in November 2024 and January 2025. Videos of the assaults were later shared online.

The sentence of a third boy was left unchanged. He had received a non-custodial punishment after being convicted on rape charges for encouraging the second defendant during the 2024 incident.

Criticism of original punishment

The initial decision not to impose detention became a focus of public anger in Britain. Among those who criticised the earlier sentences was French rape survivor Gisele Pelicot during a visit to the country.

In comments to the BBC, Pelicot said she was "deeply shocked that these individuals were in fact able to gain their freedom again when in fact the victims are suffering so hard they will never be able to heal.”

Pelicot has become an international symbol in the struggle against sexual violence after waiving her right to anonymity during the 2024 trial of her former husband and dozens of other men who raped her while she was unconscious.