Teenage Rape Victim Attacks Judge’s Decision to Spare Boys Jail
24th May 2026
I see that The Telegraph has adopted the American spellling of ‘jail’.
A girl who was raped by two teenage boys has attacked a judge’s decision to spare them jail sentences as being like a “rock straight in my face”.
The victim was 15 years old when she was raped in an underpass near the River Avon in Fordingbridge, Hampshire.
The two defendants, who are now 15, were also convicted of attacking a second victim, who was raped in a field in January 2025 at knifepoint. Another boy, now 14, was also convicted for aiding and abetting the second attack.
The boys filmed the attacks on their phones and later shared some of the footage online.
During sentencing at Southampton Crown Court on Thursday, the judge stressed the “seriousness” of the crimes and said the filming of the assaults had made them even “more serious”.
However, he said he wanted to avoid “criminalising” the “very young boys” and praised their behaviour during the trial.