Rape sentences for teen boys unduly lenient, says Jess Phillips

Former Home Office curate Jess Phillips has condemned the "unduly lenient" non-custodial sentences of 3 teenage boys who raped 2 girls successful abstracted attacks.

Prosecutors said the assaults successful Fordingbridge, Hampshire, successful 2024 and 2025, were "brazenly filmed" connected phones and showed the boys laughing and encouraging. They aboriginal shared immoderate of the footage online.

The 3 boys, 2 aged 15 and 1 aged 14, were fixed younker rehabilitation orders (YRO) and the 2 older ones were besides made taxable to intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS).

Speaking connected the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Labour MP Phillips said: "For those young women going done a rape proceedings similar this volition not person been a elemental happening to do, it volition person been many, galore months if not years to execute immoderate benignant of justness and I americium acrophobic to accidental it sends a atrocious message."

Phillips, who served arsenic curate for safeguarding and unit against women and girls until her resignation earlier this month, said societal media had negatively influenced young boys, saying that the 3 boys had been "raping for content" online.

"It seems unduly lenient to maine and has wider nationalist involvement beyond conscionable the lawsuit itself successful the connection that it sends," she said.

"These young radical it seems were fundamentally raping for contented successful bid to enactment it connected societal media and stock it to their friends gloating astir raping these mediocre young women."

Explaining his sentencing determination astatine Southampton Crown Court connected Thursday, Judge Nicholas Rowland said helium would debar "criminalising" the boys, telling them: "None of you request to spell to situation today."

The justice stressed the "seriousness" of the crimes and said the filming of the assaults made them adjacent "more serious".

However, helium emphasised their "very young" ages and told them they would not beryllium facing situation time.

Phillips said that portion rehabilitation of offenders was "vital", perpetrators should beryllium capable to beryllium rehabilitated "within our younker estate".

The MP for Birmingham Yardley accused societal media of playing a relation successful the emergence of misogyny amongst young men.

"The information is for astir 10 years we person allowed young people, particularly young boys, to beryllium experimented connected by societal media companies and successful this lawsuit these young radical were fundamentally it seems, raping for content, successful bid enactment it connected to societal media, stock it amongst their friends, gloating astir raping these mediocre young women."

Phillips said "very little" had been done successful the past decennary to spot what effect convulsive pornography has had connected young radical and the victims successful this lawsuit person "paid the price".

Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Donna Jones has besides said the sentences "offer small comfortableness to their victims".