Teen rapists sentenced to four years detention after appeal

Two teenage boys convicted of raping two girls in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, have been sentenced to four years in detention after the Court of Appeal ruled their original non-custodial sentences were unduly lenient. The decision on Thursday, July 2, 2026, followed a two-day hearing and a referral by the Attorney General, overturning a May sentencing that had sparked nationwide outrage.

The two 15-year-olds, identified in court as X and Y, were initially given three-year youth rehabilitation orders with intensive supervision at Southampton Crown Court. A third boy, aged 14 and referred to as Z, received an 18-month youth order for encouraging one of the attacks and for an indecent images offence; his sentence was not altered by the appeal. The boys were convicted of a total of ten rape charges and seven indecent image offences related to two separate attacks on the girls in November 2024 and January 2025. The perpetrators recorded the assaults on their phones and shared footage on social media.

Delivering the ruling, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, sitting with Lord Justice Edis and Ms Justice Norton, addressed the two older boys via video link. She stated the court had decided...