A COURT ruling sparing two boys from jail time after they raped two girls was called “appalling” by the Prime Minister today as campaigners condemned the decision and the Attorney General opened a review of the sentences.

Sir Keir Starmer said it is “right that law officers are urgently reviewing the sentences” of the 15-year old boys who were given non-custodial sentences for raping two girls in Hampshire in November 2024 and January 2025.

Judge Nicholas Rowland’s decision was met with public outcry after he said he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily.”

One of the survivors told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “The words hit like a rock straight in my face.

“[The judge] almost made it seem as if what the boys did was not OK, but it was OK in the eyes of the law because they were still children.”

Instead, Mr Rowland handed the teenage boys youth rehabilitation orders (YRO) and are being made subject to intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS) Southampton Crown Court.

The court has heard that one of girls, who was 15 at the time, visited one of the defendants in November 2024 after meeting him on Snapchat.

Prosecuting, Jodie Mittel KC said that after the girl performed sex acts on the boy, 14 at the time, the second defendant arrived and the pair raped her while filming the assault.

Videos of the incident were then shared online and others calling her names, including a “slag.” The survivor later said she “wanted to die” when she received such messages.

The second girl was 14 when she was raped in a field near the Fordingbridge recreation ground in Hampshire in 2025, where the assault was also filmed.

The prime minister responded to the survivor’s statement in a social media post, saying: “This is a harrowing and brave testimony.

“The girls at the heart of this case have shown extraordinary bravery and strength in heinous circumstances.

“This is an appalling case and it is right that law officers are urgently reviewing the sentences.”

Chief secretary to the PM Darren Jones had earlier said: “Those girls deserve justice, as do their families, both for them, but also for other girls that are put in that position.

“And quite frankly, other boys need to know that they can’t behave in that way and get away with it.”

He added: “We all want to look at this urgently, and the Attorney General’s made that commitment.”

End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) interim director Janaya Walker said the “particularly distressing” case had been made worse due to it being filmed and shared on social media.

She told the Morning Star: “All girls should be able to grow up free from being subjected to the trauma of sexual violence, and the threat of it.

“In this distressing case, the harm was made even greater by the boys’ decision to film and share the videos online, subjecting the girls to further abuse and attempts to humiliate them.

“Our thoughts and solidarity with the victims of this abuse in this case and their loved ones.”

A sentencing hearing on Thursday saw one of the 15-year-old boys handed a three-year YRO with 180 days of ISS for the rape of each of the two girls and two indecent images charges.

The second 15-year-old was given the same sentence for three charges of rape against each of the two victims and four counts of taking indecent images in relation to filming of the incidents.

A third boy, 14, was given a YRO for 18 months for two charges of rape in the January incident by encouraging the second defendant and an offence of indecent images.

The judge told the defendants: “I have to remember that you are not small adults.

“I have to think how likely you are to do serious things again and I need to make sure you do not do serious things again in the future.”

He added that “peer pressure played a large part in what went on.”

The government said: “We share the public’s shock at the details of this horrific case, and our thoughts are with the young victims during this distressing time.

“The Law Officers are urgently reviewing the case with the utmost care and attention.”