“They Walk Free”: Rape of Two Teenage Girls by Three Boys Sparks Outcry in UK as Judge Spares Custody Sentence Now Under Review.

Last week, a courtroom in the UK let three teenage boys walk free after they were convicted of raping two girls. Instead of prison, they were given community rehabilitation orders. The decision triggered a wave of public fury across the country.

The case has now been sent to the Court of Appeal for review, after the attorney general stepped in on Tuesday. Even Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the original sentences “distressing” and “appalling,” saying he was shocked both as a politician and as a father.

“I can announce that the case will now go to the Court of Appeal,” Starmer said. “That is clearly the right outcome.”

The attacks happened in the small town of Fordingbridge, in southern England. One victim, just 15 at the time, was raped by two of the boys in an underpass by a river after meeting one of them for what she thought was a date. Prosecutors said the 90-minute attack was filmed and shared on social media.

The other girl, 14, was threatened with a knife. Her attackers made her leave her phone and AirTag in a shop so she couldn’t be tracked, then forced her to walk to a remote field where two of the boys raped her while filming again.

The judge defended his decision, saying he wanted to “avoid criminalizing these children unnecessarily.” Court documents revealed one boy had an IQ in the bottom 1% of his age group, and two had ADHD. Another had mild cognitive impairment.

But the victims and the public saw it differently. One of the girls told the BBC: “He 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. What was the point in putting me through that?”

French rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot, who became a global symbol of justice after her own trial, said she was deeply shocked. “Rape is a crime, and justice has an essential role,” she said. “Victims will never be able to heal.”

One of the boys was 13 at the time of the attacks, the others 14. They are now 14 and 15. The two older boys received three-year youth rehabilitation orders with 180 days of intensive supervision. The youngest got an 18 month order for aiding and abetting rape.

The case was sent for review after multiple complaints under the “Unduly Lenient Sentence” scheme, which allows anyone to ask the attorney general to take another look at it.