Rape victim ‘does not sleep at night’ after boys spared prison
“Why would you avoid criminalising someone who has done a criminal act?”
A teenage rape victim said “I don’t sleep at night” after three boys were spared jail over the attacks.
Two 15-year-olds were given non-custodial sentences after raping two girls in Fordingbridge by a judge at Southampton Crown Court who said he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”.
A third boy, now aged 14, was also convicted of his involvement in the second attack and an indecent images offence.
The sentences of the three teenage boys are being sent to the Court of Appeal after a review under the unduly lenient scheme.
Attorney General Lord Hermer said there was “an epidemic of violence against women and girls in this country” after Sir Keir Starmer announced the “distressing” case would be referred following a public outcry.
In an interview with BBC Newsnight, one of the victims, who is now 15, said: “Why would you avoid criminalising someone who has done a criminal act?
“They did it, they need to understand that their actions do have consequences and they can’t just get away with not being criminalised.”
Discussing how the crimes had affected her, the girl said: “I feel like no matter what I do, I can always feel their hands on me, no matter how much I’ve scrubbed, how much I’ve tried to get the feeling away it’s always there and it just doesn’t feel like my body anymore.
“I get really vivid, vivid flashbacks, but they can come at random times, any place, anywhere, sometimes without triggers as well.
“I don’t sleep at night, because I’m worried something’s going to happen.
“I struggle to get out of bed because I have no motivation to.”
The victim added that she was “losing out on the potential I would have had if none of this had happened”.
The girl’s father said the family felt “anger” over the sentences and that it was “heartbreaking” to see his daughter’s confidence “drop to a low”.
He added: “We have to put our faith in the justice system that they’re going to do right by us and that’s completely gone because they haven’t protected her.
“She’s still living this nightmare and will continue living it while they just carry on with their everyday lives.”
The girl’s father called for the boys to be given a custodial sentence of a minimum of two years, adding: “I feel they have to have something in there, going forwards, that impacts them for life.”
He added: “This will cause a lifelong impact on my daughter and the family.
“This isn’t going away five years, 10 years. This is a life sentence for her.”
The girl’s mother called for the boys to be on the sex offenders register for life, adding: “They knew what they were doing, they did it twice.”
In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, the other victim, now 16, said of the boys’ sentence: “The words hit like a rock straight in my face.”