Cheryl de Freitas responds to criticism that sentencing of two teenage boys convicted of multiple counts of rape was too lenient.
The chief operating officer of the Youth Justice Board (YJB) is the latest prominent figure to speak out about the so-called Fordingbridge case.
Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan / Unsplash
In March, two boys aged 15 and one aged 14 – who cannot be named as they are children – were found guilty at Southampton Crown Court of a total of 10 counts of rape committed in 2024 and 2025 in Fordingbridge in Hampshire. The boys recorded the attacks on their phones, while laughing and encouraging one another.
But in sentencing the boys, Judge Nicholas Rowland noted their ‘very young’ age. ‘I should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily and understand the effects of their behaviour and support their reintegration into society.’
The 15 year-olds were duly given three-year youth rehabilitation orders (YROs) with 180 days of intensive surveillance and supervision. The younger boy was given an 18-month YRO.
Conservative leader Keri Badenoch and former Home Office Minister Jess Phillips are among those who have criticised the sentences as ‘unduly lenient’. Now the YJB has responded, too.
Cheryl de Freitas, Chief Operating Officer of the YJB says: ‘Confidence in the justice system matters, particularly in cases involving violence against women and girls and it is essential that public concern is not dismissed.
‘It is also important that individual judges and frontline youth justice services are not unfairly critiqued for applying the legal framework and the evidence they are required to consider in youth cases.
‘The overwhelming majority of children do not commit offences of this seriousness. But where they do, the response must balance accountability, public protection, victim harm, deterrence and the long-term goal of preventing future violence.
‘We welcome the Attorney General’s review of this case and will not be commenting further as we await the outcome of this review.’
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