Boys convicted of rape get non-custodial sentences as judge says they should not be criminalised unnecessarily

Boys physically overpowered and then filmed attacks on teenage victims in separate incidents in Hampshire

Three teenage boys convicted of knife-point rape and other serious sexual offences against two teenage girls in Hampshire have not been given custodial sentences because the judge said he “should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”.

The boys, who were aged between 13 and 14 at the time of their offences, physically overpowered and sexually assaulted the girls, who were aged 14 and 15, in separate incidents two months apart.