Sir Keir Starmer has announced that the sentences that saw two teenage boys spared jail after raping two girls will go to the Court of Appeal after being reviewed by the Attorney General Lord Hermer for being too lenient.A trial at Southampton Crown Court heard the girls were raped on two separate occasions in Fordingbridge, Hampshire. The first attack was on 26 November 2024 and the second was on 17 January 2025.The boys, both aged 15, were given youth rehabilitation orders (YRO) and made subject to intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS).The prime minister, who said he found the case “distressing as a father”, said the decision to send the case to the second-highest court in England and Wales is “clearly the right outcome”. “There are questions about the sentence. The Attorney General has power to refer a case to a court of appeal if the Attorney General thinks that the sentence is too lenient. The Attorney General has now exercised that power”, he said.“So I can announce that case now will go to a Court of Appeal… and that is clearly the right outcome.”Sir Keir said the rape case in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, which saw two teenage boys spared jail is “really distressing” and that the courage of the girls who came forward about it is “humbling”.“I think it’s a really distressing case. I think it’s distressing for everybody to see, to hear about.“The courage, frankly, of the girls to come forward is humbling, but it is distressing. I find it distressing as a politician. I find it distressing as a father.”This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow...