Three teenage boys convicted of rape and serious sexual offences against girls as young as 14 avoided custody and instead received youth rehabilitation orders in separate cases in north-east England.

Sentencing data shows that in the past five years nearly three out of every four under-18s convicted of rape avoided immediate custody.

The boys had lured two teenage girls to meet them, then raped them and filmed the attacks on their phones, with a knife used during the second assault.