UK teen rapists get detention after outrage at lenient sentences

AI Summary

After public outrage over perceived leniency, a UK appeals court ruled that two teenagers convicted of rape must serve time in custody. The initial youth rehabilitation orders were criticized for not adequately addressing the severity of the crime.

Two British teenagers convicted of rape must serve time in custody, an appeal judge ruled on Thursday, after a public outcry over a judge’s decision to spare them detention. Lower court judge Nicholas Rowland in May sentenced the two 15-year-old boys to three-year youth rehabilitation orders, saying he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”. However, the sentences provoked a severe backlash, prompting Attorney General Richard Hermer – the government’s chief legal adviser –...