The sentences of boys spared custody over the rape of two girls in Hampshire will be referred to the Court of Appeal, the prime minister has said.
Sir Keir Starmer said: "There are questions about the sentence. The attorney general has power to refer a case to the Court of Appeal if the attorney general thinks that the sentence is too lenient".
He added that the attorney general had "now exercised that power" which was "clearly the right outcome".
Two girls, then aged 15 and 14, were raped in separate incidents in Fordingbridge in November 2024 and January 2025, by two 14-year-olds. Another boy, then 13, was also convicted for his involvement in the second attack.
The teenagers were given youth rehabilitation orders (YRO) and walked out of court with 10 rape convictions between them.
Asked about the case during a visit to East Sussex on Monday, the prime minister said: "I think it's a really distressing case. I think it's distressing for everybody to see, to hear about."
He praised the "courage" of the victims but said he found the case "distressing as a politician" and "as a father".
One of the victims told the BBC that the judge's decision to spare them jail sentences was like a "rock straight in my face".
The girl, who spoke anonymously alongside her family, said the judge's decision "almost made it seem as if what the boys did was not OK, but it was OK in the eyes of the law because they were still children".
French rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot told the BBC she was "deeply shocked" by the sentences and said she "saluted the strength" and courage of one of the young girls for speaking out after the attack.
Speaking to the BBC after headlining this year's Hay Festival - an arts and literary festival in Wales - Pelicot told BBC Breakfast she was "deeply shocked that these individuals were in fact able to gain their freedom again when in fact the victims are suffering so hard they will never be able to heal".
The boys, who cannot be named because they are children, had denied the charges but were found guilty in March after a trial at Southampton Crown Court.
Explaining his sentencing decision on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Rowland said he would avoid "criminalising" the "very young" boys.
The judge stressed the "seriousness" of the crimes and said the filming of the assaults made them even "more serious".
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.
