During the Court of Appeal hearing, Little CC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said: “We accept… that the judge did attempt to apply the relevant principles, but in our opinion he applied them in an incorrect manner, the cumulative effect of which was likely to result in unjustifiably lenient sentences.”
He also said the judge’s sentencing remarks made “limited reference to the significant impact of this offense on both victims and the clear evidence of significant harm caused as a result.”
Ed Henry CC, representing Y, said the boy had been made a “pariah” as a result of the public being misled by the reporting of the case due to an inaccurate CPS press release.
“Y behaved in a disgusting and disgraceful manner and he certainly deserves to be punished,” Henry said.
“But the public outcry, the shame… seriously aggravated his punishment.”
Henry K.S. said: “Parliament has decided that a completely different approach is required when sentencing children.”
He said his client is in the bottom percentile of IQs for his age.
“He has a very, very simplistic understanding of the word consent.”
On behalf of Boy X, Claire Wade said: “We submit that the learned judge was correct in his approach to sentencing.
“The sentences imposed generally provide the best opportunity for child offenders to learn and develop, and provide the most effective way of protecting women and girls in the future by preventing future offending.”
Lady Chief Justice Sue Carr criticized the CPS for issuing a press release saying the boys had been convicted of “rape at knifepoint”.
“The judge said outright otherwise,” she said.
“I would like to know what steps are being taken to prevent something like this from happening again.”
She also expressed deep concern that it took weeks to correct the press release.
“How on earth could this have taken so long given all the inaccurate reports about the nature of this offense that immediately appeared?” she said.
The hearing before the Chief Justice, Lord Justice Edis and Mrs Justice Norton is scheduled for two days.
The boys were ordered to appear at Southampton Crown Court on Thursday at 2pm to watch the judges’ decision via video link.
The hearings are ongoing.