Two teenage boys who were spared jail for rape will now have their sentences reviewed at the Court of Appeal.
Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the sentences were reviewed by Attorney General Lord Hermer.
The trial at Southampton Crown Court heard two girls were raped in two separate incidents in Fordingbridge.
The first attack took place on November 26, 2024, and the second on January 17, 2025.
Three boys, two aged 15 and one aged 14, were given youth rehabilitation orders (YRO), with the older pair also made subject to intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS).
Confirming the sentences would now go to the Court of Appeal, Sir Keir said: "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."
One of the girls was attacked in this underpass beside the River Avon | CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICEThe Prime Minister added: "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.
"So I can announce that case now will go to a Court of Appeal...and that is clearly the right outcome."
The boys were convicted at Southampton Crown Court | WIKIMEDIAIn the sentencing hearing last Thursday, a 15-year-old boy was handed a three-year Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO) with 180 days of ISS for the rape of each of the two girls and two indecent images charges.
The court heard he had been diagnosed with ADHD as well as "long-standing anxiety".
A second 15-year-old was given the same sentence for three charges of rape against each of the two victims and four counts of taking indecent images in relation to filming of the incidents. The court was told he had an IQ of the "bottom one per cent of his contemporaries" and had been diagnosed with ADHD.
A third boy, 14, was given a YRO for 18 months for two charges of rape in the January incident by encouraging the second defendant and an offence of indecent images. He was described as having "mild cognitive impairment".
Keir Starmer confirmed the sentences would go to the Court of Appeal
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In an interview with the BBC, one of the victims, who was 15 at the time of the incident, said of the boys’ sentence: "The words hit like a rock straight in my face. He (the judge) 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."
Speaking anonymously alongside her family, the now-16-year-old asked: "What was the point in putting me through that?"
Jodie Mittel KC, prosecuting, told the trial the girl had visited one of the defendants in November 2024 after meeting him on Snapchat.
The prosecutor said that after performing sex acts on the boy, who was then 14, she became "scared and anxious" when the second defendant arrived, and the pair raped her while the incident was filmed.
The second attack took place at this recreation ground | CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICEMs Mittel said that afterwards, videos of the incident had been sent around and other people made jokes about her, and she received messages calling her a "slag".
The girl told the BBC that she "wanted to die" when she received such messages.
Judge Nicholas Rowland told the defendants: "I have to remember that you are not small adults. I have to think how likely you are to do serious things again and I need to make sure you do not do serious things again in the future."
Explaining his sentence, he said: "I should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily and understand the effects of their behaviour and support their reintegration into society."
He added that "peer pressure played a large part in what went on".
Gisele Pelicot waived her right to anonymity in order to make 'shame swap sides' | GETTYFrench rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot revealed she was "deeply shocked" when she heard about the sentencing.
Dominique Pelicot, the 73-year-old's now ex-husband, was jailed for 20 years for repeatedly drugging her unconscious and inviting dozens of men to rape her.
She told the BBC: "[I 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.
"Rape is a crime and justice has an essential role. It's there to, in fact, name the crimes, to recognise the suffering of victims, and to remember that in fact they must not remain unpunished."