More than 200,000 sign petition demanding judge investigation

More than 208,000 people have signed a petition calling for a judge who spared three boys a custodial sentence over the rape of two girls to be investigated. With the judge already under intense scrutiny, the prime minister last week welcomed the attorney general's decision to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal for review.

But the judiciary declined the opportunity to defend the judge or to condemn the pile-on, telling the Gazette it could not comment on live proceedings.

Judge Nicholas Rowland’s decision to give the three boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, youth rehabilitation orders following a trial at Southampton Crown Court has attracted public and political anger.

Attorney general Richard Hermer quickly referred the case to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme, saying there had 'understandably been a huge amount of public interest, and concern, at this horrific case’. Prime minister Keir Starmer appeared to have no reservations about commenting on live proceedings, saying the Court of Appeal's review was ‘clearly the right outcome’.

The change.org petition calls for the judge to be investigated and a ‘formal judicial accountability framework including mandatory sentencing reviews, transparent judicial records and real removal powers that are actually used’. It claims that members of the judiciary can operate with 'almost complete immunity from consequences'.

The petition also features hundreds of comments from supporters, including video recordings by people explaining why they have signed.

Asked about the petition, the judiciary said the case has been referred to the Court of Appeal and it could not comment on live legal proceedings.

The lady chief justice has previously spoken about the challenges faced by judges. Lady Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill told the justice committee last November that the most recent Judicial Attitude Survey showed ‘the level of responsibility carried by judges under what has sometimes been relentless scrutiny’. In her Mansion House speech a few months earlier, she said judges had been subject to ‘increasing and increasingly unacceptable sensationalist and inaccurate abuse’.

A government spokesperson said: 'Sentencing decisions are made by independent judges in line with sentencing guidelines. We are clear that punishments must fit the severity of the crime, and custody should always be considered for serious offences.

'The victims of the appalling rapes in Fordingbridge have shown incredible bravery to hold their perpetrators to account, and the Court of Appeal will now review these sentences. This government is determined to do all we can to make sure victims have confidence they will get justice.'