Boys sentenced for attempted rape

A judge yesterday hit back at critics of the trial of two boys who tried to rape an eight-year-old girl as he sentenced them each to three-year supervision orders.

Mr Justice Saunders said the ordeal of their young victim must not be forgotten and told those commenting on the case: “Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”

The boys were aged 10 last October when the girl told their mother that she had been assaulted in Hayes, west London.

They were found guilty of two charges of attempted rape by a 10-2 majority at the end of an Old Bailey trial but cleared of rape.

The court heard the boys lured the girl into some flats, then took her into a stairwell, a lift and a bin shed before continuing their assault in a field.

At one point, the girl told the court, they threw her scooter into a bush and refused to retrieve it unless she did what they told her.

Jurors rejected defence claims that the boys – one of whom was described as a model pupil by his teacher – had just been naughty or playing a game like doctors and nurses.

But after the verdicts, critics said the handling of the case was “absolutely wrong” and a Court of Appeal judge expressed “dismay” at the circumstances.

Following yesterday’s sentence, the NSPCC said the British government should now review the age of criminal responsibility.