Three boys have dodged jail for rape - sometimes we must accept rehabilitation is not enough

The Attorney General, Lord Hermer, is considering referring the case to the Court of Appeal, but the government's planned reforms to the youth justice system only promise to make similar outcomes more common.

As a criminal defence solicitor specialising in sexual offences, I have advised many families whose child has been accused of a sexual offence. Most of these cases relate to indecent images, often involving two teenagers exchanging intimate images of themselves, or a teenage boy seeking age-appropriate but illegal pornography of people his own age. Over the course of my career, I have also dealt with a number of cases where children have been accused of rape or sexual assault, but these remain thankfully rare.

In the vast majority of sexual offence cases involving child suspects, there is no question that common sense diversions and supportive interventions are more appropriate than a full prosecution through the criminal justice system. As a country, we rightly accept that children should be treated differently from an adult who exhibits the same behaviour, and we cannot discount the restrictions a full criminal conviction places on a reformed child offender trying to rebuild their life. However, it would be recklessly naive to pretend that a very small number of children do not pose a genuine risk to the public, and therefore require secure separation from society.

Considering the nature of the offending in this case and the degree of harm clearly inflicted on the victims, the sentences imposed seem extremely lenient. Until relatively recently, I would expect a teenager of secondary school age convicted of two separate, premeditated, protracted sexual attacks against two victims - both of which were recorded, and one of which was committed at knifepoint - to be considered sufficiently unsafe as to require a substantial period of detention. With boys of this age, this would usually include lengthy custody in a Secure Children's Home.

However, reforms to the youth justice system now make it increasingly difficult for any child to be incarcerated. As we have seen in this case, courts are much more inclined to impose Youth Rehabilitation Orders, which can include a range of requirements, from psychiatric treatment to educational programmes. This will only become more common as additional youth justice reforms, including proposals to raise the criminal age of responsibility to 14, are introduced.

The justice system is right to avoid criminalising children where possible, but its fundamental duty remains keeping the public safe. Jon Venables, Robert Thompson and Sharon Carr were all children when they committed their crimes - but were nevertheless considered dangerous enough by the courts to be detained. Current policy purports to put children first, but we should not lose sight of the fact that the victims in this case were children, too.

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Marcus Johnstone is a criminal defence solicitor of over 20 years, and the managing director of PCD Solicitors, a nationwide criminal defence firm specialising in sexual offences.

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