Proudmans supports Jazmine at Court of Appeal after teen rapists walked free

Jazmine (not her real name), one of the teenage victims in the Hampshire rape case, supported and represented pro bono by Proudmans, is seeking justice at the Court of Appeal this week on 1 and 2 July 2026. 

Judge Nicholas Rowland allowed three teenage boys convicted of rape to walk free, in a case that shocked the nation. The Attorney General has since referred the sentences to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that they may be unduly lenient. This week, the Court of Appeal will determine whether the sentences imposed were unlawfully lenient and should be increased.

HHJ Rowland said at the original sentencing that he wanted to avoid “criminalising these children unnecessarily”, imposing youth rehabilitation orders and a ten-year restraining order from the victims.

This left Jazmine feeling that the justice system had failed her. She told BBCs Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that it felt like “a rock thrown straight in my face” and asked, “what was the point in putting me through that?”

Speaking to Metro, Dr Charlotte Proudman said: “The Court of Appeal hearing is about far more than increasing a sentence. 

“It is about trying to restore faith in the justice system, recognising the devastating impact these offences have had, and showing survivors that their suffering matters.” 

Photo: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

Proudmans has worked closely with Jazmine to prepare a Victim Personal Statement for the Court of Appeal so that her voice is heard.

The family have set up the Stronger Than Silence Foundation  to support survivors of sexual violence and serious crime, together with the families whose lives are profoundly affected by trauma.

Jazmine was 15 years old when she was raped three times by two boys in an underpass by the River Avon in Fordingbridge, whilst another filmed the attack. The videos were subsequently uploaded to social media, leading to Jazmine being harassed and called a “slag”.

A transcript of the hearing showed that HHJ Rowland did not use the word “rape” while the boys were in court, instead referring to the offences as “the serious things that you did”.

Speaking to Metro, Dr Charlotte Proudman said: “The silence was deafening. If a judge cannot even call rape by its name in a courtroom, we risk sanitising one of the most horrific crimes imaginable.

“Victims deserve to hear the truth spoken plainly, and offenders should hear exactly what they have been convicted of. They were old enough to rape, so they were old enough to hear the word.”

Photo: John Nguyen/JNVisuals

HHJ Rowland also praised the boys' behaviour during the trial, despite at least one calling the victim a liar and another blaming the victim for “flirting” with him. 

Dr Charlotte Proudmans called this “extraordinary”, saying, “the girls should have been praised for the extraordinary courage it took to endure a rape trial in which they were called liars and had every aspect of their trauma scrutinised.”

Proudmans is a trauma-informed law firm founded by award-winning barrister Dr Charlotte Proudman to represent women and girls who have experienced abuse, including survivors such as Jazmine. Ms Manveet Chhina is an experienced solicitor specialising in both family and criminal law.

We provide specialist representation to clients whose cases involve the complex intersection of the criminal and family justice systems.