A teenage small boat migrant who raped a 14-year-old girl within three months of arriving in the UK has walked free — ordered to attend consent awareness sessions instead of being sent to a young offenders' institution.
The Iranian boy, 14, who was living in foster care and cannot be named, attacked the girl last September after they met at the same school in Bedfordshire. He had arrived in the UK the previous June as an unaccompanied child migrant on a small boat.
In January he was convicted of rape and two counts of sexual assault. At sentencing in mid-March, the judge declined to impose custody — citing youth justice principles that make detention a last resort — and instead handed him a rehabilitation order requiring him to attend specialist sessions "on the understanding of consent, boundaries, and victim awareness."
He was also given a two-year exclusion order banning him from the crime scene and surrounding area.
A source close to the family told The Sun on Sunday the verdict had left them furious.
"The victim's family are furious. They're outraged. This sentence is a total joke. There has been no punishment. This isn't a deterrent at all. The rapist is still free and could just do it again. The victim has to carry this for the rest of her life, while he can just go out as if nothing has happened."
The boy and his victim had met at school before encountering each other on September 23 last year. He forcibly led her to a row of bushes beside a skate park and forced her to the ground.
Prosecuting counsel Cassandra Roberts said the attacker asked the girl to "do stuff" before overpowering her. "She was saying 'Get off me' and 'No', and this was ignored," Roberts told the court.
Hours after the rape, the boy wrote about the attack on social media.
The sentencing sparked fury from the Conservative Party. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: "This vile attacker should be locked up for his crimes. Custody should be the only punishment for rapists. These attacks continue to happen under this weak Labour Government who have lost control of our borders. The only way to fix this is the Conservative Party's Borders plan — leave the ECHR so we can deport all illegal immigrants and foreign national offenders."
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "This was a sickening crime, and our thoughts are with the victim and her loved ones. Sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary, but foreign nationals who commit these vile crimes will be deported at the earliest opportunity."
However, Britain does not deport criminals to Iran on the grounds that the country is considered too dangerous. Unaccompanied child asylum seekers also carry additional legal protections that generally prevent deportation.
