The Huffington Post
Darren Jones on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg A minister grew visibly emotional on live TV this morning following a troubling BBC interview with a teenage rape victim. A girl who was raped by two teenage boys told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that the judge’s decision to spare her attackers jail was like a “rock straight in my face”. Speaking anonymously with her family, she said the move “always made it seem as if what the boys did was not OK, but it was OK in the eyes of the law because they were still children”. Judge Nichoas Rowland said on Thursday he wanted to avoid “criminalising” the “very young” boys. The attorney general, Lord Hermer, is set to review the sentence. The two defendants were also convicted of attacking another victim with a third boy. Both rapes were filmed by the boys and some of the footage was shared online. Chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones, who has three daughters, told the BBC that the government is looking at this case “urgently”. He said: “As a minister I’m not allowed to get ahead of the attorney general’s decision but those girls deserve justice, as do their families, both for them and other girls put in the position. “Quite frankly the boys need to know they can’t behave in that way and get away with it.” Kuenssberg said: “You are here as a minister but I can tell from listening to you, as a dad, I think you found that quite hard to watch and to listen to.” “It was very hard to watch because no parent wants their daughter to be in those circumstances,” Jones said, as his voice started to break. “You don’t want a society in which girls are growing up in those circumstances.” Asked if he worries about the message this particular case sends to the public, he said: “I do because those young women deserve justice but I also worry about it because boys need to know they cannot behave that way. “It is not acceptable in society. And if you do that, there must be consequences for it.” Jones added that while not all boys are violent or do not care about women, “there are too many incidents like this” and it was important to have a “national conversation” about such assaults. WATCH: Darren Jones says the two girls raped by three teenage boys “deserve justice” in an emotional response to one of their stories pic.twitter.com/IkSx79EoJP — Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) May 24, 2026 Help and support: Victim Support - Visit victimsupport.org.uk or call 0808 168 9111 Sexual Abuse Referral Centres - Find a SARC Rape Crisis - Visit rapecrisis.org.uk or call 0808 802 9999 The Rape and Abuse Line - Visit rapeandabuseline.co.uk or call 0808 800 0123 (answered by women) or 0808 800 0122 (answered by men) Subscribe to Commons People , the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster. Related... How 10 Years Of Anti-Coercive Control Legislation Has Changed Everything 'Starmer's Violence Against Women And Girls Strategy Needs To Be More Radical To Stop Rape' 'Victory For Women': Sarah Everard Vigil Organisers Win Court Ruling Against The Met
Go to News Site