Teenage rapists' appeal rejected

Two boys who raped a 14-year-old for insulting their gang leader's partner have had their sentences upheld.

O'Neil Denton, 17, and Yusuf Raymond, 16, were among nine who attacked the girl in the stairwell of a block of flats in Hackney, east London, in 2007.

A judge upheld the indeterminate sentence given to Denton along with Raymond's nine-year custodial sentence.

It comes as three teenage rapists had their sentences increased for another attack in Tottenham, north London.

Lord Judge, giving the ruling, said: "The cases which the court has had to consider today are horrifying.

"They are, of course, different cases, but they have some common features."

"I can't go out, I can't really do anything"

He continued: "On each occasion two girls, one aged 16 and one aged 14, were subjected to an ordeal that will blight the rest of their lives.

"On each occasion the perpetrators were young men."

The gang snatched their victim from the street and took her to a stairwell, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard in 2008.

She was told she should be raped for insulting their leader's girlfriend and the gang laughed as they took it in turn to rape her.

The victim, who cannot be named, has previously told BBC Radio 4 about how the ordeal had affected her.

She said: "I can't go out, I can't really do anything.

"Everything I used to do, like going shopping and ice skating, I can't do that now. I've got a fear of crowds and gangs of people."

Lord Judge concluded: "They were working together as a gang and even though some of them were very young, all those involved knew perfectly well what they were doing."

"They did what they did quite deliberately to humiliate and punish a defenceless young girl and reinforce their own authority and power and that of the gangs to which they belonged."

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
HM Courts Service
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites