Tensions were high in court following a trial where the boys were accused of raping a 13-year-old girl when they were 12, 13 and 14
Family members of three young boys accused of raping a 13-year-old girl reacted with tears and heavy sighs as the jury returned their verdicts after nearly 10 hours of deliberations.
Earlier this month, prosecutors told jurors the boys raped the girl when they were 12, 13 and 14. She was 13 at the time, the Crown said.
On Wednesday, they were cleared of all charges as jurors delivered not guilty verdicts. Two boys – one now 16, the other 15 – were cleared of rape. They were also cleared of two ‘joint enterprise’ counts.
Jurors were asked to find whether the third boy – now aged 14, then 12 – had committed the acts and whether he had encouraged the other boys as he had been found unfit to stand trial. They found he did not commit the offences.
Over 10 emotional days at Minshull Street Crown Court, family members of the young defendants watched on from a tense public gallery. As the jury foreperson delivered the verdicts one exhausted voice cried “Jesus”.
Sitting next to his mum, a red-faced and bleary eyed boy wept. On the opposite side of the bench, another boy put his arm around the shoulder of a trembling family member, reports the Manchester Evening News.
As the trial began, the jury was told the three boys raped the girl, taking it in ‘turns’ and ‘swapp[ing] positions’ during the incident in Rochdale town centre in February 2024.
Part of the alleged attack was filmed on a mobile phone, the court heard. Footage was later ‘circulated among themselves’ and ‘others’, prosecutors said.
Four boys were hanging out, the court heard, and ended up at a tram stop where a large group had gathered. Jurors were told they were seen on CCTV chatting and vaping.
Among the group were two 13-year-old girls, the court heard. The defendants walked up to the station. One would later tell the court they were ‘showing off’.
They all got onto the tram at Rochdale, it was said. One of the girls sat down, her friend beside her. The boys – then 12, 13, and 14 – remained standing, with one repeatedly pressing the button to keep the door open, the court heard.
They moved between seats and struck up a conversation with an elderly lady sitting nearby, it was said. The girls watched on. One friend joked ‘she fancies you’, pointing at one of the lads, jurors were told.
Towards the end of the eight-minute journey, the now 15-year-old boy, sat next to the girl. He would later tell jurors they flirted and that there had been talk of ‘sh*gging’.
They got off the tram together at Newbold, the court heard. The boys put their arms around the girls as they moved to the other side of the platform, jurors were told.
The group made their way down the path towards Morrisons. Prosecutors alleged the now 15-year-old said: “We can do it in the bush if you want.” In his evidence, the now 15-year-old said it was the girl who ‘asked [him] for sex’.
Her friend told them she was on her period, telling them to ‘f*** off’, the court heard. The other girl told the court she said ‘no’. It was then they went into nearby bushes.
Prosecutors said the girl was bent over. Snapchat footage of the incident was played in court. Laughing could be heard. One voice was heard saying ‘s**k it’.
The court heard the girl’s friend ran over and pulled her away. The boys ran home, jurors were told. The girl cried, the court heard as her friend said: “She said she wanted to leave it, she didn’t want any more drama.
“I said we should call the police. She then said to call her mum from my phone.” Minutes later, the girl’s mum pulled into the car park. She found her daughter and friend sitting in a family member’s van. Police had put up a cordon.
Jurors were told the boys, by then at home, messaged each other. The now 15-year-old sent the video he had filmed to the now 16-year-old, it was said.
The now 14-year-old, the court heard, wrote: “Send all the videos… send vids… send me the videos.”
The trial heard evidence from the girl, in the form of a recording of a police interview. She was later cross-examined by barristers on behalf of the boys.
It was put to her by Rachel Shenton, representing the now 16-year-old, that there was flirting on the tram. “My friend pointed and said I like[d] him as a joke,” she said. “But it didn’t come from my mouth.”
“Did you point to one of them and say ‘I would sh*g him’?,” Ms Shenton asked. “No,” the girl replied. “Did you fancy one of them?,” she was asked. “No,” the girl said.
The girl became emotional as she was questioned. “Did you willingly bend over? Did you say anything to anyone in the bushes? Did you try to move away from the bushes? Did you scream?,” Ms Shenton asked her.
“Did you do anything to make the boys think you did not agree to it?” The girl replied: “I never said yeah.” Later in the trial, as the defence closed its cases, it was suggested the girl had lied about being raped.
“[Her friend] told them to f*** off,” Ms Shenton told. “I asked [the alleged victim] if she told them to ‘f*** off’. She did not. She went into the bushes. I’m not seeking to throw shade at her. She is a young girl… immature. Why didn’t she shout? Why didn’t she scream?”
Ms Shenton said the girl had been embarrassed about being called a ‘sl*g’ by two strangers who walked past. She added: “How does she react? ‘I was raped’. It is a get out of jail free card. This was not a rape, it was a shameful encounter.”
Ms Shenton said the girl had been ‘untruthful’ and ‘inconsistent’. Peter Gilmour, representing the now 15-year-old said: “These are children. We must not judge children by the standards of adults.
“If there was a point she had second thoughts, she didn’t give any indication. And she immediately regretted that and says to her friend she had been raped. She went into the bushes, she went willingly. Her answer was ‘I never said yeah’. How was he supposed to know?”
Both boys told the court what happened in the bushes was consensual. They were virgins and had both left school at a young age with no sex education, the court heard.
The now 16-year-old said he felt ‘happy’ after the experience, thought said it was not ‘successful’. He said he would not have done anything if he didn’t believe she was consenting.
The now 15-year-old said the girl had asked him for sex. “I could tell by the way she was looking at me, she fancied me,” he said. He denied running away after, instead saying he was ‘not h**d’ and so ‘couldn’t do anything’.
For the Crown, Kim Whittlestone said that according to the defence: “[The alleged victim] had made herself available for not just one, but three of them.
“Alone and combined, the evidence shows this is not a case of her leading the way. Far from it. A bit of smiling and teen flirting on the tram does not equate to consent to a foursome in the bushes.”
“It was asked in cross examination by one of the barristers ‘did you gang rape [her]?’. The prosecution held back from using that phrase – it is headline grabbing and emotive.
“But, sadly, that phrase best describes what happened to her in those bushes. From the evidence in this case, ‘gang rape’ fits the description perfectly.”
Ultimately, jurors found all three boys not guilty on all counts. They were discharged from court as families embraced and wept.
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