The judge who spared three boy rapists from jail had been advised that the offences mirrored a similar case in which the perpetrator received a custodial sentence. Judge Nicholas Rowland prompted a backlash when he decided not to jail two 15-year-old boys who had raped two girls, one at knifepoint, in Fordingbridge, Hampshire. The attacks had been filmed and footage put online. The two boys were instead given youth rehabilitation orders, as was the third, aged 14, who had “aided and abetted” the rapes. Judge Rowland said he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”. On Tuesday, Lord Hermer, the Attorney General, judged the sentences to be “unduly lenient” and referred the case to the Court of Appeal to decide whether the boys should have their punishment increased. It has now emerged that Jodie Mittell KC, the prosecutor in the case, had cited a previous trial in which a 15-year-old boy convicted of three rapes, digital penetration and sexual assault had received an eight-year custodial sentence. Earlier case had similarities In her note, Ms Mittell …