Boy, 13, carried out series of sex attacks on Telford streets as he walked home in school uniform

The 13-year-old boy denied his offending and stood trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court but was later convicted of the crimes Credit: Handout

A 13-year-old boy who carried out sex attacks on a woman and three teenage girls as he walked home in his school uniform has avoided a custodial sentence.

A judge told Shrewsbury Crown Court he had "absolutely no idea" why the youngster attacked a 16-year-old, two 17-year-olds and a woman in her 30s in four separate incidents as they walked along streets in Telford, Shropshire.

In each case the boy grabbed the complainants simply because they were females on their own and persisted with sex assaults on them as they tried to fight him off.

Judge Anthony Lowe heard how the defendant tried to rape two of the victims – who were 16 and 17 years old at the time – after they fell to the ground as they struggled with him.

Judge Lowe said it was "undoubtedly a very, very difficult case", adding: "As I sit here at the moment, I have absolutely no idea what the driving force is behind these offences."

Schoolboy 'had distorted view about women generally'

He said it is clear the boy has a "distorted view about sexual intimacy" and a "distorted view about women generally", but added: "There is no explanation for why had has these distorted views or, more importantly, how they are going to be rehabilitated."

The judge told the boy on Friday that he would have been jailed for eight or nine years for the offences of attempted rape and sexual assault if he had been an adult.

But he explained to the court that any custodial sentence would have to be reduced to three years for a 13-year-old and that would mean he would be released in 18 months.

Judge Lowe said he was worried that this detention would provide no rehabilitation and the defendant would "come out bigger, stronger and more sexually active without these issues ever having been addressed".

He told the court this left him with a "stark choice" between custody or an attempt at some form of rehabilitation.

'What on earth made you behave that way', judge says

The judge opted for a youth rehabilitation order with a supervision order for 30 months after hearing that he will be housed at a specialist therapeutic unit for at least the next 18 months, where he is already engaging with the programme.

He said he had to "balance what a 13-year-old needs and what society needs when women are seriously accosted in the street for no reason".

Earlier, the court heard impact statements from each of the complainants which outlined how they had become fearful of going out after the attacks and suffered a range of mental health problems.

The judge also said he had heard details of how the boy’s parents had split after a period of "unhappiness", but his family life had been relatively normal.

He said he had been told that the youngster claimed he acted "out of anger and low mood" and how he had "feelings of hopelessness" but claimed the attacks were not motivated by sexual gratification.

Addressing the boy, the judge said: "Even as a 13-year-old, you have to look inside your head and try and work out what on earth made you behave that way."

The boy was found guilty of two counts of attempted rape and seven sexual assaults at Kidderminster Youth Court last month.

The attacks happened in December 2022 and January this year.

Detective Sergeant Chris Henry, from West Mercia Police, said: "Thankfully attacks such as these are rare but this case shows women everywhere that they take reassurance from the fact that we will not hesitate to act when they do."

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