The court of appeal will review the non-custodial sentences given to three teenage boys for the rape of two girls, Keir Starmer has announced.

The boys, two of whom were 15 and one 14 at the time of sentencing, were given youth rehabilitation orders after the judge in the case said he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily” and support their reintegration into society.

The decision prompted a public outcry, with the MP Jess Phillips, the former minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, claiming the sentences were “unduly lenient” and sent a “bad message”. One of the victims said the outcome felt like a “rock straight in my face”.

The office of the attorney general, Richard Hermer KC, previously said it had received multiple complaints about the judge’s decision under the unduly lenient sentences scheme.

The prime minister said on Tuesday that it had been decided to refer the decision to the court of appeal, which will review the sentences to determine whether they are appropriate.

Starmer said: “There are questions about the sentence. The attorney general has power to refer a case to a court of appeal if the attorney general thinks that the sentence is too lenient. The attorney general has now exercised that power. So I can announce that case now will go to a court of appeal … and that is clearly the right outcome.”

The prime minister said the case was “really distressing” and that the courage of the girls who came forward about it was humbling.

“I think it’s distressing for everybody to see, to hear about,” he said. “The courage, frankly, of the girls to come forward is humbling, but it is distressing. I find it distressing as a politician. I find it distressing as a father.”

Hermer, whose office said the victims had been informed earlier of the decision, said: “There has understandably been a huge amount of public interest, and concern, at this horrific case. I directed my officials to work urgently, to allow me to consider this decision swiftly, and to begin to bring closure to the victims and their families.

“It is clear to me from their powerful personal statements that these girls have displayed immense bravery in coming forward. There is an epidemic of violence against women and girls in this country, and this government will not hesitate in taking action to ensure all women and girls feel safe and have confidence in the justice system.”

The sentences relate to the rape of two girls in separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January last year.

In the first attack, a 15-year-old girl was raped by two of the defendants, both aged 14 at the time.

In the second attack, the three boys threatened a 14-year-old girl with a knife and two of them took it in turns to rape her while the others encouraged and filmed the offending.

The boys were sentenced at Southampton crown court on 21 May, when the two 15-year-olds were each given a three-year youth rehabilitation order and intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS). The 14-year-old boy was given an 18-month youth rehabilitation order.

The court heard that one of the 15-year-old defendants had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as well as “longstanding anxiety”, while the other had an IQ in the “bottom 1% of his contemporaries” and had been diagnosed with ADHD. The 14-year-old was described as having “mild cognitive impairment”.

In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, the victim of the first attack asked: “What was the point in putting me through that?”

Speaking anonymously alongside her family, the girl, now 16, said the judge’s decision “almost 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”.

The Hampshire police and crime commissioner, Donna Jones, said the sentences were “far too lenient”.