Former Home Office minister Jess Phillips has condemned the "unduly lenient" non-custodial sentences of three teenage boys who raped two girls in separate attacks.

Prosecutors said the assaults in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in 2024 and 2025, were "brazenly filmed" on phones and showed the boys laughing and encouraging each other. They later shared some of the footage online.

The boys, two aged 15 and one aged 14, were given youth rehabilitation orders (YRO) and the two older ones were also made subject to intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS).

Phillips, who served as minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls until her resignation earlier this month, said: "For those young women going through a rape trial like this will not have been a simple thing to do, it will have been many, many months if not years to achieve any sort of justice and I am afraid to say it sends a bad message."

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the Labour MP suggested social media had negatively influenced young boys.

"These young people it seems were essentially raping for content in order to put it on social media and share it to their friends gloating about raping these poor young women," she said.

"It seems unduly lenient to me and has wider public interest beyond just the case itself in the message that it sends," she said.

Warning: This story contains details some may find distressing

The boys, who cannot be named because they are children, had denied the charges but were found guilty in March after a trial at Southampton Crown Court.

Explaining his sentencing decision on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Rowland said he would avoid "criminalising" the "very young" boys.

The judge stressed the "seriousness" of the crimes and said the filming of the assaults made them even "more serious".

The first girl was 15 when she was raped three times in an underpass by the River Avon in Fordingbridge.

She had travelled to meet one of the boys for the first time after he had begun a "relationship" with her on social media platform Snapchat – but then two other boys appeared.

The second girl was 14 when she met the boys at Fordingbridge Recreation Ground and was raped repeatedly in a nearby field.

Video footage previously seen in court showed her lying motionless on the ground with "her face buried in her hands", while another boy was heard shouting words of encouragement.

Prosecutor Jodie Mittel KC said videos of the first incident were shared online leading to people to make jokes about the girl. She also received messages calling her a "slag".

Speaking in court on Thursday, screened from the view of the boys, she read a poem she had written which included the line: "All I want to do is die, I no longer have fear for when that comes."

In a statement read on behalf of the second victim, she described suffering nightmares and struggling to sleep, saying: "I feel ashamed, insecure and uncomfortable in my own body."

Phillips said that while rehabilitation of offenders was "vital", perpetrators should be able to be rehabilitated "within our youth estate".

The MP for Birmingham Yardley accused social media of playing a role in the rise of misogyny amongst young men.

"The truth is for about 10 years we have allowed young people, especially young boys, to be experimented on by social media companies…"

She said "very little" had been done in the last decade to see what effect violent pornography has had on young people and the victims in this case have "paid the price".

Phillips also invited the girls' families to contact her if they wanted help in challenging the sentences.

Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Donna Jones said on Thursday the sentences "offer little comfort to their victims".

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Ivan Toney has played only seven minutes of international football since Euro 2024

By the time the England World Cup squad was officially announced on Friday morning there had been more plot twists than an Agatha Christie novel.

While the likes of Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Maguire had that feeling of a rug being pulled out from under them, Ivan Toney represents one of manager Thomas Tuchel's big reveals.

The 30-year-old Al-Ahli forward has not featured for England for almost 12 months since making his only appearance under the German – and that was as an 88th-minute substitute in a defeat by Senegal at the City Ground.

So having been left out of the past four squads, why has Tuchel decided to bring the forward back in from the international wilderness?

The former Brentford striker was part of Gareth Southgate's squad at Euro 2024, when England lost in the final to Spain.

And he is expected to play a similar role this time, as a back-up to Harry Kane, with all three of his appearances in that tournament coming as a late substitute when England were chasing the game.

He also showcased his formidable penalty-taking qualities in the last eight, scoring from the spot in the shootout victory over Switzerland, when he found the net without looking at the ball as he stared down the keeper.

Toney's record of 36 goals in 85 Premier League games equates to almost a goal every other game and he has been even more prolific in the Saudi Pro League, where he has plundered 55 goals in 62 matches over two seasons.

For context, Portugal great Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 53 times in 60 appearances in the same competition.

"[It was] also a bit of a surprise to us [his inclusion]," said Tuchel. "When it came down to all different kinds of scenarios he was back in the picture.

"I had fantastic feedback from his club coach, who was my player, and I have a close connection with him, always fantastic feedback about his role there, about his ability, his fitness."

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This season, Toney finished second in the domestic scoring charts with 32 goals in 32 games – he evens boasts more assists and a better shot conversion rate than Bayern Munich forward Kane.

Just what those goals are worth outside Europe's top five leagues is yet to be seen, but on numbers alone his record stands up to scrutiny against any English striker around.

Given he is also one of only three centre-forwards selected by Tuchel, with Ollie Watkins also in the squad, it does not feel like a position that is overmanned given that 26 squad places were up for grabs.

Previous Three Lions squads at major tournaments have at times included four or five personnel for the exact same position.

The argument against his inclusion would ask why England need another forward aside from Kane and Watkins, given modern-day formational switches and a dearth of top-quality options for that position?

Detractors would also argue Toney's place should be used to accomodate another of those multi-talented number 10s who have been left behind.

However, former Chelsea and Paris St-Germain boss Tuchel could make a viable case for leaving behind Palmer and Foden, who have not hit previous heights in 2025-26.

Instead he has gone for a player brimming with confidence and one that is accustomed to dealing with the intense temperatures that England will encounter this summer at the tournament in the US, Mexico and Canada.

"We could see that he still collects the numbers. I think he has very special skills that could help us, the situations, scenarios when we are chasing a result," added Tuchel.

"I think he can be a very valuable addition to Harry Kane, he can be present in the box when we are pushing for a goal.

"He can take attention off other strikers, he has a natural presence within the box, he is a natural finisher, he can help us with set-pieces – he is very strong in there. Very good in using his body and not to forget, he is a world class penalty taker. He ticks some boxes that we wanted to be ticked."

The Three Lions, who reached the semi-finals in Russia in 2018 and the quarter-finals in Qatar four years ago, face Croatia in their opening Group L fixture on Wednesday, 17 June (21:00 BST).

Starting at Northampton, Toney moved to Newcastle but was sent out on six different loan spells before joining Peterborough. He scored in all four of the top divisions in English football before settling at Brentford in 2020.

Toney scored as Brentford beat Swansea 2-0 at Wembley to win promotion to the Premier League in 2021. And it was at the Bees where he peaked, with 20 league goals in the 2022-23 season.

Toney has, however, been a bit of a late bloomer. He was 27 years old when he won his first England cap. In comparison, Kane had 46 caps by that stage – while Wayne Rooney had 78.

His career has also been marked with controversy. In May 2023 he was banned from playing for eight months for 232 breaches of the Football Association's betting rules.

Toney scored on his return from his ban in a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest in January 2024 and then netted for the Three Lions in a March friendly draw with Belgium.

He was included in the England squad for Euro 2024 and played in the final against Spain, but was left out of the Brentford squad on his return because of transfer speculation.

Toney opted to join Al-Ahli in August 2024 for £40m. It was reported that his four-year-deal with the Saudi side would earn him £400,000 per week after tax.

Toney helped Al-Ahli defend their AFC Champions League Elite title this season

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President Donald Trump says the US will send an extra 5,000 troops to Poland, a week after the Pentagon cancelled a planned deployment of 4,000 troops to the country.

Writing on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Trump said the decision was based on the US's relationship with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom he backed during presidential elections last year and who is a long-time supporter of his.

Trump did not elaborate on whether the additional troops were part of the previous planned deployment or a different operation.

The Nato Secretary General welcomed the move ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers in Sweden.

Mark Rutte told reporters the trajectory towards Europe becoming less reliant on the US "will continue".

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the announcement "good news" for both countries, adding in a post on X: "I thank all those involved in this matter—President Nawrocki, the ministers, congressmen, and friends of Poland in the USA—for their effectiveness and unity of action."

The defence department abruptly said last week it was cancelling the deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland, but US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth later said it was "a temporary delay" and Washington would continue to ensure it "retains a strong military presence" in the country.

The White House has also signalled in recent weeks that it intends to reduce its overall troop levels in Europe as part of its "America First" agenda.

Rubio is expected to call for increased burden sharing from Washington's Nato partners at Friday's talks in Helsingborg.

Speaking to reporters ahead of them, he said: "The president's views are frankly disappointment at some of our Nato allies and their response to our operations in the Middle East.

"In the meantime there are other areas where we continue with cooperation," he added – citing the Poland announcement.

"That said, obviously the United States continues to have global commitments that it needs to meet in terms of our force deployment and that constantly requires us to re-examine where we put troops – this is not a punitive thing."

Earlier, the BBC asked Rubio about unconfirmed reports the US could shrink its total troop numbers available in the event of an attack on a Nato country.

He said "some of those issues" would be discussed at the summit, adding Trump remained very upset and disappointed with Nato allies.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has also welcomed the US decision to deploy additional troops to Poland, telling reporters: "It serves not only for Poland's security, but for the security of the whole alliance and so also for us. So, this is absolutely in our interest".

Earlier this month, the US announced it would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany after a row between Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the war with Iran.

It is unclear whether the additional troops for Poland were part of those withdrawing from Germany or a separate group.

Wadephul added on Friday that Germany was in "ongoing discussions" with the US about deploying long range missile systems in Germany.

"We are inviting the United States of America to stay to their previous plans," he added.

Several Republican lawmakers in the US have criticised Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Germany, saying it risked sending the wrong message to Russia.

The US military deployment in Germany is by far its biggest in Europe. Currently more than 36,000 troops are on active duty there compared to about 12,000 troops in Italy and 10,000 in the UK.

Trump previously criticised Merz over his suggestion the US had been "humiliated" by Iran during negotiations to end the conflict in the Middle East. The US president has also been critical of Nato allies for their unwillingness to join him in pressuring Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.

Rubio said on Friday there had been "slight progress" in negotiations on Iran, but did not expand with any details.

"We await word on those conversations that are ongoing […] I don't want to exaggerate it, but there's been a little bit of movement," he said.

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