PM defends 'tough' riot sentences handed out by courts

Prime Minister David Cameron has defended courts for handing out tough sentences for those involved in the riots across England.

Some MPs and campaigners say some sentences on the more than 1,200 people who have been in court are too harsh.
On Tuesday, two men were jailed for four years for using Facebook to incite riots. One of them, Jordan Blackshaw, 21, is to appeal against his sentence.
But the PM said it was good that the courts were sending a "tough message".
Speaking in Warrington, he said: "It's up to the courts to make decisions about sentencing, but they've decided to send a tough message and it's very good that the courts feel able to do that."

Blackshaw, of Marston, Cheshire, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, of Warrington, also Cheshire, were jailed for four years each after admitting using Facebook to incite disorder, although none actually resulted.

Defence solicitor Chris Johnson said Blackshaw and his family "are somewhat shocked by the sentence and he will be appealing".

The Recorder of Chester, Judge Elgan Edwards, said he hoped the sentences, which carried maximum sentences of 10 years, would act as a deterrent to others.
Andrew Neilson, of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "A four-year sentence would normally be associated with offences such as holding someone up at knife point, grievous bodily harm, sexual assault, and I'm not sure that the offence in question was really related to those types of offences."
He added that over-sentencing would see more appeals and that the courts and prisons would struggle to cope.
In a statement, the Ministry of Justice stressed that the magistrates and judges were independent of government.
A spokesman added: "Their sentencing decisions are based on the individual circumstances of each case and offender.
"That is why different offenders may be given different sentences for what might appear to be similar crimes. To provide a consistent base for these decisions an independent body of experts, the Sentencing Council, set guidelines for them to use."
Meanwhile, the Courts and Tribunals Service says legal clerks in court have been advising magistrates to "consider whether their powers of punishment are sufficient in dealing with some cases arising from the recent disorder".
Magistrates are able to refer cases to crown courts which have tougher sentencing powers.

'Collective hysteria'

BBC legal correspondent Clive Coleman said the sentences being handed out across the country for offences of dishonesty such as theft, burglary and receiving stolen goods, suggested there were disparities between courts.

                                                                                               

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have visited areas of London hit by the riots

The courts should impose similar sentences "whether you are sentenced in Birmingham, Bournemouth or Bradford" but what the public was seeing may just be a "distorted version of the normal system", our correspondent said.
In another case, David Beswick, 31 from Salford was sentenced to 18 months in prison for handling stolen goods.
Our legal correspondent said under normal circumstances Beswick would have been given a mid-range community sentence.
His friend Tony Whitaker said the punishment was disproportionate, given that he had pleaded guilty straight away.
The former chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Paul Mendelle QC, told BBC 5 live: "When people get caught up and act out of character, in a similar way, there is a danger that the courts themselves may get caught up in a different kind of collective hysteria - I'm not suggesting violence or anything like that - but in purporting to reflect the public mood actually go over the top and hand out sentences which are too long and too harsh."
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We need to understand that people for a while thought that this was a crime without consequence - we cannot have people being frightened in their beds, frightened in their own homes for their public safety.

"That is why these kind of exemplary sentences are necessary. I think people would be rightly alarmed if that incitement to riot got off with just a slap on the wrist."

So far, more than 2,770 people have been arrested in connection with last week's riots.
By Tuesday afternoon, 1,277 suspects had appeared in court and 64% had been remanded in custody. In 2010 the remand rate at magistrates for serious offences was 10%.
On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police announced that it has charged 1,005 people after 1,733 arrests over the rioting that swept through the capital. The force has a target of 3,000 convictions.
The force's Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin said the investigation was "far from over".

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