British courts have been accused of resorting to “rough justice” under government pressure, with judges and magistrates handing out unduly harsh sentences to young people involved in the recent riots after being reportedly advised to “tear up” normal sentencing guidelines when dealing with convicted rioters.
MPs and rights activists expressed concern over “naming and shaming” of young offenders and giving them long sentences as part of the Conservative-led coalition's crackdown on rioters.
Figures showed that the number of people remanded in custody after being charged with rioting offences was more than six times the usual rate.
In by far the most controversial case, two men were sentenced to four years each in jail for “inciting” disorder by posting messages on Facebook though nobody responded to their calls and no riot took place.
The families of Jordan Blackshaw (20) and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan ( 22) said they were “shocked” by the length of the sentences — the longest handed to any rioter so far — and would be appealing.
A spokesman for campaign group, 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.”
In other cases, a 23-year-old student was jailed for six months for stealing water bottles worth £3.50 from a supermarket, and a woman sent to prison for five months for receiving a pair of stolen shorts.
Critics pointed to wide disparities in sentences being handed out by different courts for the same offences suggesting that some were being “swayed” by government pressure to take a hardline approach.
This was “distorting” the justice system, they said arguing that courts should impose similar sentences “whether you are sentenced in Birmingham, Bournemouth or Bradford”.
The Ministry of Justice said the sentencing decisions were “based on the individual circumstances of each case and offender”.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who has been criticised for his “knee-jerk” reaction to the riots, said it was good that courts were sending out a “tough message”.
“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,” he said.
