Sentences in reaction to the riots
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Statement in reaction to some of the sentences being handed down in the courts in relation to the riots and disturbances last week
Speaking in reaction to some of the sentences being handed down in the courts in relation to the riots and disturbances last week, Director of Campaigns for the Howard League for Penal Reform, Andrew Neilson, said: “While it is understandable that the courts have been asked to treat the public disturbances as an aggravating factor, this should be balanced against a key principle of criminal justice, that of proportionality. The danger is that some of these sentences are disproportionate and indeed devalue our response to more serious crimes.
“We know the courts are swamped with cases, and handing down hurried and overly punitive sentences will only result in many criminal appeals, which will act as a further drag on the system. Beyond the impact on the courts, we have prisons which are already over-brimming and will struggle to manage this influx of people.
“Clearly people have committed serious offences and prison sentences shall be handed out. But more generally, we have doubled our prison population since the mid-1990s and seen tougher and tougher measures introduced each year, with an abundance of criminal justice legislation.
“Yet despite all this, the outcome of being ‘tough on crime’ was some of the worst street disturbances seen in decades. That alone tells us that the answers to our problems do not lie within the criminal justice system.”
