Seriously, five months for handling a pair of stolen shorts and stealing a bottle of water!
It states in today's Guardian that convicted rioters are getting 25 % longer prison sentences than they normally would at a magistrates court. Also, 70 % of rioters are imprisoned, 2 % is the usual figure for a magistrates court. They would usually get community service or a fine, the sentences are disproportianate to their crimes.
Our prisons are already far too overcrowded, why make the situation worse? Sending them to prison isn't the answer to everything! Why not get them on Schemes such as the operation in Boston, America where gangs are given help to find jobs and education, providing they abide by the law.
Oh,and I suppose the riots aren't linked with poverty when the statistics suggest they are. 66 % of rioters are from areas in decline, 41 % are from the top ten most deprived areas in the country in terms of child poverty, educational attainment and employment prospects. The Tories really do need to wake up and adress a) the root causes of the issues and b) to actually adress them rather than come up with some tosh saying they can help 120,000 of our most troubled families!
It is a good read by the way in the ever reliable Guardian newspaper, even if it is very much left wing.
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