British premier backs tough sentences for rioters

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British premier backs tough sentences for rioters

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British Prime Minister David Cameron has welcomed the tough punishment for the rioters.

19 August,2011 04:45 am

British Prime Minister David Cameron Wednesday welcomed the tough punishment meted out to rioters by the courts as controversy erupted over lengthy prison terms for two men convicted of trying to incite a riot using Facebook.Its up to the courts to make decisions about sentencing. But theyve decided to send a tough message, and its very good that the courts feel able to do that, Cameron said.Courts across England have held round-the-clock sessions to deal with the approximately 1,300 cases brought before them since the unprecedented wave of rioting, arson and looting in London and other cities last week.Nearly 2,800 people have been arrested so far. In London alone, about 1,000 people have been charged in connection with the riots.Jordan Blackshaw, 20, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, were each sentenced to four years for trying to incite a riot using Facebook, although the events they attempted to organize did not actually take place. The sentences were the longest handed out so far in the hundreds of speedy court convictions.Both men pleaded guilty to intentionally encouraging another to assist the commission of an indictable offence under sections 44 and 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, the prosecution said.The judge said that, even though the mens call for violence and rioting was not taken up, the sentences were meant to act as a deterrent in the wake of the riots.A spokesman for the prosecution said the Facebook posts had caused significant panic and revulsion in local communities as rumors of anticipated violence spread.However, civil rights and penal reform groups have criticized some of the sentences handed down as disproportionate and blamed politicians for creating a hysterical atmosphere in their desire to see the rioters brought to justice.Cameron has said that everyone convicted in connection with the rioting should go to prison. His deputy, Liberal leader Nick Clegg, has suggested a riot payback scheme under which looters, wearing orange suits, would be forced to help clean up areas hit by the disturbances.