“Magistrates have denied accusations from the president of the Prison Governors Association that there has been a ‘feeding frenzy’ of disproportionate sentencing of those convicted in the aftermath of the recent riots.”
The Guardian, 29th August 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The leader of Britain’s prison governors accused magistrates of indulging in a sentencing ‘feeding frenzy’ as prisons near capacity. Eoin McLennan-Murray, president of the Prison Governors Association (PGA), said courts had shown ‘naked popularism’ in meting out tough justice after the riots.”
The Independent, 28th August 2011
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A military historian who faked an illustrious Army career has been jailed for three years.”
BBC News, 26th August 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A taxi driver sobbed as he received a suspended prison sentence today after a teenage passenger fell out of his moving vehicle and died.”
The Independent, 24th August 2011
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Unemployed offenders face a full week of unpaid work, including the possibility hard manual labour, under plans to toughen community penalties as an alternative to prison. Instructions will be issued to courts by the Ministry of Justice, urging them to make sure unemployed offenders sentenced to the ‘community payback’ programme work a minimum of 28 hours over a four-day week. They will spend the fifth day looking for work or face losing their jobseekers’ allowance.”
The Guardian, 24th August 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A primary school teacher who downloaded thousands of images of child sex abuse today escaped jail after telling a court it was a source of ‘comfort’ after being abused himself.”
The Independent, 23rd August 2011
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A 21-year-old man has been jailed for four months after posting an invitation to start a riot which appeared on Facebook for 20 minutes.”
BBC News, 23rd August 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Three men have been jailed at Southwark Crown Court for a total of 19 years in jail for a £27.5m boiler room fraud.”
BBC News, 22nd August 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Much controversy has been raised by the sentencing meted out to some of those charged with offences committed during the recent disorder. Many cases have already been sentenced either in the Magistrates’ Court. A lesser number of cases have been dealt with by the Crown Court. (Given the short time between committal to Crown Court and sentence, the latter would be guilty pleas).”
Legal Week, 22nd August 2011
Source: www.legalweek.com
“A woman was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years today for killing a 91-year-old man with a bottle of wine.”
The Independent, 22nd August 2011
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A minicab driver has been jailed for 11 years for raping and threatening to kill an 18-year-old woman in Surrey.”
BBC News, 22nd August 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A Hampshire man has received a 16-week jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, after he microwaved his pet cat.”
BBC News, 19th August 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A man who was caught trying to smother his dying father on a hospital ward after learning he had no chance of survival has been jailed for six and a half years.”
The Independent, 20th August 2011
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A woman who accepted a pair of looted shorts from her housemate has walked free from prison after her sentence was reduced on appeal.”
The Independent, 19th August 2011
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Today I am talking to John Cooper QC, a practising barrister at 25 Bedford Row, about the controversy which now rages in the press in relation to the sentences being handed down to rioters and looters. The issue of proportion, parity and comparison with sentences given for so called ‘white collar crime’ by MPs, peers and bankers is examined in detail.”
Charon QC, 18th August 2011
Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com
“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.
“The courts are handing down prison sentences to convicted rioters that are on average 25% longer than normal, according to an exclusive Guardian analysis of 1,000 riot-related cases dealt with so far by magistrates.”
The Guardian, 18th August 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The sentencing council, which produces guidelines for judges, will discuss the lengths of prison terms handed down to rioters amid claims that some sentences have been disproportionately harsh.”
The Guardian, 18th August 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“When people are rightly angry it’s the duty of the courts to punish more severely – but not to do as the government tells them.”
The Guardian, 18th August 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Crown courts could face a glut of appeals in response to the speed at which defendants were dealt with last week, when some magistrates’ courts worked through the night to process defendants.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 18th August 2011
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
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