Wednesday, September 7, 2011

UK riots: Police chief blames soft sentencing - mirror.co.uk

UK riots: Police chief blames soft sentencing - mirror.co.uk

"BRITAIN’S top police chief yesterday blamed soft sentencing and sky-high reoffending rates for last month’s riots.

Tim Godwin, acting Metropolitan Police ­Commissioner, demanded that “courts prove crime has a ­consequence”.

He spoke as it was revealed 75% of those arrested in the riots had a ­criminal record, with 21% under 18 years old.

Mr Godwin told a Commons committee: “This is a wake-up call for the criminal justice system.

“We have been seeking to make justice more relevant – something we need to do. The amount of people with previous convictions poses questions.”

London Mayor Boris Johnson also demanded harsher sentencing, saying: “What was the key factor likely to make you riot? It was that you had a criminal record.”

The attacks came after Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said rioters came from a “feral underclass… from a broken penal system”, but rejected tougher sentences."

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/2011/09/07/uk-riots-police-chief-blames-soft-sentencing-

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