I’m all for giving stiff sentences to those involved in last week’s rioting.
Nicking stuff from a shop during a riot is not the same as shoplifting. If you are part of the crowd, you are part of the force that intimidates the shopkeeper and prevents others from intervening. Even if you only steal a Mars Bar, you provide cover for those who steal the TV and the cash till. Therefore, you get a tougher sentence for nicking a Mars Bar during a riot than you do if you shoplift one on your way to school.
Having said all that, four years for trying to start a riot that never happened seems a bit harsh, especially when, on the same day, two university students (so so poverty excuses whatsoever) were only given three-and-a-half for threatening people at knifepoint and robbing them.
OK, perhaps four years for inciting a riot on Facebook is fair but, in that case, these two pieces of shit should have been given at least six.
“OK, perhaps four years for inciting a riot on Facebook is fair but, in that case, these two pieces of shit should have been given at least six.”
Yup, that’d be about right – nine would be better.