Far-right thugs taking part in riots in Britain were warned by a minister on Tuesday that they face prison sentences of up to ten years.
Courts minister Heidi Alexander stressed that hundreds more jail places were being fast-tracked into use so individuals found guilty of public disorder and other offences can be locked up.
She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Decisions about sentencing when these cases come to the courts will be for judges.
“But anyone watching our television screens and seeing the images that you and I have seen of this violent disorder, the racist attacks, the dangerous extremism, will realise that in all likelihood there are some very serious offences that have been committed.
“It will be for the Crown Prosecution Service to determine what charges are brought against individuals, evidence will need to be collated so that there are strong cases going before the courts and then it will be judges to determine those sentences.
“But whether it is rioting, violent disorder, incitement to racial hatred, criminal damage, these carry very significant maximum sentences.”
Pressed on how long there sentences could be, she added: “Ten years, seven years, five years for some of the offences that I’ve just spoken about.”
The maximum jail term for rioting is ten years.
Asked if rioters could be charged under terrorism laws, the minister said: "Charging decisions are for the Crown Prosecution Service. There will be a range of offences that have been committed, as I said both on the streets and online."
She also rejected claims that people might escape swift justice due to a lack of prison places in the country.
“We will make sure that anyone who is given a custodial sentence as a result of the riots and disorder, there will be a prison place waiting for them,” she told BBC radio.
“What we have been able to do in the last week since the problems have arisen is that we have been able to bring forward some additional prison places that we had been due to bring on stream later in the month.
“There are 567 additional prison places.”
Asked whether there were enough lawyers to deal with the amount of prosecutions coming forward, and the possibility courts could sit through the night, the justice minister told Times Radio: “I think we will make it work, because these are extraordinary circumstances and we need to be delivering swift justice.”
It comes after trouble in Plymouth, Belfast, Darlington and Birmingham on Monday evening.
She also revealed more detail about the planned “standing army” of police officers, telling Times Radio: “These are police officers who have had specialist training in dealing with public order offences.
“We had 4,000 available at the weekend. There will be another 2,000 available this week. It also means that police officers are able to be deployed in parts of the country where they are needed most.”
There have been at least 378 arrests since the violence broke out last week, with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) warning the total is expected to rise each day.
Several suspects faced charges in court on Monday, with more on Tuesday, as ministers seek to deliver “swift justice” to stamp out the riots.
Currently, the riot cases are being dealt with in normal court time.
Many of those charged took part in Far-right protests but there have also been violent scenes at some counter-demonstrations.
Judiciary chiefs have signalled that they are prepared to sit for far longer into weekends and the night if needed to rush cases through magistrates’ courts, and to crown courts.
This would involve bringing into force the Additional Courts Protocol which means sittings could take place 24 hours a day.
Although several cases were already in motion, questions were being raised about how quickly this would happen in reality as it emerged some suspects will not face court for weeks.
Staffordshire Police said two people charged over disorder in Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday were not due in court for more than a fortnight, and others accused of being involved in unrest in Bristol are not due to face court until September, Avon and Somerset Police said.
Elsewhere, defendants were brought before magistrates in Belfast, Sheffield, Liverpool and South Tyneside in the latest wave of court appearances.
