Rioters behind the worst of the violence and destruction in last week’s wave of disorder face years in prison, as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper promises a “reckoning” for those involved in the violence.
Buildings including a food bank, a library, and a Citizens Advice Bureau were set on fire, police officers were attacked, and shops were looted during six days of disorder in towns and cities across England.
Trouble first broke out in the wake of a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed children’s dance class in Southport in which three young girls died, when misinformation spread online about the identity of the attacker and protests turned to violence.
On Saturday afternoon, there were clashes in cities including Manchester, Leeds, Hull, Nottingham and Belfast, while far right thugs pelted police officers with bricks and bottles in Liverpool.
Spellow Hub, a library in the Merseyside city which supports people into education and employment, was set on fire, while a Shoe Zone store in Hull was also torched.
Rioters have been caught on camera smashing windows of shops and looting goods from inside, mosques and Islamic centres have been targeted, while a Citizens Advice Bureau in Sunderland was set ablaze by a group who had congregated at the police station next door.
On Sunday, a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham which houses asylum seekers and migrants was targeted by a far-right mob, who threw chairs at riot police and set bins and furniture on fire.
‘There will be a reckoning’
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who is in charge of law and order, has promised “swift justice” for rioters, with suggestions that courts could sit through the night if necessary to deal with those accused.
“Make no mistake: there will be a reckoning for the individuals who took part in this violence, those who whipped them up on social media and in online chat forums, and those who have felt emboldened by this moment to stir up racial hatred”, she wrote in The Times on Monday.
“Whatever they and some of their political supporters may tell us, these are not patriots standing up for their communities. They are thugs, criminals and extremists who betray the values our country is built on.”
She said police forces have been backed by government to take the “strongest possible action against every level of perpetrator”, while the number of prosecuting lawyers on call have been increased.
“There must and will be consequences for the damage these thugs have done, and they will be paying the price for years to come”, she added.
On Sunday, the Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson promised “severe consequences” and said CPS prosecutors are working “around the clock” to bring cases to court.
2011 riots led to tough sentences
The disorder echoes the 2011 riots, which spread from a protest about the shooting of Mark Duggan by police in Tottenham to disorder across London, and then to cities across England over the course of four August days.
Looter Gordon Thompson received one of the toughest sentences in the aftermath of the riots, as he was locked up for 11-and-a-half years for setting fire to the family-run furniture store House of Reeves in Croydon.
Thompson had confessed "it was me" as he walked away from the blaze, and he was convicted of an arson attack which caused £3million in damage.
The sentencing judge at the Old Bailey condemned Thompson for a “deliberate, willful act of shocking, dangerous vandalism” – words that could be echoed in courts in 2024 after last week’s disorder.
The 2011 riots also saw tough sentences for people who only played a minor role in the breakdown in law and order.
Student Nicolas Robinson was jailed for six months for stealing a £3.50 bottle of water from a looted Lidl supermarket while he was walking home from his girlfriend's house.
In total, 2,158 people were convicted of involving in the 2011 riots, leading to prison sentences totalling more than 1,800 years.
Inciting violence online ‘is being pursued’
The 2011 riots proved difficult for police forces to contain as they were fuelled in part by fast-changing information being shared on social media.
Police forces investigating last weeks’ disorder are said to be actively investigating people encouraging violence and criminality online.
In 2011, in a sign of the tough sentences available to courts, two men who used Facebook to incite disorder were both jailed for four years.
Jordan Blackshaw and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan admitted their involvement, even though the actions they had called for did not actually take place.
The men lost appeals against the sentences, when then Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge said: “The imposition of severe sentences, intended to provide both punishment and deterrence, must follow.”
He added: "It is a sinister feature of these cases that modern technology almost certainly assisted rioters in other places.
"What both these appellants intended was to cause very serious crime. All this was incited at a time of sustained countrywide mayhem.”
Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Monday, Ms Cooper said: “Social media companies need to take some responsibility, we also need to make sure that criminal activity online is being pursued.”
The CPS is likely to be looking at possible offences under the Public Order Act 1986, including incitement to commit an offence including rioting.
Tough penalties for rioters
Criminal charges have already been brought against some of those accused of involvement in the disorder.
Merseyside Police said Gareth Metcalfe, 44, and John O’Malley, 43, both of Cambridge Gardens in Southport, are accused of violent disorder last Tuesday, while a 14-year-old boy from Toxteth is accused of violent disorder in Liverpool city centre on Saturday when police officers had fireworks set off in their direction.
Adam Wharton, 28, and Ellis Wharton, 22, of Selwyn Street, Walton, have both been charged with burglary at the Spellow Hub library. Wharton is also accused of assault on an emergency worker.
The offence of violent disorder carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison, with the toughest penalties reserved for those who are armed, use petrol bombs, lead the violence, and and target people in a mob attack. If someone is charged with rioting, the maximum penalty is ten years in prison.
Looters will face a burglary charge with a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison, and judges in 2011 imposed lengthy prison terms to send a deterrent message.
Prosecutors will also be considering arson charges for those responsible for the fires last week. Arson carried a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
