Rioting yobs left crying in court deserve draconian punishments beyond just jail: Andrew Vine

At least one of the rioters cried out for his mother as he was led away from the dock to the van bound for prison.

Not such a big, tough guy now, eh? Not like when him and the rest were chucking bricks at police officers, or trying to burn down a Rotherham hotel full of terrified people, or turning respectable residential streets into battlegrounds.

Nothing proclaims so loudly the contemptible and cowardly nature of these people than their sobbing at being held to account.

How very different these tears are from those shed in traumatised communities, especially Southport, where the depth of grief for three children murdered at their dance class is unimaginable.

Nobody should have a shred of sympathy for those weeping in the dock.

There’ll be more of them this week, as the dawn raids batter down doors and police drag out those identified from video footage of riots.

And the behaviour of the guilty in the dock exposed as pathetic inadequates is not only testament to the rapid and resolute response of the government and criminal justice system to rioting. It points the way towards stamping it out altogether.

What we’re seeing – the shell-shocked expressions in the mugshots and the crying – is that when these people are separated from the mob and the social media rabble-rousers urging them onto the streets, they collapse like a punctured balloon. All the aggression and bravado vanish.

There have been concerns in the past couple of weeks that the rioters are coalescing into some form of organised threat to civil society.

They aren’t. The images of hunched and broken figures being carted off to jail for between two and five years tell us that. And they are arguably one of the most effective weapons the government has in stopping any further unrest.

Sir Keir Starmer is right when he reiterates that swift sentencing is a powerful deterrent, but the impact of jailings can be made even greater if the social media that bears so much responsibility for causing unrest is turned back onto those tempted to take to the streets.

It can’t be beyond the ability of the government to get these sentences and the accompanying mugshots onto the same social media forums that have recruited rioters, with the unsettling message that the next one in the dock could be you.

No mob will come to the rescue. You’re on your own. The knock at the door is the police. Days later, you’ll be in a cell, your job lost if you had one, any future career wrecked, a criminal conviction following you around.

That’s a powerful incentive not to get involved, and its impact will be redoubled for popping up on social media feeds which would-be rioters follow.

We’ve just been through an election in which attack adverts on social media were used to make the public think.

Now it is time to target similarly punchy messages at the feeds trying to incite violence.

There are other measures the government could – and should – take. It should not shy away from deliberately making the lives of those convicted over rioting as uncomfortable as possible.

If they are in receipt of any benefits, they should be stopped immediately. If they have driven to join a riot, their licences should be revoked. Passports could be confiscated so they can wave goodbye to any future family holidays.

Lifetime banning orders from football matches should also be imposed, as it has become clear that groups of hooligans who connect on social media are one of the most fertile recruiting grounds for rioters.

We would do well to follow France, the Netherlands and Switzerland in introducing a ban on face coverings around public buildings.

All three countries have experienced what we have witnessed on our streets – far-right thugs trying to disguise their identities, and prohibiting masks enables the police to move in and arrest those wearing them before trouble gets under way.

Draconian? Maybe, but we shouldn’t concern ourselves about hitting this minority of louts as hard as possible. They forfeit any civil liberties the moment a brick is picked up or abuse screamed at someone from a different background.

These people need to have it drilled through their thick heads that the penalties for putting people in fear for their lives, injuring police officers and destroying property go much farther than a term in prison. They should be left in no doubt that there will be a whole lot more than just jail to cry over.