Riot criminals facing more time behind bars

Criminals who burgle shops or homes during any future riots will face longer behind bars under new sentencing guidelines for judges unveiled today.

The Sentencing Council, which aims to promote greater consistency among judges in England and Wales, said the guidelines were changed after the summer’s riots to make the context of general public disorder an aggravating factor in future burglaries.

It comes after the tough sentences handed out over the violence and looting in August prompted concerns judges were acting outside the established guidelines.

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For burglary, the average sentence for those involved in the riots was 14.1 months, compared with an average of 8.8 months last year, the latest Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures showed.

Under the new guidelines which will apply from January 16, burglars who commit their crimes in the context of future riots will see both the starting point of their sentence and the top of its possible range increase.

Offenders convicted of aggravated burglary with a firearm or other weapon, who would otherwise attract up to four years, would face up to nine years in jail if it happened in the context of a riot, the guidelines show.

Those guilty of domestic burglaries, usually attracting sentences of up to 26 weeks in jail, would attract a guideline sentence of up to two years during riots, while the top-of-the-range sentence for non-domestic burglaries would increase from 18 to 51 weeks in jail.

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Lord Justice Hughes, the council’s deputy chairman, added: “Burglary is often not simply a crime against property but may have a serious impact on people whose houses or businesses are invaded. Those who burgle people’s houses will normally go to prison.”

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