John O’Malley and William Nelson-Morgan; Adnan Ghaffour and Leanne Hodgson; Sameer Ali and Stacey Vint – some of the dozens of people who were arrested, charged, convicted and sentenced within days of taking part in the riots that swept across parts of the UK.
No delays in the police investigation for them, no waiting for the crown prosecution service (CPS) to make a charging decision and no adjournments in court. All cogs in the criminal justice machine working together, sending out a strong message of punishment and deterrence. Punch a police officer on Monday, hear the clang of the cell door on Friday.
The staggeringly long gap between crime and sentence weakens the impact of punishment and deterrence
It’s an impressive operation that has undoubtedly helped bring calm back to our streets. But it has taken leadership from the top of government, the CPS, police and the courts to make it happen, serving only to highlight that this is not ‘business as usual’. It
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