Rioters are set to be released less than half through their sentence under the Government’s scheme to tackle overcrowding, despite Labour boasting of their tough approach against far-right thugs.
Ministers announced last month that inmates would be freed after serving 40 per cent of their sentence, compared to 50 per cent previously.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the rule would not apply to violent offenders serving more than four years, sex offenders, or those in prison for crimes connected to domestic abuse.
However, all the rioters sentenced as of yesterday have received less than the four year limit, meaning they will be eligible for release at the 40 per cent mark.
Riot thugs have been jailed for a total of 32 years so far, with the longest sentence handed to Derek Drummond, 58, for punching a police officer in the face during a riot in Southport. Under the scheme, he could be out in just over a year.
It comes as –
Ministers vow they will remain ‘vigilant’ over threat of far-right thugs amid fears of fresh riots as football season begins tonight;
Teenager, 19, who was at the front of far-right mob pelting riot police with stones, bottles and cans and chanting Tommy Robinson’s name is jailed;
Tommy Robinson posts video of himself eating lamb dish in Athens after taunting police in Cyprus by revealing he’d already left luxury hotel;
Thousands of police officers remain on high alert despite most of Wednesday’s 100 far-right demonstration failing to materialise.
Sir Keir Starmer has said the sentences are evidence of the ‘swift action’ that authorities are taking against far-right thugs.
But Tom Tugendhat, a Tory leadership candidate, told the Telegraph: ‘This demonstrates very clearly that Labour say one thing when they are campaigning and do another thing when they are in office.
‘We have seen a level of criminality across the country that needs addressing, and these are serious crimes.’
A Ministry of Justice source noted to that there would be further exemptions to the early release programme, including those found guilty of arson or terrorism – which some rioters could be charged with.
Ms Mahmood announced earlier this week that an extra 500 prison places would be introduced to house rioters, and has blamed the previous Government for leaving prisons overcrowded and ‘at the brink of collapse’.
The MOJ source added that a new houseblock would start accommodating prisoners at HMP Stocken in Rutland from next week, while new cells at HMP Cookham Wood, which has been ‘repurposed’ from a young offenders’ institution, would ‘come online’ in the coming weeks.
Some 17 people were convicted yesterday and sentenced to a combined total of 32 years. In a rare move normally reserved for the most serious murder cases, two of yesterday’s verdicts were even televised.
Sir Keir vowed there would be ‘no let up’ in tackling the disorder that exploded after the Southport stabbings last week.
Last night police said 483 people had been arrested and 149 charged – a quarter of whom are under the age of 21.
Some 104 officers have been injured and millions of pounds of damage is believed to have been caused.
Dozens more defendants face court hearings today.
The violence exploded after the killings of three little girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Merseyside on July 29. Misinformation about the suspect, who was born in Cardiff to Christian parents, quickly spread online amid claims he was an asylum seeker who had arrived by small boat.
Fuelled by fake news, racist mobs rampaged through towns and cities across the UK for several days.
However, on Wednesday, counter-protesters dwarfed the number from the far-Right – leading to hopes of a ‘turning point’. But police said they remained vigilant last night amid fears of another 20 demonstrations in the coming days.
Last night Sir Keir chaired his third COBRA meeting of the week, where he reportedly told officials the country needs to remain on ‘high alert’.
The Prime Minister told reporters: ‘Anybody involving themselves in disorder, whatever they claim [is] their motive, will feel the full force of the law.’ Saying that the sentences yesterday ‘sent a very powerful message’, he added: ‘It is important that we don’t let up here.’
After Scotland Yard launched a series of dawn raids yesterday morning, chief Sir Mark Rowley said: ‘What I want to make really clear is those we’ve arrested aren’t protesters, patriots or decent citizens. They’re thugs and criminals.’
Last night Home Secretary Yvette Cooper praised a ‘really strong’ response to the riots from police and ‘right across the criminal justice system’. She added: ‘We said from the start that criminals, thugs, would pay the price for the kind of violence and disorder that we have seen on the streets.’
She also pledged to crack down on those inciting violence and spreading misinformation online, adding: ‘We have police officers across the country who are continuing to pursue those online cases, as well as the cases [on] the streets.’
Sentencing some of the thugs in Liverpool yesterday, Judge Andrew Menary hit out at the ‘baying mob’ who rioted in Southport within hours of a peaceful vigil for the victims last Wednesday.
Saying they had ‘disgraced and damaged’ the town’s reputation, he added: ‘It is estimated that there were about 1,000 so called ‘protesters’, though quite what they were ‘protesting’ about remains a mystery to many. This was large scale and very violent criminal activity made much worse by the fact that it was happening only a day after entirely different, utterly tragic events.’
Merseyside Police said the last of eight children seriously injured in the holiday club stabbing had been discharged from hospital yesterday.
The family of the unnamed girl condemned the violence, saying: ‘We were deeply saddened by the recent disorder and the attacks on our police force.
‘It is important to highlight that, when the horrific events unfolded, our police officers were the first on the scene. We are immensely grateful to the officers who stood by our daughter’s side, providing assistance and support.’
The grandfather of six-year-old victim Bebe King also called for calm. Michael Weston King, 62, wrote on social media: ‘I won’t comment on what has happened around the country in the aftermath, other than to say peace, love and understanding is what we need, and it is all we need. Nothing else.’
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘The Government has brought in over 500 new prison places early, to ensure there is a cell waiting for everyone involved in the recent disorder and thuggery.
‘The Lord Chancellor was forced to introduce the emergency capacity measures last month, to address the prison crisis the Government inherited.’