The Prime Minister defended judges today after two Facebook users who tried to incite rioters to destroy their local towns were jailed for four years.
"I think it's right that we should allow the courts to make decisions about sentencing," said Mr Cameron.
"They decided in that court to send a tough sentence, send a tough message and I think it's very good that courts are able to do that."
"What happened on our streets was absolutely appalling behaviour and to send a very clear message that it's wrong and won't be tolerated is what the criminal justice system should be doing," he said during a visit to Cheshire to promote new enterprise zones.
The punishments were also welcomed by Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary.
"We need to understand that people for a while thought that this was a crime without consequence," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
"We cannot have people being frightened in their beds, frightened in their own homes, for their public safety.
"That's why these kind of exemplary sentences are necessary and I think the public would be rightly alarmed if that incitement to riot got off with just a slap on the wrist."
But yesterday MPs and penal reform groups attacked the Government’s calls for harsher sentencing for convicted rioters.
Baroness Hamwee, the Lib Dem’s home affairs spokeswoman in the Lords, said David Cameron's pledge of "zero tolerance" on criminality was not acceptable.
She told The Guardian that there should be "zero tolerance with zero tolerance".
David Ward, the Lib Dem MP for Bradford East, described plans to withdraw benefits from offenders as "nuts", while Tessa Munt, the MP for Wells, said the plans were "bonkers, bonkers, bonkers".
“Frankly, this all smacks of headline grabbing by Conservatives, not calm rational policy – making,” she said.
The Howard League for Penal Reform also warned against courts handing out disproportionate sentences after Jordan Blackshaw, 20, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, were jailed for four years each for inciting disorder, even though the riots they tried to plan never happened.
The men, both previously of good character, became the first to be sentenced by Crown Court judges for their involvement in the mass civil disobedience that swept England.
Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns for the Howard League, said: "The rush to send a message out is leading to some very bad sentences, which will be overturned on appeal.
"It will be a further drag on the court system, which is already struggling – and that's before considering the pressures on the prison system."
He added: "It's understandable that the courts are being asked to treat the public disturbances as an aggravating factor.
"However, I think what's not being borne in mind is another key principle of the justice system – that of proportionality.
"Sentences should reflect the seriousness of the offence.
"In the Facebook case, we're talking about four years' jail which would normally be associated with serious and violent offences.
"But in this case the police closed down the pages and it's very unclear the extent to which these were organising something or whether it was two young men putting stupid messages on Facebook."
Blackshaw, of Northwich, Cheshire, set up an event entitled "Smash Down Northwich Town", and Sutcliffe-Keenan, of Warrington, created the page "Let's Have a Riot in Latchford".
Both men pleaded guilty to intentionally encouraging another to assist the commission of an indictable offence under Sections 44 and 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
Neither Blackshaw nor Sutcliffe-Keenan were accused of rioting or looting themselves, yet the pair were given the lengthiest sentences so far in relation to the nationwide disorder.
Martin McRobb, Crown Advocate for CPS Merseyside and Cheshire, defended the sentences, saying the pages caused "significant panic and revulsion" to the people of Cheshire.
"Jordan Blackshaw and Perry Sutcliffe independently and from the safety of their homes may have thought that it would be acceptable to set up a Facebook page to incite others to take part in disorders in Cheshire," he said.
"They were wrong. They both used Facebook to organise and orchestrate serious disorder at a time when such incidents were taking place in other parts of the country."
Tough sentences were also handed out to three looters at Manchester Crown Court yesterday. They were among the first sent to jail by the Crown Courts for taking part in the mayhem which wreaked havoc on the streets last week.
Judge Andrew Gilbart, Recorder of Manchester, told the defendants the "outbursts" of criminal behaviour like the looting and rioting "must be met with sentences longer" than if they were committed in isolation.
David Beswick, 31, Stephen Carter, 26, both from Salford, and Michael Gillespie-Doyle, 18, from Tameside, all pleaded guilty at earlier hearings at Manchester magistrates' court to a variety of offences during the "unprecedented" large-scale disorder, the court heard.
The maximum sentence of six months in jail was deemed not long enough by the lower courts and their cases were fast-tracked to Manchester Crown Court.
The sentences came as the Home Secretary said no-go areas could be brought in to clear the streets in a bid to give police the powers they need to tackle future riots.
Theresa May said yesterday that she was considering whether more general curfew powers were needed to help prevent a repeat of last week's violence.
Victims will also be given the chance to speak out as ministers said the Government would be establishing an independent communities and victims panel to ensure those caught up in the trouble "can have their voice heard".
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg also said looters will be forced to wear orange suits and help to clean up areas hit by the disturbances as part of "riot payback schemes".
Mr Clegg promised yesterday that rioters without a job would be "met at the prison gates" to ensure they find work. Those involved in last week's riots should be both punished and "made to change their ways," he added.
Victims will also be given the right to confront those who tore up their neighbourhoods face – to – face to reinforce the message that the actions of rioters had consequences, Mr Clegg said.
The tough prison sentences handed down for attempting to organise riots were welcomed by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.
"We need to understand that people for a while thought that this was a crime without consequence," he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
"We cannot have people being frightened in their beds, frightened in their own homes, for their public safety.
"That's why these kind of exemplary sentences are necessary and I think the public would be rightly alarmed if that incitement to riot got off with just a slap on the wrist."
On Monday, senior judges denied that courts had been told to jail anyone convicted of being involved in last week's riots.
The Judicial Office said no directive had been issued and judges must consider many factors, including the punishment of offenders, the need to deter others and the need to protect the public, before passing sentence.
The statement followed reports that judges and magistrates had been told to give anyone involved in the rioting a custodial sentence.
Earlier, lawyers at Camberwell Green magistrates' court in south east London were reportedly told that magistrates had been asked to hand down a custodial sentence to anyone involved in the rioting.
But the Criminal Justice Alliance, which represents around 60 organisations, warned that simply jailing youngsters over their role in the riots risked turning opportunistic looters into hardened criminals.
The Ministry of Justice said custody was used for the most serious or persistent young offenders where it was necessary to protect the public.
Paul Mendelle QC, a former chair of the Criminal Bar Association, expressed concern that the courts were failing to heed guideline sentences laid down by the Court of Appeal.
"It appears that the courts are being urged to ignore those guidelines and somehow to throw the rule book out of the window and ramp up sentences. I find that unsettling and potentially unjust," he said.
"It is often said that justice delayed is justice denied, but justice rushed can be justice denied as well."
By Murray Wardrop taken from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8706549/England-riots-Coalition-split-as-Tories-defend-tough-sentences-for-Facebook-rioters.html
"We cannot have people being frightened in their beds, frightened in their own homes, for their public safety.
"That's why these kind of exemplary sentences are necessary and I think the public would be rightly alarmed if that incitement to riot got off with just a slap on the wrist."
But yesterday MPs and penal reform groups attacked the Government’s calls for harsher sentencing for convicted rioters.
Baroness Hamwee, the Lib Dem’s home affairs spokeswoman in the Lords, said David Cameron's pledge of "zero tolerance" on criminality was not acceptable.
She told The Guardian that there should be "zero tolerance with zero tolerance".
David Ward, the Lib Dem MP for Bradford East, described plans to withdraw benefits from offenders as "nuts", while Tessa Munt, the MP for Wells, said the plans were "bonkers, bonkers, bonkers".
“Frankly, this all smacks of headline grabbing by Conservatives, not calm rational policy – making,” she said.
The Howard League for Penal Reform also warned against courts handing out disproportionate sentences after Jordan Blackshaw, 20, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, were jailed for four years each for inciting disorder, even though the riots they tried to plan never happened.
The men, both previously of good character, became the first to be sentenced by Crown Court judges for their involvement in the mass civil disobedience that swept England.
Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns for the Howard League, said: "The rush to send a message out is leading to some very bad sentences, which will be overturned on appeal.
"It will be a further drag on the court system, which is already struggling – and that's before considering the pressures on the prison system."
He added: "It's understandable that the courts are being asked to treat the public disturbances as an aggravating factor.
"However, I think what's not being borne in mind is another key principle of the justice system – that of proportionality.
"Sentences should reflect the seriousness of the offence.
"In the Facebook case, we're talking about four years' jail which would normally be associated with serious and violent offences.
"But in this case the police closed down the pages and it's very unclear the extent to which these were organising something or whether it was two young men putting stupid messages on Facebook."
Blackshaw, of Northwich, Cheshire, set up an event entitled "Smash Down Northwich Town", and Sutcliffe-Keenan, of Warrington, created the page "Let's Have a Riot in Latchford".
Both men pleaded guilty to intentionally encouraging another to assist the commission of an indictable offence under Sections 44 and 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
Neither Blackshaw nor Sutcliffe-Keenan were accused of rioting or looting themselves, yet the pair were given the lengthiest sentences so far in relation to the nationwide disorder.
Martin McRobb, Crown Advocate for CPS Merseyside and Cheshire, defended the sentences, saying the pages caused "significant panic and revulsion" to the people of Cheshire.
"Jordan Blackshaw and Perry Sutcliffe independently and from the safety of their homes may have thought that it would be acceptable to set up a Facebook page to incite others to take part in disorders in Cheshire," he said.
"They were wrong. They both used Facebook to organise and orchestrate serious disorder at a time when such incidents were taking place in other parts of the country."
Tough sentences were also handed out to three looters at Manchester Crown Court yesterday. They were among the first sent to jail by the Crown Courts for taking part in the mayhem which wreaked havoc on the streets last week.
Judge Andrew Gilbart, Recorder of Manchester, told the defendants the "outbursts" of criminal behaviour like the looting and rioting "must be met with sentences longer" than if they were committed in isolation.
David Beswick, 31, Stephen Carter, 26, both from Salford, and Michael Gillespie-Doyle, 18, from Tameside, all pleaded guilty at earlier hearings at Manchester magistrates' court to a variety of offences during the "unprecedented" large-scale disorder, the court heard.
The maximum sentence of six months in jail was deemed not long enough by the lower courts and their cases were fast-tracked to Manchester Crown Court.
The sentences came as the Home Secretary said no-go areas could be brought in to clear the streets in a bid to give police the powers they need to tackle future riots.
Theresa May said yesterday that she was considering whether more general curfew powers were needed to help prevent a repeat of last week's violence.
Victims will also be given the chance to speak out as ministers said the Government would be establishing an independent communities and victims panel to ensure those caught up in the trouble "can have their voice heard".
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg also said looters will be forced to wear orange suits and help to clean up areas hit by the disturbances as part of "riot payback schemes".
Mr Clegg promised yesterday that rioters without a job would be "met at the prison gates" to ensure they find work. Those involved in last week's riots should be both punished and "made to change their ways," he added.
Victims will also be given the right to confront those who tore up their neighbourhoods face – to – face to reinforce the message that the actions of rioters had consequences, Mr Clegg said.
The tough prison sentences handed down for attempting to organise riots were welcomed by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.
"We need to understand that people for a while thought that this was a crime without consequence," he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
"We cannot have people being frightened in their beds, frightened in their own homes, for their public safety.
"That's why these kind of exemplary sentences are necessary and I think the public would be rightly alarmed if that incitement to riot got off with just a slap on the wrist."
On Monday, senior judges denied that courts had been told to jail anyone convicted of being involved in last week's riots.
The Judicial Office said no directive had been issued and judges must consider many factors, including the punishment of offenders, the need to deter others and the need to protect the public, before passing sentence.
The statement followed reports that judges and magistrates had been told to give anyone involved in the rioting a custodial sentence.
Earlier, lawyers at Camberwell Green magistrates' court in south east London were reportedly told that magistrates had been asked to hand down a custodial sentence to anyone involved in the rioting.
But the Criminal Justice Alliance, which represents around 60 organisations, warned that simply jailing youngsters over their role in the riots risked turning opportunistic looters into hardened criminals.
The Ministry of Justice said custody was used for the most serious or persistent young offenders where it was necessary to protect the public.
Paul Mendelle QC, a former chair of the Criminal Bar Association, expressed concern that the courts were failing to heed guideline sentences laid down by the Court of Appeal.
"It appears that the courts are being urged to ignore those guidelines and somehow to throw the rule book out of the window and ramp up sentences. I find that unsettling and potentially unjust," he said.
"It is often said that justice delayed is justice denied, but justice rushed can be justice denied as well."
By Murray Wardrop taken from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8706549/England-riots-Coalition-split-as-Tories-defend-tough-sentences-for-Facebook-rioters.html
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