Global National Security Case Precedents: Six rioters in UK sentenced to total of 124 years

In August 2011, a series of riots occurred in the capital city of London, UK.

The spark of the riots was on August 4, 2011, when Mark Duggan, a 1982-born African-Caribbean man and father of four, was intercepted by the police while riding in a taxi on the streets of London. A gunfight erupted between the two sides, resulting in Duggan being hit by two bullets and dying on the street. The public took to the streets to protest against police brutality.

Over 100 young people set fire to police cars, public buses, and buildings along the streets, disrupting traffic and looting dozens of shops. The riots resulted in 35 police officers being injured.

The UK government immediately classified the unrest as riots following the outbreak of violence. It was reported in mid-August that some courts were advised by senior justice clerks to deal harshly with offenses committed during the disturbances. The advice was said to tell the courts that they could ignore existing sentencing guidelines and hand down heavy sentences.

On August 16, 2011, two young men who had set up a page on Facebook inciting violence and looting were sentenced to 4 years in prison to curb the use of social media platforms for incitement. In August 2012, 2138 people were convicted, with 1405 individuals receiving immediate imprisonment sentences. The length of their sentences was over four times longer than the average sentence for similar offenses in the year before the riots occurred in 2010.

The UK courts sentenced six rioters who attacked the police with firearms, with individual sentences ranging from 12 to 30 years. The total combined sentence for the six amounts to 124 years.

After the riots, the UK Parliament swiftly passed the Police Reform and Social Responsibility. Act 2011, which extensively restricted and regulated demonstrations in controlled areas such as Parliament Square, granting the police enhanced powers.

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