Just days after the riots in Great Britain, several people have already been sentenced. Children under the age of 12 have been found guilty.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was attorney general before he became a politician. He promised a tough response to those involved in the violent riots of recent weeks. They noticed.

Entire prisons with liberated cells. The judicial system actually has long lines. But now sentences are constantly coming out for people who attacked the police, set fire to an asylum hotel or encouraged xenophobic acts online.

The sentences also cover less serious cases. Children under 12 are at risk of being punished in juvenile courts. A 13-year-old girl was convicted Tuesday of threatening or participating in violence during what are described as right-wing riots, she wrote. Times.

Throwing stones or spreading lies

Police identify people over 18 by photo, name and place of residence. They warn that they risk up to 10 years in prison. Chief Public Prosecutor.

As of Wednesday, at least 120 people had been sentenced, according to the report. BBC:

• A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to 22 months in prison for taking part in violent riots, throwing stones at police and throwing a vacuum cleaner through a window.
• A 41-year-old man has been jailed for two years and eight months for his part in the attack on a refugee hotel in Rotherham.
• A 30-year-old man was sentenced to four and a half months in prison for raising a stick at a counter-protester.
• A 28-year-old man wrote on Facebook that “every man and his dog” should attack a refugee hotel in the city he lives in. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

Pushing trash can towards police

Videos that have been circulating on social media were shown to the court. One shows a 34-year-old woman and a man rushing to push a burning basket towards police in Middlesbrough. The woman trips and falls.

In court, the homeless woman said she was under the influence of drugs and was just supposed to shake the man’s hand. She said there was no racial motive behind it. The judge believed her. But she pointed out that the scale of the riot she was involved in, and the terror she unleashed, was significant. The mother of five was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

On social media, far-right people have been spreading claims that those who took part in the riots are being punished more harshly than people from minority backgrounds. This is something that police and politicians reject.

Fast Track Courts

Anti-immigration riots began after three young girls were stabbed to death at a dance school in Southport on July 29.

Erik Mustad is a senior lecturer in English at the University of Agder. He believes that the authorities are quick to judge in order to set an example. And it seems to have been effective.

The government has created a fast track in the judicial system to convict those who confess on the spot.

Eric Mustad

Senior Lecturer at University of Agder

“The sentences were very strong compared to what you might expect to get for participating in demonstrations or riots,” Mustad says.

Meanwhile, the riots have subsided.

“At the moment, it seems to have a protective effect. But we can never rule out that it will lead to more anger,” Mustad says of the swift condemnations.

Experts The Guardian I spoke to him, he warns, and it can go very quickly. Criminal law expert Hannah Quirk tells the paper that some people love rioting and have disgusting motivations. – Others are vulnerable and just get away with it, she says.

But what about the reasons?

Both Mustad and many British commentators believe that quick judgments only solve the problem in the short term. The extent to which Prime Minister Keir Starmer succeeds in solving the causes of the riots will be measured, political commentator Joe Pike wrote in his article. BBC.

The riots targeted, among other things, asylum hotels, immigration centres and mosques. Joe Pike writes that the government may not have any discussion about immigration now, for fear of being seen as legitimising the riots.

But he believes it will be part of the discussion going forward. He points out that many of the 22 cities that saw riots are poorer than average and have more asylum seekers than average.

– It can lead to more anger.

Erik Mustad says a “mixture” of measures is needed to do something about the discontent behind the protests. It’s about welfare, poverty, immigration and redistribution. He believes Starmer and the government will address this in the next phase.

He believes the authorities should talk to those who make noise. Mustad says the “centrist elite” see them as extremists.

– But they themselves see themselves as marginalized. Mustad says that excluding these groups is the most dangerous thing they do.