Courts To Hear London Riot Sentence Appeals

The London riots are back in focus with the news of imminent legal challenges by some of those convicted after the huge and widespread street violence took place across many parts of England.

They will include challenges by two men who were jailed for four years for setting up facebook pages said to be inciting others to riot.

A Judicial Office spokesman confirmed that 10 cases stemming from the rioting and looting in several English cities have so far been listed in the Court of Appeal for Tuesday next.

The names of all those seeking to appeal their sentences will formally be confirmed on Monday.

It is expected that the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, will head the panel of judges hearing the cases.

One of the key issues for the appeal court will be whether tough sentences handed down were "proportionate" in the light of the seriousness of the riots, or whether they were excessive.

After the August riots, some lawyers and civil rights groups have criticised the "disproportionate" sentences given to many of those linked with the riots.

Jordan Blackshaw, 20, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, were both given four-year jail terms last month for inciting a riot to which no one turned up.

More than 1,700 people have appeared before the courts since the riots, with more than 300 having been sentenced so far.

The riots, which spread from London to several other English cities including Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham, erupted after a protest over the fatal police shooting in Tottenham, north London, of local man Mark Duggan.

Buildings were burned, shops were looted, and five people died during the disturbances.

See: London Rioting Spreads To Other Cities

(BMcC/GK)