UK - Man handed longest August riots sentence

[dipsydoodle]

A man has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for his role in the August riots – the longest term handed down yet in relation to the disruptions.

Junior Saunders, 36, pleaded guilty to two charges of violent disorder, two counts of criminal damage to a police car and two separate burglaries – picking up five years in prison. The sentence is to date the heaviest handed down to anyone involved in the August riots across England.

Saunders was spotted on CCTV using a cycle lock to seriously damage two police vehicles, later targeting police officers with stepladders and other items. He was then seen breaking into the back of a lorry, handing out planks of wood to passing rioters that were involved in attacks buses filled with passengers.

Saunders was then caught attacking an opticians in Mare Street, Hackney, before moving on to a Tesco which he attacked with a shovel. He completed his rampage with further attacks on police, throwing missiles in the early hours of 9 August. CCTV imaging allowed police to track him down to a property in Hackney where further evidence was gathered to assist with the eventual sentencing at Wood Green Court.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/man-handed-longest-august-riots-sentence.html

Looks like he went for gold with that lot.

Previous longest were for these two who even managed to loose their appeal :

Judge: No reprieve for the two Facebook rioters who used networking site to incite violence.

Two Facebook users who tried to incite disorder during the August riots deserved their four-year jail sentences, Britain's most senior judge ruled yesterday.

As Lord Judge kicked out appeals by seven defendants involved in this summer's rioting, he declared it was vital for courts to impose hefty jail terms to act as a deterrent.

'It is a sinister feature of these cases that modern technology almost certainly assisted rioters in other places,' the Lord Chief Justice said.

He dismissed claims that many sentences had been excessive, saying the 'ghastly' context of the rioting 'hugely aggravated' the seriousness of each crime.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2050455/Facebook-UK-riots-inciters-told-4-year-sentences-WERE-fair.html#ixzz1g91qYWZo