Soft sentences send out wrong signals

I am concerned that soft sentences for people involved in the recent disturbances send out the wrong signals to those troublemakers.

During the disturbances the Police, City Council, Nottingham City Homes and local businesses all pulled together fantastically and the support from local people was brilliant.

Now, the police officers who were out protecting the city deserve strong support from the courts.

We need the judicial system to hand down the strongest sentences available to them to show those responsible that as a society we will not tolerate this sort of behaviour.

I am sure that Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke will agree that tough sentences are needed and have called on him to ensure that all cases relating to the disturbances go to Crown Court rather than Magistrates Court.

Jon Collins, Chair of the Authority

Thank you to the Force

Through the disturbances of the last week, Nottinghamshire’s Police Officers, Police Community Support Officers, Community Protection Officers and support staff have been, quite simply, amazing.

These have been unprecedented challenges and officers worked tirelessly to control the violence. To their eternal credit, they also managed to do this quickly and effectively.

Many went above and beyond the call of duty, making the residents and businesses of Nottingham safer by their actions.

It is evident that the public are very supportive of what the police are doing at this difficult time. This is appreciated and heartening.

Thankfully, there have been only relatively low-level disturbances in Nottingham, but frankly, one incident is one too many. This type of behaviour must not be tolerated. It is inexcusable and those responsible must be brought to justice.