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