The quality of mercy

Late last year there was a series of student protests in the UK, over the issue of higher education fees. One particular demo in London degenerated into running battles with the police, looting of stores and even an attack on a car carrying the Prince of Wales and his missus.

A great many students were arrested and brought before the courts. One such was Charlie Gilmour, stepson of the Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Among other things, Charlie had scaled the Cenotaph in Whitehall, egged others on to broaden the riots, and thrown a dustbin at HRH's limo. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail, possibly because the judge found his "defence" to be downright insulting. Gilmour, a history student at Cambridge, claimed not to know that the Cenotaph was a memorial to the dead of two world wars, and sought to excuse his behaviour by admitting that he was off his face on booze and illegal drugs at the time!

Then something rather strange happened. A good many media and showbiz types, declaring themselves to be friends of the Gilmours, railed against the sentence as a draconian punishment meted out to a person of previously unblemished character. William Rees Mogg's famous editorial comment when Mick Jagger was jailed for a drug offence back in the 1960s ("Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?") was widely cited, even though, if memory serves, Mick's spliff didn't injure any police officers or break any windows.

Now the courts are rushing to deal with the hundreds of people arrested in the wake of the riots earlier this week. Can we expect to hear similar pleas for mercy from the likes of India Knight and Trudie Styler? No sign of it yet. In fact, while there is an entirely understandable demand for justice, it's clear that what a great many people actually want is a spot of vengeance.

On Thursday evening the BBC late night news was running its regular preview of the next morning's papers, and as usual the newsreader was joined by a guest commentator. Usually this is another journalist, but this time it was one Brian Coleman, who was introduced as both the Chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA), and a Tory member of the London Assembly.

Unsurprisingly, Coleman's take on the situation was, to say the least, robust. He immediately picked up on a front-page story of a young middle-class woman who had already gone before the courts for looting. She has just completed a degree in social work and is due to start a career in that field in September. "Not much chance of that now", said Coleman with brusque relish.

The young lady in question had indeed boosted a large TV set. However, when she got home with the loot she was overcome with remorse. Next day she returned the goods and went to the police station to turn herself in. There may well be a large number of violent recidivists coming before the courts in the next few days, but she is clearly not one of them, and no doubt there are plenty more with similar stories to hers. She should certainly be punished -- a fact she no doubt accepts -- but it would be a tragic waste if the public demand for revenge derails her incipient career. Her chastening experience may well enhance her ability to help other as a social worker; better that, surely, than that she gets rejected and winds up needing social care herself.

Under immense public pressure to mete out punishment, the magistrates and judges will need to show a lot of good judgement.