OVER 500 of the 1,300 people arrested during August’s riots in the United Kingdom are claiming welfare benefit, while one in eight is getting disability, or incapacity payments, according to an official analysis.
Meanwhile, the cost of payment to shopkeepers and homeowners for damage suffered during the riots in London alone could top £300 million, the Metropolitan Police has said, saying nearly 4,000 claims have been lodged.
Justice secretary Ken Clarke, speaking to MPs yesterday, said he had been “slightly shocked” at how quickly people “casually took to thieving”, describing it as “an irresponsible, feckless reaction from people casually turning to crime because the opportunity presented itself”.
The Taxpayers Alliance said the authorities should investigate the right of those people arrested to continue claiming benefits since “they were well enough to be out” looting “when they claim to be so ill that they need help from the State”.
Just over 1,300 have appeared before the courts on charges connected with the riots. Of these, 530 are on benefits, though just one-fifth have known links to criminal gangs – contrary to the explanation put forward by prime minister David Cameron.
So far, the Court of Appeal has taken a tough line, rejecting five appeals last week, including one brought by Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan and Jordan Blackshaw from Cheshire, who had been jailed for four years for encouraging others to riot. The pair were told by the court they were guilty of a very serious crime committed during “sustained countrywide mayhem” and they deserved to be “punished accordingly” by sentences that would “deter others from similar criminal activity”.
