The riots earlier this month shocked the country, and there was an understandable call from the public for swift firm action. Now that the heat has gone out of the situation, there seems to be the opposite concern, mainly from the left, that the culprits are being treated too harshly. The investigations and prosecutions are still ongoing and will no doubt take many more weeks before there is any sort of conclusion. Despite the calls for leniency from some, the public still seem to have an appetite for tough action from the authorities. In an opinion poll published over the weekend only one fourteen percent of those interviewed thought that the sentences were too harsh. This is not based on some populist demand for revenge, but instead the public seem to have grasped the root of the problem. Whilst the causes of the looting are numerous and complex, most seem to accept that the lack of responsibility amongst those involved and the absence of any understanding of the consequences of their actions for others seems to be at the core of it. It is a well established legal principle that if offences are committed as part of a larger public disturbance then they are sentenced in that context. Someone convicted of breaking a shop window as part of a riot, is also culpable for the wider sense of fear caused by the rioting. These acts cannot be examined in isolation, but must rather be looked at as part of the bigger picture. Isn’t this after all part of the problem, that those involved need to realise that they do not act in isolation from the rest of society, their actions can harm or benefit others, and it is in this context that these wholly appropriate sentences are handed out.