Given the recent heightened tensions in the country, now is a good time to write about public order offences, how they are committed, and what sentences can be imposed.

Riot

Offence

People still sometimes talk about reading the riot act. In years gone by this was something that was literally done to disperse violent – or potentially violent – crowds. The Riot Act 1715 was read aloud to the Crowd who had no excuse for not knowing the fate that awaited them if they continued to riot.

That was repealed in 1973 and riots are now dealt with under the Public Order Act 1986.

A riot takes place where 12 or more people use or threaten unlawful violence for a common purpose. The conduct of those accused of rioting must be sufficiently serious to cause a reasonable person to fear for his personal safety. It is irrelevant whether the rioters threaten or use violence at different times provided all the use or threats of violence occur as part of the group.

Defending a riot allegation

There are some pretty obvious defences, such as that famously advanced by Shaggy. But, there are other things to consider. First, were there sufficient people present? Were you actually taking part in the conduct or merely observing? Was there a provable common purpose to your actions with regard to the rest of those present? For example, if you were fighting only because you were attacked and forced to defend yourself then you have no common purpose with the rioters.

We’ll talk in more detail about potential defence to riot in a later post.

Sentencing for riot

The maximum sentence is ten-years imprisonment. When passing sentence, the court will consider an offenders culpability and the harm s/he caused.

Where the defendant used a “highly dangerous” weapon, carried out a leading role in the riot, or if his actions escalated the level of violence the court will consider him to be more culpable for the riot. Where the riot leads to serious harm, disruption, or damage or where the offence includes attacks on police officers, the court will consider greater harm has been caused.

Where there is higher harm and higher culpability, the starting point is 7 years imprisonment. An offence involving lower harm and lower culpability has a starting point of 5 years imprisonment.

Violent disorder

Offence

You can think of violent disorder as being like a mini-riot but there are some important differences.

First, only three people need be present and acting together. There is no need to prove a common purpose, all the prosecution need to prove is that the group were present together. As with riot, the prosecution will need to show that the conduct of the group taken together would put a reasonable person in fear of his personal safety.

Defences to violent disorder

We’ll look at these in detail later on, but the defences are broadly the same as those available for rioting.

Sentencing a violent disorder

The maximum sentence is five years imprisonment.

The court will consider how culpable the defendant is for the offence and what harm was caused as a result of the offence.

There are three levels of culpability. The most serious is for those who used highly dangerous weapons, defendants who took a leading role in the violence, or for groups who targeted individuals. The lowest level is where violence was only threatened or where only very minor violence was used.

When considering the harm caused, the court will look at the outcome of the violence. Offences that lead to serious physical injury or fear, serious disruption, loss of livelihood to others, substantial costs to the public, attacks on public workers, or extensive damage will fall into the middle category. Offences where two or more category two harms are present will fall into the highest category. Minor offences will not include any of those factors.

People guilty of the most serious violent disorders will face a 4 year starting point. Those committing the least serious violent disorder offences are likely to get 26 weeks imprisonment but may get away with a community order – get a good solicitor if you want a chance of avoiding prison!

Affray

This is the least serious public order offence we are going to talk about today.

Offence

Unlike riot and violent disorder, affray can be committed by an individual acting alone.

You are guilty of affray if you use or threaten unlawful violence towards another person and your conduct would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety. Somebody acting in this way is also likely to commit an assault under section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. The big difference though is the sentence, which is why prosecutors might prefer an affray over an assault.

Sentencing an affray

The maximum sentence is three years imprisonment – worth saying here that the maximum for an assault is six months, so it may be worth trying to persuade a prosecutor to accept a plea to assault!

Where the affray is committed by multiple people at once, the court will consider that a group who targets an individual commits a more serious offence than a group facing down another group. The use of weapons, and serious or sustained violence will also put you up the sentencing scale.

Offences that lead to serious injury or distress will be dealt with more seriously than offences where there is little or no harm.

Somebody convicted of the most serious affray can expect a two-year prison sentence, while somebody at the bottom of the sentencing scale is likely to receive a community order and may even get away with a fine.

You can reach one of our expert criminal defence solicitors by telephone if you have been accused of a public order offence and would like to give yourself the best chance of winning a trial and avoiding a lengthy prison sentence. Call us now on 020 8242 4496.