So who will judges jail? After the burglar praised for ‘courage’, Afghan who hurled rocks at police is spared prison over violent childhood
- Rioter let off because he was exposed to so much violence in his home country of Afghanistan
- Tory MPs say new Justice Secretary Chris Grayling must end soft sentencing.
Judge Nigel Seed decided not to send a rioter to prison because he had a violent childhood.
A judge re-ignited the row over soft sentencing yesterday after allowing a rioter who hurled rocks at the police and helped to set a car ablaze to walk free.
Judge Nigel Seed said Nooragha Zadran had seen so much violence in his home country before moving to Britain that he should not be locked up.
The decision comes only days after another judge provoked an outcry by telling a burglar that it took ‘courage’ to break into somebody’s home.
Tory MPs said the latest ruling showed the huge challenge facing new Justice Secretary Chris Grayling to get a grip on the legal system and end the scandal of soft sentencing.
Zadran, 18, was found guilty of violent disorder and arson during the London riots last year.
But Judge Seed let him off with a fine after saying he had been used to witnessing violence every day and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Zadran claims he was only five when both of his parents were killed in Afghanistan by a bomb which struck their home, a court heard yesterday. He was left to fend for his younger brother by begging on the streets, but, after leaving him in a playground, he found he had gone missing and was never found.
Zadran then managed to travel to the UK as a young boy, and has been in the care of social services. During the riots last August, he threw rocks at police and lit the rag that was used to set fire to a parked car in Lewisham, South-East London.
Judge Seed described his case as ‘exceptional’. He said: ‘No other defendant will have appeared in front of the courts in such circumstances, that is why you are not being sentenced to two to three years in prison,’ he said.
Nooragha Zadran, 18, (not pictured) was found guilty of violent disorder and arson during the London riots last year
Inner London Crown Court heard that Zadran – who works at a mobile phone kiosk in Lewisham – is ‘extremely vulnerable’ and prone to exploitation as a result of his childhood.
He was also said to suffer from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, stress and anxiety.
He was handed a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years.
The judge said: ‘I take into account the fact that at an early age you were living in war-torn Afghanistan. The family home was bombed and the explosion killed your mother and father, leaving you and your siblings orphans. You were left to beg because of your destitution.
The decision comes only days after another judge let a ‘courageous’ burglar (not pictured) walk free
‘You left your younger brother in a playground to try to beg, and he then disappeared, and all this happened before you were ten.
‘You suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and a particularly complex form of post-traumatic stress disorder, which is very serious and makes you vulnerable to exploitation, and unable to think clearly.’
Neil Griffin, defending, had told the court that his client had got involved in ‘half an hour of madness’ and he wished ‘he could turn the clock back’.
Zadran, of Rotherhithe, South-East London, was ordered to pay £2,000 to the owner of the car, and required to attend mental health treatment as part of his sentence. Other rioters have received immediate imprisonment.
Since Mr Grayling took over from Kenneth Clarke at the Justice Department last week, he has been left in no doubt of the challenges he faces getting a grip on the soft justice system.
Last week Judge Peter Bowers provoked an outcry when he told an offender who burgled three homes in five days: ‘It takes a huge amount of courage, as far as I can see, for somebody to burgle somebody’s house. I wouldn’t have the nerve.’
Handing 26-year-old Richard Richford, from Redcar, a suspended 12-month term, the judge said: ‘I’m going to take a chance on you.’
The judge, who is now under investigation by the Judicial Communications office for his handling of the case, also claimed jail would not ‘do much good’ in this case.
Tory MP Priti Patel said of the Zadran verdict: ‘Cases like this do little to restore public confidence in the criminal justice system and it is about time that criminals were treated like criminals and punished for their crimes.
‘Along with standing up for the victims of crime, I am sure that restoring public confidence in our justice system will be a strong focus for our new Justice Secretary’.
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