Johnson—a former chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee—also said courts could sit overnight to fast-track prosecutions.
That would be a repeat of what was done in 2011, in the wake of serious rioting sparked by the shooting of a black man, Mark Duggan, by a police officer, in Tottenham, north London.
Serious disorder took place over the weekend in Hull, Liverpool, and Middlesbrough as protests against high levels of immigration turned into riots, with attacks on police, vandalism of property, and looting of shops.
Two hotels housing illegal immigrants, in Rotherham and Tamworth, were attacked by mobs who tried to set fire to them.
Johnson said those “marauding our streets” would face custodial sentences after they were dealt with by the courts.
She said it was “absolutely” the plan for the police to make swift arrests, for people to be charged quickly and, if convicted, sentenced as soon as possible.
Government Will Do ‘Whatever It Takes’
Asked by reporters if the government would introduce 24-hour courts to fast-track prosecutions, Johnson said the government would do “whatever it takes” to ensure people were brought to justice.Axel Rudakubana, a 17-year-old from Lancashire, has been charged with the murders but, in the hours following the attack, false claims spread online suggesting the suspect was a Muslim illegal immigrant who had crossed the Channel in a boat and was on an MI6 watchlist.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson told CPS lawyers to make immediate charging decisions where evidence is in place.
The CPS said, “We have deployed extra lawyers and are working around the clock to ensure law and order is maintained, and justice is served.”
Parkinson said, “I am determined that we will act swiftly and robustly, giving the courts maximum ability to pass sentences that reflect what has occurred.”
Southport Rioter Pleads Guilty
Several people appeared in court on Monday in connection with the disorder.Derek Drummond, 58, from Southport, appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assault by beating of an emergency worker.
Prosecutor Joshua Sanderson-Kirk said a police officer, Thomas Ball, deployed outside a mosque in the town last Tuesday, estimated a crowd of around 300 people had arrived and were chanting, “This is our [expletive] country.”
Sanderson-Kirk said Ball was trying to protect colleagues who were putting on riot gear when Drummond punched him in the face.
District Judge Timothy Boswell remanded Drummond in custody for sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court on Aug. 29.
At South Tyneside Magistrates Court, Leanne Hodgson, 43, pleaded guilty to violent disorder after being seen on footage pushing a large bin towards a police line during a riot in Sunderland.
The court heard she became involved after getting drunk in a pub.
Hodgson, who has a “long-running alcohol problem,” was remanded in custody to be sentenced next month.
The maximum sentence for violent disorder is five years in prison.
Douglas Lloyd, a barrister, wrote on social media platform X: “It seems people have forgotten the 2011 London riots. I haven’t. Back then I worked on cases where thieves, who had expected just a slap on the wrist, were surprised and devastated to receive long prison sentences. Their lives ruined.”
