The level of lawlessness was shocking and wholly inexcusable. The imposition of severe sentences, intended to provide both punishment and deterrence, must follow…
The context hugely aggravates the seriousness of each individual offence … the sheer numbers involved may have led some of the offenders to believe that they were untouchable and would escape detection…
When there is wanton and vicious violence of gross degree the court is not concerned with whether it originates from gang rivalry or from political motives. It is the degree of mob violence that matters and the extent to which the public peace is broken.”
The Lord Chief Justice Judge
The response of the criminal fraternity in London to the sentences handed out during the London riots was very business like. Offending for those particular sentences dropped. Criminals substituted to other forms of crime to pursue their chosen occupation as a criminal in light of the changed incentives:
…a significant drop in riot crimes across London in the six months after the riots, consistent with a deterrence effect from the tougher sentencing. More evidence of general deterrence comes from the observation that crime also fell in the post‐riot aftermath in areas where rioting did not take place.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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