Sanity appears to be returning in the UK.
Perhaps they've decided that if they're going to hand out draconian sentences to those implcated in the riots, they might just have to start jailing crooked politicians (chance would be a fine thing!!).
From The Times this morning.
Jim Carroll

BACKLASH AS RIOT MOTHER IS SET FREE
Lawyers expect case to spark flood of appeals
David Brown, Richard Ford

Lawyers are predicting a flood of successful appeals against "hysterical" sentencing after a mother jailed for her role in last week's riots had her prison term quashed.
A senior judge ruled that it was "wrong in principle" to jail Ursula Nevin, a mother of two, simply for receiving clothing that had been stolen
by a looter        
Judge Andrew Gilbart, the Recorder of Manchester, said Nevin had been left in a "circle of hell" after being jailed for five months, and ordered her to be released immediately. After growing concern at the sentences faced by more than 1,300 people who have appeared in court as a result of the rioting, it is the first signal that harsh punishments are set to be overturned.
Convicted rioters are being handed prison sentences that are on average 25 per cent longer than normal, an analysis of 1,000 riot-related cases has found. Lawyers and penal reformers said that Nevin's successful appeal is the start of a rebalancing of the justice system, but there are growing signs of disagreement over what constitutes appropriate punishment.
Paul Mendelle, QC, a former chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, said: "I suspect this judgment is the start of many other successful appeals. It is the start of a rowing back from some of the more draconian sentences. I certainly hope so.
"In the magistrates' courts they seem to have got rather too caught up with some of the more extreme views that have been expressed. In the immediate aftermath, and maybe responding to political calls for tough sentences, they have gone over the top."
John Cooper, QC, a criminal barrister, agreed: "This successful appeal is in my view going to be one of many. There has been some hysterical sentences in the magistrates' courts for the last week and over the next period we will see the criminal justice system realigning itself."
Judge Gilbart's decision, however, will fuel fears among politicians that the higher courts will reduce long sentences and substitute jail terms for community punishments when cases are appealed. Patrick Mercer, Conserv¬ative MP for Newark, said: "I hope that the judicial system is going to be consistent on this and that the exemplary nature of some of the sentences is not going to be watered down when the memory of the severity of what happened begins to fade."
Mike O'Brien, QC, a former Labour Solicitor General, called for the Court of Appeal to rule on the extent by which the normal sentence for offenc¬es should be increased because of the seriousness of the disorder.
"The decision of [Judge Gilbart] seems to me to be disproportionate, too lenient, the decision of the district judge on the other hand feels too heavy. Getting the balance right is now something we need some authoritative decision from the Court of Appeal on. These events were unprecedent¬ed... this was a real threat to order in the UK and had to be dealt with severely and the courts have to do that."
Prison governors are closely monitor¬ing the jail system for potential unrest after the total population hit a record high of 86,654 following the courts' decision to remand in custody hundreds charged with rioting and looting.
Governors have been urged to ensure the safety of inmates imprisoned for the first time after three offenders, who were all on remand in connection with last week's violence and looting, were assaulted at Cookham Wood young offenders', institution in Rochester, Kent. Two needed treatment in hospital but the prison service said that the trouble was not "riot related".
The number of inmates has increased by 723 over the past week and officials are making contingency plans to send more people to Isis jail, a new establishment in Woolwich, and to bring forward the opening of a newly refurbished cell block at Lewes prison.
Nevin, 24, was jailed at a magistrates court after admitting keeping a pair of shorts her lodger had stolen during rioting in Manchester.
The mother of two children, aged one and five, had wailed in disbelief when she was sentenced by District Judge Khalid Qureshi at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Friday last week.
Judge Qureshi told Nevin: "You had more than one opportunity to tell these individuals who brought this stuff into your house not to."
However, Judge Gilbart, Manchester's most senior judge, overturned the jail sentence at the city's Crown Court, saying it was "wrong to send her to prison" when she did not go into the streets to take part in looting.
"Ursula Nevin didn't go into the city centre. I regard it as wrong in principle that she was made the subject of a custodial sentence," he told the court.
"You must have found yourself in the course of the last week what seemed like a circle of hell. The way to never get in that situation again is to show the courage to say no. I'm sure the courts will never be troubled with you again. Leave now and go look after your children,"
Judge Gilbart's decision came as David Cameron said rioters and looters given "exemplary sentences" are entitled to a "second chance".
"I'm an optimist. I'm a believer in giving people second chances in life. I don't think anyone is totally lost," he said.