@flashbac
The threat of 10 years in jail makes a difference in terms of deterring protest otherwise why impose it as a maximum?
Sleepwalking into totalitarianism.
And don't bet on getting rid of this lot next election. Not with voter ID coming in and more data surveillance and targeting of voters with bullshit in the same way vote leave was done.
This is quite a short read. From the site I linked earlier.
Will protesters face 10-year sentences for being a nuisance?
The public nuisance offence is not a new offence, but an existing, centuries old, common law offence which currently has a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
We are introducing the offence in statute, and abolishing the common law offence, in line with the recommendations of the independent Law Commission. In doing so, we are narrowing the scope of the offence and lowering the maximum penalty from unlimited crown court penalties, to 10 years’ imprisonment.
The offence of public nuisance covers behaviours beyond those related to public order. The Law Commission identified the need for this offence as “Human inventiveness being so great, it is desirable to have a general offence for culpable acts that injure the public but do not fall within any of the specialised [existing] offences.”
Any protesters found guilty of public nuisance are likely to face penalties in line with existing sentences for public order offences.
Stricter sentences under this offence are likely to only occur in exceptional circumstances, the Law Commission recommended “as the offence is intended to address serious cases for which other offences are not adequate, if a maximum sentence is set it should be high enough to cover these cases.” Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the independent judiciary.