Patricia Hewitt MP backs campaign to free jailed man

By Allister Craddock
The Politics Show, BBC East Midlands

Patricia Hewitt believes the sentence is "too harsh"

Leicester West MP Patricia Hewitt is backing a campaign to release a man who was sentenced to prison for two years for theft.

Sam Stanger, 25, from Braunstone Town, was jailed after he admitted stealing a camera from a traffic warden in a row over a parking fine.

His family said the length the sentence was over the top and Labour MP Mrs Hewitt agrees.

She told the Politics Show:"I think the sentence is well out of line."

'No permit'

Stanger was working at the Leicester Tigers Ground, in Welford Road, fitting a fire alarm in June last year and he had parked in a nearby private car park off Walnut Street.

In a police statement, the car park officer said he had examined Stanger's vehicle for a permit and when it did not have one, he wrote out a £50 fixed-penalty notice.

He said the 25-year-old had approached him as he was writing and taken the notice off the windscreen. He then threw it on the floor before swearing at him and tugging a camera from his grasp.

In December Stanger pleaded guilty to the offence and was jailed for two years at Leicester Crown Court.

But his brother Shane believed the sentence was over the top.

"Armed robbers, sex offenders and burglars get less time inside than someone who snatches a camera off a parking attendant," he said.

"It shows there is no consistency in the British justice system."

More than 2,000 people have joined a Facebook group to campaign against the severity of the sentence.

Appeal Court

Mrs Hewitt has said she will be raising her concerns with the Appeal Court and press for an appeal to be heard as soon as possible.

"It would be terribly unfair if the sentence was overturned on appeal and Sam Stanger had already served a year in prison," she said.

Stanger's solicitor, David Leigh said: "There has been a problem with inconsistency in sentencing ever since the courts were first given discretion on the subject.

"Anyone who can solve the problem deserves a Nobel prize."

But he has accused the government of exacerbating the problem by "seeking to restrict the discretion of courts at every turn in the name of consistency".

"The effect of this has been to remove common sense from the sentencing process with no discernible improvement in consistency."

The Ministry of Justice told the Politics Show: "Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the Courts.

"No two cases are the same and the aggravating and mitigating factors must be taken into account when determining the appropriate sentence.

"Judicial discretion is the cornerstone of the British justice system."

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