Hundreds still facing riot trials

Hundreds of alleged London rioters are still facing trial, prosecutors said today.

The cases of more than 450 people accused of taking part in last summer's disturbances in the capital are being processed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Of these, 200 are at trial stage and every week 12 more cases are handed to the CPS for prosecution.

A CPS spokeswoman confirmed that a special team was set up in August last year in the aftermath of the unrest.

Since then, more than 2,000 people have been prosecuted in London with an 83% conviction rate.

The latest official figures from the Ministry of Justice - which were released in February - show that across England, 2,710 people have appeared before courts.

Of these, almost 1,000 offenders have been jailed for an average of more than a year.

A total of 945 of the 1,483 found guilty and sentenced for their role in the riots were jailed immediately, with an average sentence of 14.2 months.

PA