Rapid sentencing of person involved in Southport, U.K. riot does not prove two-tier policing

The context

On July 29 in Southport, United Kingdom, there was a mass stabbing at a dance studio. Three children died, and ten other people were injured, including eight children. The attack sparked a wave of misinformation about the attacker's identity, leading to a series of far-right riots in multiple cities across the United Kingdom.

During a riot in Southport, a 58-year-old white man was arrested and later sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a police officer. His swift sentencing occurred just a week later due to his guilty plea at an early stage.

In an unrelated incident on July 23, an altercation involving two Asian men and three police officers at Manchester Airport remains under investigation as of August 16. Some users on Threads and Facebook (examples archived here and here) have drawn comparisons between the two cases, alleging the white man received a quicker sentence due to "two-tier policing" that favors minority groups. 

However, the rapid sentencing of the 58-year-old was due to his guilty plea, not because of preferential treatment based on race.

What we found

"Two-tier policing" is a theory that police officers and the judicial system are more lenient towards minority groups than white people. The theory has been prominently circulated by far-right figures such as Tommy Robinson about the riots. 

Nigel Farage, the leader of the right-wing populist Reform U.K. party, amplified this theory in his response to the riots, stating, "Ever since the soft policing of the Black Lives Matter protests, the impression of two-tier policing has become widespread." A recent YouGov survey found that 72 percent of Reform U.K. voters believe police are stricter with those who hold far-right views, while 62 percent think police are more lenient towards Black individuals.

Elon Musk, the owner of the social media platform X, also contributed to this narrative by calling U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer "two-tier Kier" over the police response to the riots.

Multiple claims about differing police attitudes towards ethnic groups have been debunked.

Derek Drummond, a 58-year-old white man, was involved in the riots following the Southport stabbings. During a march of around 300 people toward the mosque on St Luke's Road in Southport, Drummond punched a police officer. He also caused other unrest in the form of dismantling a wall and throwing bricks toward officers, Merseyside police reported.

On August 7, Derek Drummond, just eight days after the incident, was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty. As Drummond pled guilty, his case did not go to a jury trial in accordance with the law in England. This allowed for immediate sentencing without the lengthy judicial protocol of convening a jury and hiring defense and prosecution lawyers.

Social media users compared this case to an altercation on July 29 at Manchester Airport involving two civilians and three police officers. The situation gained public attention when a video went viral showing a police officer kicking and stomping on an Asian man who was on the ground. This footage led to the police officer being suspended. 

However, subsequent CCTV footage provided additional context. This video showed an initial confrontation, where police approached the man, who reacted aggressively. The police issued a statement acknowledging the case's complexity, involving potential criminal offenses by civilians and police officers. Currently, four men have been released on police bail. The GMP Major Incident Team is investigating the violence against the officers. Simultaneously, the Independent Office for Police Conduct is conducting a separate investigation into the police officers' actions, according to the latest update by the GMP.

Logically Facts has investigated multiple claims related to two-tier policing. Among these was a case of two court verdicts shared online without full context, creating the misleading impression that a white man received a harsher sentence than a Black man.

The verdict

The two cases are not comparable as they differ in complexity and the scope of investigation. The man in the Southport incident who pleaded guilty was sentenced more quickly because of his admission of guilt, not because of "two-tier" policing. Therefore, we have marked the claim as misleading.