Riot

Public Order Act 1986, s.1 · Crown Court

Sentencing framework

The guideline for riot outlines a structured approach to assessing culpability and harm to determine the appropriate sentence. It highlights statutory and non-statutory aggravating and mitigating factors that influence the severity of the sentence. The maximum sentence is 10 years, with the offense range set between 3 to 9 years custody, indicating that the context of the offense, prior convictions, and other circumstances play critical roles in the sentencing process.

Maximum sentence

10 years’ custody

Court

Crown Court

Offence range

3 – 9 years’ custody

Aggravating factors

·Previous convictions
·Offence committed whilst on bail
·Offence motivated by hostility based on characteristics of the victim
·Active and persistent participant
·Incitement of others
·Actively recruited other participants
·Offender masked or disguised to evade detection
·Incident occurred in busy public area
·Took steps to prevent emergency services from carrying out their duties
·Offender used weapon
·Offender threw missiles/objects
·Use of significant physical violence
·Injury to service animal
·Possession of weapon or article intended to injure
·Vulnerable persons or children present during incident
·Commission of offence whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs
·Ignored warnings or exclusion notices
·Offence committed while on licence or subject to post sentence supervision
·Failure to comply with current court orders

Mitigating factors

·Low level involvement
·No previous convictions or no relevant/recent convictions
·Remorse
·Age and/or lack of maturity
·Mental disorder or learning disability
·Positive character and/or exemplary conduct
·Sole or primary carer for dependent relatives
·Pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal care
·Difficult and/or deprived background or personal circumstances
·Prospects of or in work, training or education

Sentencing range explorer

Select the culpability level and harm category to see the guideline's starting point and category range. This is an educational illustration of the published guideline — not a sentence calculation, and not legal advice. Courts apply the full step-by-step process, aggravating and mitigating factors, and the totality principle.

Culpability

Harm

Select a culpability level and a harm category above.

The sentencing process, step by step

Step 1 — determining the offence category based on culpability and harm.
Step 2 — use the sentencing table to determine starting point and category range.
Step 3 — consider any factors indicating a reduction for assistance to prosecution.
Step 4 — account for reduction for guilty pleas.
Step 5 — assess whether dangerousness criteria are met.
Step 6 — apply the totality principle if sentencing for multiple offences.
Step 7 — consider compensation and ancillary orders.

Guideline notes

Sentencing courts should treat the context of offending as a severely aggravating feature of any offence charged committed within incidents of riot.

Always read the full guideline

This is a one-page summary. For any live case, sentencing exercise, or legal advice the authoritative source is the Sentencing Council's own definitive guideline — including the category bands, step-by-step sentencing approach, and all statutory factors not captured here.

Open the full guideline on sentencingcouncil.org.uk

Source: Sentencing Council · Crown copyright, licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0. Summary fetched 2026-06-28. Not legal advice — see a regulated adviser for any live case.