Five years is pretty severe for simple theft of a phone, but if they violently assault someone to take one, then that's not an overly harsh-sentence, imo.

Five years is pretty severe for simple theft of a phone, but if they violently assault someone to take one, then that's not an overly harsh-sentence, imo.

Right. The problem is that it is the increase in cell phone robberies that is apparently behind the dramatic increase in crime in parts of Great Britain, especially London.

At the beginning of this year, for example, a 19-year-old woman was short in the head by a man trying to steal her cell phone (she survived). A few days later a man pointed a gun at a 10-year old kid and demanded his cell phone.

Some of the cell phone robberies seem to be conducted by youth gangs which is another source of anxiety over the robberies.

That should have said that it is cell phone robberies that appear to be driving the increase in violent crime.