I don't think it's a legacy of open borders. I couldn't find any reference to previous offences committed in Poland which might have prevented their admittance to the UK, so I guess they could have come here anyway. Everyone else seems to.
It was 10 years between them. Imagine the length of the sentences if they had been called "right" wing racists and English to boot. The combined length of the sentence would have been more like 40 years.
Luckily, 8 years ago Theresa May pledged to reduce European immigration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands.
I wonder how that is going.
These men are thugs and the sentence is appropriate. There are (supposed to be) checks on the criminal past of EU migrants. Poles coming working (cheaply) in the UK has been beneficial to the country. There is a skill shortage, and they plug it. A total ban on all Polish workers would hit the UK economy greatly.
Couldn't believe Togo's post so checked. I'd obviously skimmed as I'd believed 10 years each, but it really is between them ! And out after half no doubt. That's pathetic.
As an aside to the incident, which probably isn't related to nationality; instead of plugging shortages with other county's skilled workforce and leaving natives on welfare, we should be training those already here. It's working around symptoms rather than effecting a cure which causes more issues.
Your beloved Daily Wail carefully neglects to mention what the actual charges were. If it was ABH then a prison term was unlikely. Probably it is only the 'Hate Crime' element that has resulted in jail terms.
^ The charge was not even ABH,only 'racially aggravated assault' .
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/live-trial-starts-racially-aggravated-1747669
Plus they all pleaded Guilty, so that is an automatic 33% reduction in the sentence. In the circumstances the sentence is the maximum possible, and far from a joke. If it were not for the 'Hate Crime' element, a prison sentence would not have been even possible.
If you must counter attack my Daily Mail link, please could you oppose it with a link that is up to date, yours is dated 4th July, the trial had just begun.
My best friend at Grammar School was half-Polish (still keep in touch), other friends have been either half or fully Polish - never any problems in the past. Polish clubs used to put on events for everyone.
Very sad case; they'll be out of jail fairly soon because no-one serves the full term these days unless the judge says something.