[user104658]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

the sentences are all determined by cold, hard guidelines that judges are allowed to adjust by agreed margins depending on specific circumstances. It's done this way for consistency. So, while we may subjectively say thats lenient or thats harsh, there is very little room for manoeuvre regarding sentences

I mean, semantics really. We can say that the guidelines are too lenient.

The simple reality though is that there isn't enough prison capacity to keep people in longer. Although in my opinion, the solution is non-custodial punishments for non-violent criminals and use all of the available prison space for those who pose a clear physical threat to the public.