Personally, I couldn't give a t^ss as to their ethnicity (self-defined or otherwise)
Scum are scum. End of.
And scum of ALL variations use the appeal system to try and reduce sentences. That goes for whether they be white, black, brown or tartan for that matter.
However, ponder this....
Are these new phenomena or is it just we live in an age of instant news so these matters come to our attention so much faster and in so much quantity.
Believe me when I say that this type of crime has been going on for donkeys years and isn't just a reflection of 'multi-cultural society'.
A few years back, if it didn't make the first few pages of the morning newspaper or appear on BBC News//News At Ten, most people never knew about it.
This type of scum have existed for a long time but the modern era of mass media means we are all getting to know about what goes on.
Just my tuppence worth.............
I now await debate/abuse/locked threads............