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The law of "Common Purpose" (before the term was hijacked) was a very real deterrent to those participating in crimes, especially of violence, to make damn sure that their cronies did not implement threats of such violence to acts which resulted in at worst murder. It also avoided the cut-throat defence and no identifiable miscreant...they all hanged!
We live in forgiving times where despite the deal whereby the Death sentence for Murder was exchanged for "Life means Life" most murderers are now out on licence in 12 to 13 years.
Now it seems, a gang could murder an entire family, blame each other, and end up with 2 to 3 years for "parasitic accessory crimes" because the jury can't make up its mind.