Black gets six-and-a-half years

Former media tycoon Conrad Black has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison. He has been told to report to prison in 12 weeks and will remain free on $21m (£10.3m) bail until then.
The sentence was at the lower end of the guidelines outlined by the judge, Amy St Eve. He was also fined $125,000 (£61,000) by the Chicago court. The member of the House of Lords was found guilty of three counts of fraud and one of obstructing justice.

If his skin had been black as well as his name and he'd nicked a few hundred bucks rather than swindling millions you can bet your life he'd be looking at doing more than 78 months. And he wouldn't get three months to sort things out before getting thrown in the slammer. And this slippery old rogue isn't finish yet. He could still pull off an appeal.