Slow down a minute, mate. I'm with you to a point here. The effectiveness of prison is certainly questionable, and it's always sad to see anything that looks like revenge justice; the suggestion that he's not going to loose enough important, young years in jail being particularly regrettable.

However the idea that the kid is responsible for nothing more than hubris in daring to oppose some form of authority is wrong. He's been doing material damage, and they state the costs. I don't know what a similar sentence would be for physical criminal damage of comparable value, but it wouldn't be light. Which is not to say that the sentence is right, but rather to contest the suggestioin that he's guilty of nothing more than hubris.