15 thugs a day reoffend after being spared jail
FIFTEEN criminals a day go on to commit a violent attack or sex assault after being given a community punishment instead of jail.
Paedophiles are among those who have gone on to carry out vile assaults after being given ‘soft’ sentences.
Figures released by the Government show 5,460 offenders handed a community term in 2013 committed a sexual or violent crime within 12 months of being sentenced.
It was up from 5,031 on the previous year – a 9 per cent rise. Had these offenders been sent to jail, their crimes – which could range from rape to common assault – need never have happened.
The revelation, in response to a freedom of information request, will cast further doubt on the effective-
‘A complete waste of money’
ness of community sentences. Punishments can include unpaid work such as removing graffiti, clearing wasteland and decorating public places as well as treatment programmes for drug addiction or mental health conditions.
But around one in three adults given a community sentence reoffend within a year.
According to figures for 2013, the latest year for which data is available, 35.8 per cent of 73,567 offenders went on to commit a crime again.
Meanwhile, separate statistics showed that 30,891 criminals had to be tracked down and sentenced again last year for breaching their community order.
Figures from the Ministry of Justice also show that almost a quarter of the 57,873 offenders given a community term last year had racked up more than 15 guilty judgments. A spokesman for the charity Victim Support said victims are ‘entitled to expect that the sentence imposed on their offender is properly enforced’.
Peter Cuthbertson, of the Centre for Crime Prevention think-tank, said: ‘Community sentences are usually a complete waste of money, and they are putting the public at very real risk.’ A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: ‘Crime has fallen since 2010 and under this Government offenders committing the most serious crimes are more likely to go to prison and for longer.’