Half as many burglars jailed than decade ago

Experts blame falling detection rates by police, leading to fewer criminals being brought to trial

THE number of burglars jailed for break-ins has more than halved in a decade, a Telegraph analysis of official data has found.

In the year ending June 2023, 5,076 people were jailed for burglary, down from 10,739 in 2013 and representing a fall of 53 per cent, according to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) figures.

While the number of burglaries has decreased in the same period – from 460,000 in 2013 to 273,000 in 2023, the proportion of burglars being jailed per 100 break-ins has fallen from 2.3 to 1.9 over the same period.

Crime experts blamed falling detection and charging rates by police which has meant fewer burglaries were being solved and thus fewer offenders being brought to court and jailed.

However, once brought before judges, they are more likely to be jailed than a decade ago. MOJ figures show the proportion of burglars sent straight to jail has risen from around 50 per cent to 58 per cent, although this is a slight decline since 2020 when it stood at 64 per cent.

Rory Geoghegan, a former No 10 policy adviser and founder of the Public Safety Foundation, said: “Prison is vitally important to cutting crime. Burglars are some of the most prolific criminals and prison stops them in their tracks. So any reduction in the use of prison for burglars should cause concern. Providing burglars with non-custodial sentences serves only to enable and encourage further burglaries and prolific criminality. Whether it’s your home, garden shed, or business that gets burgled, those committing such crimes deserve to be met with the full force of the law including a lengthy prison sentence.”

It follows an analysis by The Telegraph last week which showed police have failed to solve a single burglary in nearly half of all neighbourhoods in England and Wales in the past three years despite pledging to attend the scene of every domestic break-in to boost detection rates.

No burglaries were solved in 48 per cent of neighbourhoods – areas covering between 1,000 and 3,000 people – in the past three years. In October 2022, all 43 police chiefs in England and Wales made the landmark promise to attend every break-in.

Home Office figures show that the proportion of burglaries resulting in a charge fell in the following year to 3.9 per cent (fewer than one in 25 reported burglaries) from 4.6 per cent in 2022.

Dame Vera Baird, the former victims’ commissioner, said: “The entire criminal justice system doesn’t seem to be taking burglary seriously. It is easy to think of burglary as an attack on bricks and mortar whereas a home is where people’s heart is. Feeling secure in your home is fundamental to your well-being.”

An MOJ spokesman said: “There are 51 per cent fewer burglaries now than in 2010 and average sentence lengths for theft offences have increased over the last decade, with repeat offenders more likely to face jail under our tough new laws.”