Reconviction rate rises for those who have spent time in jail
Changes are needed to the way prison is used, Justice Secretary Keith Brown has said, as new figures showed an increase in the proportion of offenders who committed further crimes after being freed from jail.
Overall, almost three out of 10 (28.3 per cent) offenders who were sentenced in 201819 went on to commit a further crime within 12 months - up from 26.4 per cent the previous year.
But the Scottish Government statistics showed that 43.8 per cent of those released from custody in the 2018-19 went on to reoffend - a 2.8 percentage point increase from the previous year's total of 41 per cent.
Meanwhile, those criminals given short prison sentences had a higher number of reconvictions than those who were sentenced to longer periods behind bars.
The report said: "Offend
ers given shorter sentences commit relatively less serious crimes, and tend to commit more of these crimes than those committing more serious crimes."
In addition to this those who have served shorter sentences "do not have the opportunity to engage in rehabilitative work whilst in custody, therefore, they are reconvicted more often".
As a result the figures showed that in 2018-19 the average number of reconvictions per offender for those given a custodial sentence of three months or less was 1.22 - compared to 0.09 for those who had been given a sentence of four years or more.
While the reconviction rate for those who had been in jail increased, the figures showed no change in this for offenders given a Community Payback Order.
The reconviction rate for such sentences was 29.2% in 2018-19, the same in as in 201718.
The reconviction rate was highest amongst those who had committed a crime of dishonesty - with 45.6 per cent of this group going on to reoffend.
Meanwhile, those who were guilty of sex crimes had the lowest reconviction rate, at 10.4 per cent.mr Brown said: "Our Programme for Government is clear we should be working to change the way that imprisonment is used, while expanding community justice services which support community sentences.”