Criminals spared jail for up to 100 offences
CRIMINALS are committing as many as 100 offences before being sent to prison for knife crime, official figures have shown.
There have been 38 “super-prolific” offenders in England and Wales since 2008, with more than 100 previous convictions or cautions each, according to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data.
Last year 98 people who were jailed for the first time for possessing a blade each had more than 50 past convictions and cautions. Of these, six had more than 100 each.
Tobias Ellwood, the former defence minister, who recently called for all front-line police to carry Tasers, said: “We require a more cognitive and bespoke approach for those who have over 100 or even 50 convictions and are clearly more dangerous to society. These statistics reveal that the behaviour of very small percentage of those
Rugby liege
caught with knives will not be rehabilitated under current sentencing rules.”
Forty-four criminals jailed last year for assaulting a police officer had 50 or more convictions or cautions. One offender had nearly 500 previous convictions before being sent to jail.
Last month it emerged nearly 4,000 people with more than 50 convictions were spared jail in 2018, prompting MP calls for tighter sentencing rules.
Since 2007, the number of offenders with more than 50 convictions who were convicted but spared jail has risen from 1,299 to 3,916 in 2018, according to data obtained through a series of Parliamentary Questions by Neil O’Brien. the Tory MP for Harborough.
Roughly half of all crimes are now being committed by just 10 per cent of offenders, MoJ figures have shown.
Meanwhile, early release of prisoners has risen sharply: one in five are now released without serving even half their sentence, up from 13 per cent in 2017. These included violent offenders: nearly a third of criminals convicted of violence against the person and had more than 25 previous convictions still escaped a prison sentence.
An MoJ spokesman said: “We are recruiting 20,000 new police officers, increasing stop and search powers, giving more money to the Crown Prosecution Service and investing up to £2.5billion for extra prison places.
“An urgent review of sentencing is already under way, looking at the most dangerous and prolific offenders, to ensure jail terms truly reflect the severity of a crime and the vicious cycle of reoffending is ended.”
Will Tanner, the director of Onward, the think tank that published Mr O’Brien’s initial findings, said: “These figures show something seriously wrong with our criminal justice system. The public rightly expect those sentenced for serious violent crimes to be sent to prison – to deter others from committing similar acts and so they can be properly rehabilitated.”