Just one in 135 criminal cases ends in prison

Published 29th Jan 2010

Only one in every 135 crimes ends with the offender being sent to jail, according to Government figures.

The overwhelming majority of those responsible for the 10.7million crimes committed last year were never even caught.

But, in the 1.3million offences where police did manage to catch the burglar, yob or sex attacker, only 53 per cent were taken to court.

The rest escaped with a caution, fixed penalty notice or other 'slap on the wrist', or their case collapsed.

Of those who did make it before a magistrate or judge only 79,100 received immediate custody, according to the annual Criminal Statistics report, released yesterday.

The average sentence handed down by magistrates was 2.7 months - the lowest figure in the past decade.

Tory justice spokesman Dominic Grieve said: 'Too often serious offending is let off with a slap on the wrist or a glorified parking ticket.'

The figures emerged amid controversy over the way the Government had released a raft of key statistics on the state of the criminal justice system.

Normally, each of the three separate reports compiled each year - Criminal Statistics, Sentencing Statistics and Women in the Criminal Justice System - are released separately.

But yesterday they were all released together. The blizzard of papers ran to hundreds of pages, raising suspicions that ministers were seeking to 'bury bad news'.

Mr Grieve added: 'It's no wonder the public don't trust the government on crime.

'It spends more time spinning or burying bad news than actually tackling the problem.'

Police fear even more savage cuts are to follow as chief constables are forced to slash their costs because of the crisis in public borrowing.

According to yesterday's figures, of the 43 forces in England and Wales, 26 saw a reduction in the number of officers employed over six months.

Source: ' Daily Mail '

View All Nonsense News