Probation is a joke in Britain

One in five of the most high risk and dangerous offenders under supervision in the community broke the terms of their freedom or committed a further serious violent offence, according to figures published yesterday. Overall, the figures show that more than 60 serious offences — defined as murder, attempted murder, rape, arson, manslaugher, kidnap and armed robbery — were carried out by offenders under the supervision of the probation service and other agencies. Eleven of those crimes were carried out by offenders who had been among the 1,278 assessed as the “critical few” and who were judged as having a high risk of harming the public. But the true figure of further serious offending by those subject to Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (Mappa) is higher, as the Home Office statistics do not include those at the lowest level.

Peter Voisey, 35, convicted on Friday of abducting and raping a six-year-old girl on Tyneside was on the sex offenders register and under a low level of monitoring. Among the 13,783 men and women being monitored in the two highest categories, 61 were charged with a serious further offence in 2005-06, according to the annual Mappa reports published by 42 probation services in England and Wales.

Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, said last night: “The vast majority of serious further offences are actually committed by offenders in the lowest tier. “About 250 people in total are convicted of a serious further offence each year, although that is not included in the statistics.” The figures show that one in five of the 1,278 very high risk offenders broke the terms of a release licence, breached a court order or committed a further serious offence while under supervision. The number of offenders on level two supervision who committed a further serious offence rose by 6.3 per cent from 47 to 50, while those on the highest level of monitoring fell by 65 per cent from 32 to 11. The number on level two supervision who breached the conditions of their release rose by 21 per cent to 1,300, while the number at the highest level of monitoring who broke their licence fell by just over 1 per cent, from 222 to 219.

The overall number of people on the sex offenders register rose by 3 per cent to reach 29,973, and the number of violent and sex offenders under supervision increased to 47,653, a rise of 7 per cent on the previous 12 months. Of these, 1,278 are classified as the “critical few” who are classed as presenting a particularly severe risk to the public.

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: “The Government’s primary duty is the protection of its citizens. These figures betray a serious failure by the Government to carry out that duty.” Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesman, said: “Historically unprecedented levels of reoffending for all crimes are fast becoming the hallmark of this Government.”

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