Criminal reoffending hits record in UK
Criminals are reoffending at record rates amid claims that they have become 'emboldened' by court delays and low-charging rates.
Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data show that the average number of further offences committed by criminals after they have been successfully prosecuted has increased to 4.4, the highest figure since records began in 2011, when it was just above three.
The proportion of criminals reoffending has remained stable at around 28 per cent but those who are returning to crime are committing more offences within a year of their previous prosecution.
The trend has been steadily worsening over the past decade and is true of both adult and juvenile offenders. Adult reoffenders were committing on average 4.2 further crimes. Those under 18, male and female, were committing on average 4.52 further offences, according to the MoJ data.
Theft – which includes shoplifting, pickpocketing and stealing personal items – accounted for the high rates of adult reoffending at 54 per cent, marginally down from its record high in 2022.
However, the average number of further thefts by an offender prosecuted for the crime hit a record high of nearly seven (6.91). This was 75 per cent higher than all other offences bar fraud.
'Why are youths becoming more criminal?'
MoJ statisticians suggested the latest increase in the reoffending rate – a rise of 13 per cent on the same quarter in the previous year – could be partly due to the increased throughput of cases in the courts as judges and magistrates have raced to clear the backlog after the Covid pandemic.
However, crime experts suggested other factors were at play and noted that the rise in the courts backlogs to record levels could also have a counter effect. Further crimes committed by reoffenders are counted if they are committed and prosecuted within a year of their previous offence. But some could, in fact, be excluded because of the court delays.
'Court backlogs post-pandemic might mean that this even underestimates the scale of increased frequency of offending because it falls outside the measured parameters,' said Prof Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and senior civil servant.
'There's a story here about persistent juvenile offending and adult theft which any counting changes cannot explain. Why are youths becoming significantly more criminal?
'Youth-justice services and youth-offending teams have over time since they were established in 1998 lost funding and status and been folded into general youth services from local authorities.'
Proportion of offences resulting in a charge down
According to the MoJ data, around 80,000 offenders were released from custody, received a non-custodial conviction at court, or received a reprimand or warning in the three months to June 2023.
Around 22,000 of those committed a proven reoffence within the one-year follow-up period. This is a similar proportion to previous quarters but the number of further offences has been steadily increasing since Covid, doubling from just under 50,000 to nearly 100,000.
The age group with the highest reoffending rate was 15 to 17-year-olds, at 32 per cent. This was followed by offenders aged 35 to 39, with a reoffending rate of 31.7 per cent.
The rise in the reoffending rate comes as the proportion of offences resulting in a charge has fallen from 15.5 per cent in 2014 to 6.9 per cent in the year to December 2024.
Harry Miller, a former police officer and founder and co-chief executive of the campaign group Fair Cop, said the cycle of reoffending stemmed from 'ineffectual and absent' policing which had weakened the deterrent of being caught. 'Criminals are emboldened and so the cycle of offending goes on,' he said.
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