Justice secretary vows to get tough with re-offenders

The justice secretary has stated his intention to get tough with those who re-offend within a short time of their release after a short sentence.

Chris Grayling was speaking after Ministry of Justice figures revealed that sex attackers and violent offenders who are only given short terms of imprisonment, re-offend at a rate of over 50% within a year of their release. The figures showed a total of 356 sex offences or serious crimes and 2,482 robberies carried out by those who had previously served sentences of less than a year.

The government now intends to provide at least 12 months of supervision for every offender and Grayling said action was necessary because too many honest, hardworking people are becoming the victims of crime at the hands of those who have broken the law before, so there is a need to get people off a life of crime to keep communities safe.

The Ministry of Justice figures for the last decade showed 35,835 people who went on to re-offend after being released from a short sentence, with the annual re-offending rate now amounting to around 600,000 crimes every year.

As part of the plans to tackle the problem, the government is aiming to create 82 resettlement prisons so that offenders will be released into the areas where they will reside and be supervised.

www.express.co.uk/news/uk/442156/Sex-attackers-and-violent-ex-inmates-go-back-to-crime-after-short-jail-stints