The number of ex-offenders charged with committing serious crimes while on probation has surged by a third to hit a grim new record, the latest figures show.
Amid concerns over how the probation service will cope with the government’s early release of thousands of prisoners, new data showed probation units identified 770 occasions last year in which released criminals appeared in court accused of committing a serious further offence.
That figure – which includes crimes such as murder, rape, serious violence and arson, allegedly committed while on probation or within 28 days of leaving the service’s supervision – is up 33 per cent in the year to 31 March this year, compared to 579 the previous year, according to the Ministry of Justice.
It is the highest number on record and coincides with the first five months of the Tories’ emergency move to free prisoners early.
Victims’ advocates told The Independent the increase was “very worrying”, as HM chief inspector of probation warned high caseloads and pressures on the overstretched probation service were undermining its ability to keep the public safe.
Probation officers have borne the brunt of emergency measures to ease the prisons crisis, with more than 13,000 prisoners freed up to 70 days early under Tory schemes since last October, and at least 3,000 more let out 40 per cent of the way into their sentence under Labour in recent months.
With unions describing the early release scheme as causing “absolute mayhem”, inspectors have warned of prisoners being released from jail without sufficient planning to ensure public protection or to avoid them being released into homelessness – heightening the risk of reoffending.
In November, the aunt of Zara Aleena – a young lawyer murdered in 2022 by a man wrongly classified as “medium-risk” upon being freed from prison – said she feared the crisis in probation could see other families suffer fatal errors.
In another recent high-profile case, a mother and three children were murdered in Killamarsh by a man whose risk was incorrectly assessed.
Analysis of the latest data shows 603 people have been convicted of murder while being supervised by probation since 2014 – equating to more than one murder conviction every week.
Against this backdrop, new figures also showed a 33 per cent rise in charges over serious further crimes brought against violent and sexual offenders subject to Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (Mappa), in which they are monitored by both probation and the police due to the nature of their past crimes.
A total of 216 offenders subject to Mappa monitoring after being freed from prison were charged with committing a serious further offence in 2023/24, more than any year since 2018.
There were also 132 convictions over serious new crimes committed by ex-offenders on Mappa arrangements in a rise of 15 per cent on the previous year, according to Ministry of Justice figures. Some of these will relate to charges brought in previous years.
Describing the rise as “very worrying”, victims’ commissioner, Baroness Newlove, told The Independent: “When offenders are released into the community, the safety of victims and the public is paramount.”
Ms Newlove added: “If victims are to have faith in the justice system, they must be confident offenders are being managed effectively in the community and in no doubt they will be recalled to custody if their behaviour gives cause for concern.
“I recognise the probation service has a difficult job to do in managing high risk offenders – it must be resourced to do this effectively, including manageable caseloads for offender managers. I welcome the government’s commitment to recruit more probation staff. This must be a priority.”
Chief inspector Martin Jones told The Independent: “The probation service has a large and often complex workload. Given that size and complexity, it is extremely difficult to predict when a serious further offence (SFO) will take place, however, it is always concerning to see any increase in the number of SFO charges and convictions.
“Good probation practice helps keeps communities safe. Our recent inspections have found shortcomings in public protection work by the probation service due to the high caseloads and pressures it is facing.
“It is vital that the service continues to prioritise risk assessment and management to minimise the likelihood of SFOs occurring.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Serious further offences are incredibly rare, with less than 0.5 per cent of offenders under probation supervision being convicted of one.
“We recognise the devastating impact of these offences on victims and we are taking urgent action to improve supervision of offenders, including recruiting 1,000 new trainee probation officers by March 2025.”
