Door of reoffending still revolving
22 Jun 05
Reconviction rate down but still too high, according to new statistics
Almost half of all offenders in Scotland commit another crime within two years of completing their sentence, according to official figures.
New Scottish Executive statistics show a slight overall drop in reoffending levels.
In general, about 42% of offenders in 1999 were reconvicted within two years of their release, compared with 45% in 1995.
The report shows that reconviction rates were highest among young male offenders – 55% of males under 21 were reconvicted within two years compared with 32% of males aged over 30 and 34% of female offenders.
Those offenders who were discharged from a custodial sentence (60%) or given probation (58%) were on average more likely to be reconvicted than those given community service (42%) or a monetary penalty (40%).
Offenders whose conviction was for a crime of dishonesty, including housebreaking, had the highest two-year reconviction rate (54%) whilst the lowest was for sexual crime (17%).
Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said: "Communities want and deserve to feel safer, and to see and experience less crime. Improving public safety and reducing reoffending are two sides of the same coin.
“We need to manage offenders better. We need to ensure the right sentences are available and deployed to tackle an offender's behaviour. And we need a system that can stop lives of crime in their tracks.”