The
proportion of prisoners reconvicted within
two years of discharge is strongly associated
with a number of factors - the number and
rate of previous convictions, age at sentence,
type of offence for which imprisoned, and
sex.
57
per cent of all prisoners discharged in 1996
were reconvicted for a standard list offence
within two years of their discharge. The rates
for the main groups were :-
52
per cent for adult males
76
per cent for male young offenders
47
per cent for females.
Between
1987 and 1990 the reconviction rate within
two years of discharge decreased from 57 to
52 per cent and remained around this level
until rising to 56 per cent in 1994, and rising
again during 1995 to 58 per cent. However,
the reconviction rate dipped by 1 percentage
point in 1996 to 57 per cent. About one percentage
point of the increase in the rate between
1993 and 1994 (from 53 to 56 per cent) can
be accounted for by widening in the range
of offences held on the Home Office Offenders
Index. The effect of this change in offence
coverage was a little more pronounced on the
rate for the 1995 data (1.4 percentage points),
and rose to 1.9 percentage points for the
1996 data.
Among
prisoners discharged in 1996 who were reconvicted
within two years, 35 per cent were sentenced
to imprisonment on first reconviction; 26
per cent were fined, 13 per cent given probation,
6 per cent community service and 5 per cent
a combination order.
51
per cent of male young offenders discharged
from prison in 1996 received a new custodial
sentence within two years, compared with 31
per cent for adult males, and 23 per cent
for adult females. These rates increased between
1992 and 1996, reflecting changes in sentencing
practice.
Reconviction
rates varied with the type of original offence;
from a two year rate for those discharged
in 1996 of 76 per cent for burglary and 70
per cent for theft and handling offences to
23 per cent for fraud and forgery and 19 per
cent for sexual offences.
For
most categories of offence for which the prisoner
was originally convicted, a theft or handling
offence was the most common at first reconviction.
However, for those originally convicted of
a drugs offence a first reconviction for a
further drugs offence was more common.
