Two-thirds of jailed drug offenders had string of previous convictions

 
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Two-thirds of criminals jailed immediately after trial on drug charges have more than ten previous convictions, it emerged today.

The proportion rises to a staggering 68 per cent when looking at offenders jailed for crimes relating to the hardest drugs, like crack and heroin.

Tory MP Philip Davies, who uncovered the statistics, called for longer sentences to ensure criminals are off the streets and have time to beat their addictions before release.

But Labour attacked the Government, claiming the data showed justice reforms were failing.

Mr Davies told the Standard: “What I want to see are longer prison sentences. It’s not sending them to prison that’s causing the problem, it’s letting them out. A drug addict, for example, may get sentenced at a magistrates’ court to six months, then serve only three. That’s not enough time to get off drugs.”

The figures were released in a Parliamentary answer that showed last year 807 of the 1,242 drug offenders jailed immediately after trial in England and Wales had more than ten previous convictions.

Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said: “People looking at these figures will question whether the justice system, after five years of a Tory and Lib-Dem government is up to scratch.

“It is a scandal that so many offenders on drug charges are committing multiple offences. This government has no solutions, only excuses.”

For class A drugs, 398 of the 585 offenders immediately jailed had more than ten convictions. A further 94 had between six and ten.

Meanwhile, 366 of the 601 offenders sent to prison for class B drug crimes had more than ten convictions.

For class C drugs, 43 of the 56 offenders jailed had more than ten convictions.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the Government had put in place “tough sentences” for drug offences.

He added that previous convictions are taken into account by the courts and do lead to more severe punishment, and said: “These re-offending figures again bear out the need for our newly-introduced reforms.

“Too many criminals are walking the streets unsupervised and returning to crime.

“That is why we have delivered long-needed changes that mean all offenders released from prison are given targeted support to finally turn their lives around.

“We are also creating a nationwide network of resettlement prisons, so offenders will be managed by the same provider in custody and the community.”

At the end of last year a new system of giving released prisoners a year’s targeted support and mentoring was introduced in a bid to help them steer clear of crime.

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