Robberies by young people rise by 75pc

A teenage crime wave is sweeping Britain with the number of young muggers increasing by more than three quarters in the last decade.

The rise, which is the equivalent of 11 youngsters convicted everyday, comes as figures next week will suggest that robberies and burglaries are increasing across rural areas, adding to concerns that the recession is fuelling crime

In Cambridgeshire robberies rose by a third while in North Wales burglaries were up by almost a quarter.

Knife crime, and fraud and forgery offences are also rising, the Home Office annual crime statistics will show.

A total of 4,115, 10 to 17 year olds were convicted of robbery in 2007, the most recent data available. This was a 76 percent rise on the 2,342 found guilty in 1997, when Labour took power.

Those convicted of sex offences also increased by 16 percent, form 469 in 1997 to a total of 543 a decade later. In separate figures, of 26 police forces that replied to Freedom of Information requests, robberies by all age groups fell by six percent but that was due to a drop of 12 percent in the Metropolitan Police area.

If those figures are removed, total robberies increased. Chris Grayling, the shadow Home Secretary, said the figures on teenage crime were “a consequence of the Government’s failure to get to grips with anti-social behaviour”.

“We let young troublemakers get away unpunished with anti-social behaviour and so many think they can get away with it and move on to something worse,” he added.

A ministry of Justice spokesman said: “These figures show an increase in the number of young people convicted for robbery which reflects the Government’s tough response to crime. Between 2006 -07 and 2007-08, recorded personal robbery fell by 16 percent.

“There is no room for complacency and we have much more to do.”

By Tom Whitehead, Heidi
Blake and Jeni Oppenheimer

Prison riot investigation to take up to 18 months

A specialist team of officers is carrying out the probe into the disturbance at Ashwell Prison, near Oakham, on April 10.

Violence erupted at the category C prison during the Easter weekend. When parte of the building were set alight and torn apart by angry inmates.

Officers have interviewed more than 500 people – including 334 inmates – and six people have been arrested. The police team is also sifting through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage. Nobody has been charged yet in connection with the incident.

Results from forensic tests are still being processed and all members of staff who were working on the night have given statements.

Leicestershire police said they wanted to reassure the public that the investigation was still underway, three months after the riot.

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Worth, who is leading the inquiry, said it was a “long and complex” process that would take between 12 and 18 months to complete.

He said: “We want residents in Rutland and the people of Leicestershire to know that we are still investigating this.

“This is phased inquiry. Part of that has been to conduct preliminary interviews and we are nearly at the end of that. We have also started the second phase of taking statements.

“Then we will be consulting with the Crown Prosecution Service and the Prison Service to see who, if any one should be charged.

“It is difficult to say when that might be as there is still a lot of work to be done but I can assure people that we are doing everything we can to identify those responsible for offences and bring the ringleaders to justice.” The riot led to the closure of four wings. A total of 423 prisoners were transferred to other sites. Some 190 inmates are still in the three unaffected wings.

The incident sparked criticism from the Prison Officers’ Association which called for a public inquiry and claimed some inmates has been wrongly downgraded from category B to category C in a bid to alleviate overcrowding and staffing reductions had not played a part in the disorder.

Det Ch Insp Worth said there were currently around 70 “potential” suspects who might be arrest and formally interviewed.

He said: “Officers have spoken to three-quarters of the inmates who were at Ashwell on the night of the disturbance and, once the remaining prisoners have been spoken to, we will have a clearer pictures as to what happened on the night.

“The team working on this investigation were all seconded from specialist departments because we didn’t want to take frontline officers off the streets.”

Anyone who has issues for the investigation team can cal PC Angela Holdsworth or Det Con Clive Jones at Leicestershire Police on 0116 222 2222, extension  5675.

By Gemma Peplow
Leicester Mercury, 8 July 09

1,000 criminals at large after breaching parole

Nearly 1,000 criminals, including murderers, rapist and paedophiles, are on the run after disappearing while released on licence.

The 954 offenders include 19 murderers, 15 rapists, five paedophiles and 51 people convicted of GBH.

Some are still free 25 years after they should have gone back to jail.

Nineteen criminals who were freed in 1984 but later breached the terms of their release have still not been taken back into custody, Ministry of Justice figures show.

The government, the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) and the Met Police all refused to explain how the fugitives could have escaped justice for a quarter of a century.

Some 140 burglars, 98 fraudsters and 182 drug offenders are also still at large. Acpo has told all police forces to urgently arrest sexual and violent offenders.

‘Labour’s reckless early release scheme and lax approach to probation is putting the public at greater risk’, said shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve.

Many of the missing criminals posed a ‘real threat’ and police must make ‘chasing warrants’ a priority, said Harry Fletcher of probation officers’ union Napo. Last month, it emerged Dano Sonnex, who has jailed for the murderers of two French students in south-east London, should have been in jail at the time of the killings.

The Ministry of Justice insisted the public were not a ‘higher risk’.

“The recall system works well. Of those recalled between 1999 and June 2008, just 0.7 percent of offenders have not been apprehended,’ said justice secretary Jack Straw

Source: Metro, 7 July 2009