Public-order prisoners most likely to re-offend
Individuals released from prison after serving sentences for public-order offences were most likely to re-offend within a year, according to official figures.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said that, overall, 44% of those who were released from custodial sentences during 2022 were convicted of re-offending within one year of release.
This was two percentage points higher than the re-offending rate for 2021, and was mainly due to an increase in re-offending by people serving time for public-order offences.
In 2021, 58% of people released from custodial sentences linked to public order offended within a year of release. In 2022, however, this figure had risen to more than two-thirds (68%).
Young adults (aged less than 21) had the highest levels of one-year re-offending, with 63% convicted within a year of being released. This was up from 54% of those released in 2021.
Three-year rate drops
The CSO also released figures for longer-term re-offending, which looked at three-year rates for people released in 2019.
The 2019 figures showed the 57% of those released re-offended within three year – down from 62% among the 2018 cohort.
While 78% of young adults re-offended within three years of being released in 2019, just under one-third of those aged 51 years and over re-offended in the same period.
Two years needed
Those in prison for public-order offences again had the highest re-offending rate, with 75% convicted within three years of release.
The CSO points out that 2022 is the most recent reference year available for statistics relating to one-year re-offending, as a minimum of two years is needed to establish a re-offending rate – one year for potential re-offences to take place, and one further year for court conviction proceedings to be completed.
“It is important to note that re-offending offence types do not always correspond to the same offence that individuals were initially imprisoned for,” said statistician Felix Coleman.