200 killers and rapists set free

Last year, 196 dangerous offenders committed serious crimes while they were under the watch of the police and other authorities.

Critics claimed the figures showed that soft justice does not work and said the public were being put at risk by allowing men of violence to stalk Britain’s streets.

A Whitehall source said last night: “These figures don’t exactly give the public much confidence. If dangerous criminals are being let out on our streets, we need measures to make sure they do not commit serious crimes again. Only then will the public have full confidence in the justice system.”

Former Home Secretary David Davis added: “These figures demonstrate all too clearly how difficult it is to make judgments about monitoring dangerous criminals and to let serious criminals out of prison early.”

The worrying figures for 2009-10 from the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement (Mappa) panels will reignite concerns about the ability of the police and probation services to protect the public from released criminals.

Last year killer Dano Sonnex was left free to murder French students Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, although he had been recalled to jail.

Despite his violent history, a series of blunders meant authorities failed to classify him as a high-risk offender.

The figures are a further blow to public confidence in the probation service.They come in a week when Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said he hopes an element of “payment by results” can be introduced to find better ways to rehabilitate criminals.

Of the 196 freed offenders charged with with serious further offences – which included murder and rape as well as other offences – 34 were managed with regular multi-agency public protection meetings. The others were other individual agencies.

Of that total, 105 had been convicted but 62 were still not charged on March 31.

Most of the cases were in London, with 24, followed by West Yorkshire with 16 and Greater Manchester with 11. A serious case review was ordered in 14 of these cases.

Mappa panels, which include police, councils and other government agencies, were set up to manage the risks to the public from dangerous criminals after they leave prison.

Prisons and Probation Minister Crispin Blunt said: “The risk of further offences can never be eliminated entirely, which is why Mappa is critical in protecting the public and reducing serious re-offending.”

A change to the figures, which took place in December 2008, means those accused of “wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm” are now excluded from the figures.

In another change, offenders under “ordinary agency management” were included for the first time this year. In all, 48,388 offenders were being watched by the authorities on March 31, up 8 per cent from the previous year.

Chief Constable Paul West, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: “While risks posed by some offenders can never be eliminated, we will continue to do all in our power to keep them to a minimum.”

Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the probation officers’ union Napo, said: “The figures suggest that these people need frequent monitoring, which is highly unlikely to happen in an atmosphere of reduced budgets.”