Introduction |All inmates released |Reconvictions by violent offenders released from prison |Reconvictions by sex offenders released from prison | Summary
Table 21 shows that 29% of inmates imprisoned for a violent offence were reconvicted of some offence within six months of release, while just under half (49%) were reconvicted within a year. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of inmates imprisoned for a violent offence were reconvicted within two years of their release, and over three-quarters (79%) were reconvicted within five years. These proportions are a little lower than those for all inmates released.
Eight percent of inmates imprisoned for a violent offence were reconvicted of another violent offence within six months of release, while 17% were reconvicted of another violent offence within a year. Over a quarter (28%) of inmates imprisoned for a violent offence were reconvicted of another violent offence within two years of their release, and a little under half (45%) were reconvicted of another violent offence within five years.
Within two years of their release, violent offenders were a little more likely to have been reconvicted for a property offence (31%) or a traffic offence (36%) than they were to have been convicted of another violent offence (28%).
Table 22 presents information on reconvictions for violent offences within two years for inmates released from prison for a violent offence between 1995 and 1998, according to the number of previous convictions for violent offences.
The table shows that the more often in the past violent offenders had been convicted of a violent offence, the more likely they were after their release to be convicted for another violent offence. Nearly half the violent offenders with more than five prior convictions for violent offences were reconvicted within two years of another violent offence, compared with less than one fifth (18%) of the first-time violent offenders being reconvicted of such an offence within two years. Also, the more often in the past violent offenders had been convicted of a violent offence, the more likely they were after their release to be reconvicted for multiple violent offences.
Table 23 shows the percentage of violent offenders reconvicted of violent offences according to the type of violent offence that the inmate had been imprisoned for. In general, violent offenders released from a prison sentence for homicide or sex offences had lower violent offence reconviction rates than inmates released from prison for all other violent offences. Inmates released from prison for "minor assault" were the most likely of the violent offenders to be reconvicted of another violent offence (46% of cases within two years and 67% of cases within five years). The category "minor assault" is mostly common assault or assault on a police officer under the Summary Offences Act 1981.
As well as there being variation between individual violent offences in the likelihood of reconviction for violent offences, there is significant difference between non-violent offence groups in the likelihood of a reconviction for a violent offence. In fact, some inmates released from prison for non-violent offences were more likely than violent offenders to be convicted post-release of a violent offence. As was noted above, 28% of all violent offenders were reconvicted of a violent offence within two years of their release from prison. Table 24 shows that the proportion was in fact a little higher for inmates released for offences against justice (29%) and offences against good order (33%), and only slightly lower for property offences (27%). Drug offenders were the least likely to be reconvicted for a violent offence (11% of cases within two years).
Some individual non-violent offences had higher rates of reconviction for violent offences than violent offenders (as a group). These were:
As noted above, there is considerable variation within individual types of violent and non-violent offences in the likelihood of reconviction for violent offences. This highlights, therefore, that the type of offence that a person is imprisoned for is not a reliable predictor of the likelihood that they will commit a serious offence in the future.
