§ Mr. BlairTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many of the domestic burglars in the study of those given community service orders in 1987 were reconvicted of burglary within(a) one year and (b) two years from sentence; of how many further burglary offences those who were reconvicted were found guilty on average within (i) one year and (ii) two years; and what multiplier was used to arrive at the estimated average of between three and 13 offences per burglar over 12 months quoted in his Department's new release 220/93 dated 18 October;
(2) what is the average number of further burglaries committed by domestic burglars released from prison service custody over (a) one year and (b) two years.
§ Mr. MacleanOf the 193 domestic burglars covered in the study cited by the Home Office director of research and statistics, 96 or 50 per cent, were reconvicted of at least one standard list offence within 12 months—standard list offences include all indictable offences and a few of the more serious types of summary offence. The 96 offenders were convicted between them of 122 further offences, of which 43 per cent. were estimated to have been burglaries —on the basis of the breakdown of offences involved in the first reconviction only. It was assumed that for each of the 122 reconvictions, between five and 20 further offences were committed without resulting in convictions. This assumption was made on the basis of what is known about unreported, unrecorded and undetected crime.
The analysis did not look at this group's reconvictions over the two years following conviction. Neither these figures nor comparable statistics for burglars released from prison service custody are readily available. I shall write to the hon. Member when the statistical analysis has been carried out.