Are two in five violent criminals handed a caution?
"Two in five violent criminals and sex offenders are escaping with a caution rather than being put before the courts, figures show."
Daily Telegraph, 2 April 2012
Last Wednesday, in response to a written question by Lord Hunt, Justice Minister Lord McNally produced data on the proportion of violent offences that are dealt with through cautions, otherwise known as 'out-of-court disposals'.
The Telegraph picked up on this question, claiming that 23,442 violent criminals had received a caution for an offence of violence against the person, robbery or a sex offence in 2010.
But are the Telegraph's claims accurate?
Analysis
The figures reported yesterday can be found in parliamentary questions from last week. Lord Hunt asked the Ministry of Justice:
"what proportion of violent crimes in England and Wales are handled as out-of-court disposals"
Out-of-court disposals include cannabis warnings, Penalty Notices for Disorder (commonly known as on-the-spot-fines) and cautions.
The Telegraph's figures, like the parliamentary answer from Lord McNally, provide 2010 data only of violence against the person, robbery or sex offences as a proxy of 'violent criminals'.
According to the paper, 41 per cent of all criminals who were responsible for such offences were cautioned. The total number of offenders responsible was put at a total of 57,772. If we take the 23,442 figure, the 41 per cent figure is accurate, as shown in the table below.
The figures that Lord McNally has given come from the Ministry of Justice's Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly Update to December 2010, specifically figures contained in table 1.3:
[Burglary in the table is not included in the violent crime figures]
If we add up the number of cautions given for the offences of violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery then we end up with the figure of 23,442.
We were, however, unable to immediately identify the source of Lord McNally's figures for the number of defendants proceeded against. The figures in the table show 90,912 total "proceedings" - far from the figure in hansard. If this were the correct figure it would leave our headline statistic at 26 per cent - not 41 per cent.
After contacting the Ministry of Justice we were directed to this table within the same document:
This table shows the number of defendants tried by offence group and we can therefore calculate the combined number of offenders for violence against the person, sexual assault and robbery.
If we do this then we come up with a figure of 40,200. This is still not the same as the figures given by Lord McNally.
The discrepancy is in part due to the fact that the figure given in this table are rounded numbers and therefore do not necessarily sum. However, the figures given in this table relate to the number of defendants tried at the Crown Court while the figures given by Lord McNally relate to the number of defendants proceeded against at the Magistrates Court.
This discrepency may also be due to the nature of the criminal justice system whereby a Magistrates Court can commit a defendant to the Crown Court for trial or sentence meaning that the figures represented in the table are still relevant but more specific.
Conclusion
The Telegraph's claims about the number of offenders who commit violence against the person, sexual offences or robbery are accurate as they match figures given by Lord McNally in parliament and by figures shown through Criminal Justice Statistics.
The figures on the proportion of violent offenders who have been given a caution, 41 per cent, is also broadly accurate in the context of the figures given by Lord McNally in parliament. However these need to be understood carefully, as they refer to those offenders who have been proceeded against up to the Crown Court stage, rather than all proceedings at Magistrates Courts.
Full Fact remains in touch with the Ministry of Justice to confirm why there are still slight discrepancies between the hansard and Ministry of Justice figures.