Repeat offenders spared jail despite up to 60 previous offences, figures reveal amid call for tougher sentences.
Repeat offenders are being spared prison sentences despite committing up to 60 previous offences, new research shows, as former Tory ministers led calls for them to be given automatic longer jail terms.
Thieves, fraudsters, robbers and violent offenders who have assaulted police officers are among those who have avoided jail despite repeatedly committing the same offence before courts finally send them to prison.
The data, from the Ministry of Justice for the years 2016 to 2018, shows that the highest number of previous convictions and cautions before an offender received a custodial sentence was 60 for theft. In 2016, the highest was 53 and in 2018 it was 38. DT.
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