More than 40% of people released from prison reoffend within a year, figures show
Five Three Getting Mitting Released People Within Prison Out Years Than Crime Convicted Of Another Three Of Were More In From
More than three in five people released from prison were convicted of committing another crime within three years of getting out, new figures have shown.
This rises to more than four in five prisoners aged 21 and under who reoffend within three years, compared to just under one-third of over 50s who reoffend, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
More than half (54%) of young adults under the age of 21 released from custody in 2021, re-offended within a yearhttps://t.co/W2aPUSdvI9#CSOIreland #Ireland #Crime #RecordedCrime #CrimeStatistics #CrimeStats #Offenders #ReOffenders pic.twitter.com/NgGGIhj5Oo
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) October 2, 2024
The CSO said people who had served custodial sentences relating to public order offences (77%) or damage to property and to the environment offences (76%) were most likely to be convicted of a reoffence within three years of being released.
CSO statistician Felix Coleman said: “Today’s release provides annual estimates of the reoffending rates for individuals released from custody up to and including 2021.
“The most recent reference year available for statistics relating to one-year reoffending is 2021 because a minimum of two years is needed to establish a reoffending rate: one year for potential reoffences to take place, and one further year for court conviction proceedings to be completed.”
In terms of reoffending rates within one year of being released, 42% of people who got out of prison reoffended within a year, according to the figures.
“Individuals released during 2021 from custodial sentences relating to burglary (61%), public order (58%), or robbery (57%) had the highest rate of reoffending within a year of being released,” the CSO said.
“Reoffences committed by individuals can be in a different crime category to the original offence.”
While those released for crimes related to theft, burglary and assaults had high reoffending rates after three years, there were lower reoffending rates for fraud and deception offences (43%), homicide offences (23%) and sexual offences (21%).
The CSO said people released after a sentence for theft-related offences were the most likely to commit the same kind of crime again.
On the other hand, just 7% of people released from custody in relation to offences linked with attempts/threats to murder, assault, harassments and related offences reoffended in the same offence type.
Although there are far fewer women in prison than men, women released from prison have a slightly higher rate of reoffending compared to men (65% vs 62%) after three years.
Breaking it down by region, the Midlands area had the highest rate of reoffending within a year (50%).
The South-West meanwhile, which includes Cork and Kerry, had the largest fall in reoffending rates from 50% in 2020 to 46% in 2021.
Compared to previous years where the CSO dealt with such figures provided by An Garda Síochána as “under reservation”, these reoffending figures are the first since this label was lifted late last year.
“This is possible because An Garda Síochána have introduced a range of quality measures over the last number of years which have resulted in sustained improvement in the quality of the underlying crime data,” the CSO said.
“These changes give a level of assurance to users that they can rely on [this data].”