16,000 crimes committed by early release prisoners

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This works out at more than two crimes per prisoner.

Figures released last night show that 7,951 offenders committed a total of 16,415 crimes between April 2006 and March 2007, while being supervised by the probation service and other agencies.

It is a second major blow to the prison service within a week, after it was revealed reoffences carried out by murders, rapists and other serious offenders rose by more than a third last year. The figures emerged after a parliamentary question by Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.

It is the first time the Government has revealed the extent of the re-offending crisis, re-igniting the debate over whether dangerous offenders are being freed from overcrowded jails too soon.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Herbert said: "We must break the cycle of reoffending by dealing with overcrowding and rehabilitating offenders properly."

But, with around 81,000 inmates in cells at any one time, the Government is desperate-to find ways to cut the prison population.

On Monday, the Ministry of Justice released figures showing 83 offenders carried out a serious crime last year, while under the supervision of the probation service and other agencies. This is up from 61 in 2005/06.

Twelve of those crimes were carried out by offenders among 1,249 assessed as the "critical few" supposedly under the most rigorous supervision.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "We are making concerted efforts through effective offender management, interventions and partnerships, to bring down overall re-offending rates."