255 sex offenders cleared to work with children

The disclosure came in an update on the true scale of the overseas criminal conviction scandal, which threatened to engulf the Government earlier this year.

Four times more offenders than had been previously admitted did not have details of crimes they committed abroad entered on to the Police National Computer.

Dozens of the criminals involved have reoffended since returning to Britain - at least 21 so seriously that they are currently in prison.

Critics said that if police had known about the overseas convictions some of the crimes could have been prevented.

Ministers initially said that only 540 serious criminals were left off the computer by bungling officials.

But Police Minister Tony McNulty said the true total was 2,198 - including 255 sex offenders.

Subsequent checks revealed that as a result of the fiasco 89 of the convicts had been given a clean bill of health by the Criminal Records Bureau when applying for jobs.

It meant employers had no idea of their criminal past when considering their suitability to work in schools, care homes or sports clubs. Mr McNulty said 72 of those in the most serious category - which includes drug dealers, kidnappers and robbers - had gained employment.

Fifty-two are still in their posts, with employers left to decide whether to sack them or not.

Three people convicted of sex offences were passed by the bureau - one of whom was convicted of 'sexual touching of a child under 16' and went on to work as a chess coach.

The other two worked as a sports coach, and in a hospital. All three have since left their posts.

Five sex offenders with teaching qualifications are being followed up in the hope of barring them from working with children or vulnerable adults.

Checks into the criminals' backgrounds have also revealed the scale of their reoffending since moving back to the UK.

In addition to the 21 in prison, dozens more are under probation supervision - suggesting they too have committed new offences since returning to the UK.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "This is a crisis that has profound implications for public safety and one that is a direct result of ministerial failure.

"Now we see that not only did ministers try to deny awareness of the situation but, when they came to Parliament once the story had broken, their information was woefully inadequate and totally underestimated the risk to the safety of the public."

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg added: "Once again, the public is left wondering why it takes so long for the truth to come out on issues of vital importance to public safety."

It first emerged in January this year that 27,000 offences committed overseas by Britons over the course of the last decade had not been input on to the police national computer due to Home Office incompetence.

Officials were notified of the crimes, but allowed the paperwork to gather dust in boxes.

Home Secretary John Reid said the number of the most serious criminals involved was just 540 in an update to Parliament shortly after the backlog was exposed.

But the Home Office dramatically increasing the figure, saying the initial report had 'erred on the side of caution'.

The new list, the department said, was a 'more thorough and comprehensive job'.

Mr McNulty said former Whitehall mandarin Sir Ian Magee had been asked to carry out a review of the way criminal convictions data are recorded and shared.