Half a million crimes are committed each year by ex-convicts

Latest figures show four in ten criminals were caught offending again within 12 months, the Ministry of Justice said last night.

The crimes are committed by 73,000 adult criminals and 70,000 youths in England and Wales.

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The rate of violent and sexual re-offending has risen by 12.5% since 2000

The figures will boost concerns about the justice system's failure to deter persistent offenders from a life of crime.

Critics said they were also evidence of the effects of jail overcrowding, which restricts rehabilitation work with criminals.

Although the total number of crimes was down, the most serious adult reoffending, including killings and sex crimes, rose by 12.5 per cent from 2000 to 2005.

The statistics also show that ministers have failed to end "revolving-door" offending in which the same criminals break the law and go to court repeatedly.

There were 1,552 cases of serious violence including homicide, along with 936 sex attacks on adults, and 248 sexual assaults on children in 2005.

The study tracked 44,000 adult offenders and 45,000 juveniles who were either freed from prison or began non- custodial punishments in the first three months of 2005.

In both groups around 40 per cent were caught committing more crime. Many were caught several times. For every 100 adult criminals there were 168 new offences. For youths the figure was 125.

Multiplying the quarterly figures to give an equivalent annual total equates to 300,000 new offences a year by recentlypunished adult criminals, and 226,000 by juveniles.

The real picture is likely to be far worse, as only crimes solved by the police are counted and the study ignores around half of all adult reoffenders who are let off with a caution or formal warning.

The report also reveals that criminals who were jailed for less than 12 months were three times more likely to be caught committing another crime than those jailed for three years or more and thanks to multiple offending were responsible for five times as much crime.

Justice Minister David Hanson admitted he was "concerned" by the increase in the most serious reoffending among adults, but claimed it was partly caused by better reporting of sex crimes.

He added: "There is still less than one serious offence per 100 reoffenders. We are absolutely committed to reducing this."

But Tory justice spokesman Nick Herbert said: "After a decade of Government claims on reducing reoffending, we now learn that serious violent and sexual crimes committed by released prisoners are rising.

"With record overcrowding, drugs flowing freely and no serious rehabilitation in jails, it is little wonder prisoners are undeterred from a life of crime."

LibDem spokesman David Howarth said: "Sixty per cent of people given prison sentences of less than 12 months still reoffend within a year of release. This is higher than eight years ago.

"Reoffending rates for shortterm prison sentences are enormous, shameful and count as a massive failure of policy."