Government 'soft on burglars'

Only 21% of burglars convicted for a third time were jailed for the minimum statutory sentence of three years, the statistics showed.

The Tories said convicted burglars were less likely to face any prison time at all under the Labour Government, quoting Ministry of Justice figures which showed the custody rate for burglary has fallen from 45.3% in 1997 to 39.2%.

Shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve said: "Under Labour, most burglars escape jail, and even the most prolific offenders avoid the minimum sentence. If this wasn't bad enough, ministers have released 4,000 burglars early because they failed to provide sufficient prison capacity."

He spoke after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith hosted a summit to address rising burglaries while insisting that the recession does not mean a rise in the offence is inevitable.

But Mr Grieve added: "There is little point in Jacqui Smith hosting summits, while Jack Straw continues to give burglars a break."

The summit in central London brought together police, retailers, insurers and charities for elderly people, described by Ms Smith as "the people who know how to stop burglary".

She said: "I don't think there is anything inevitable about saying because we have a recession burglary needs to rise. In order to make sure that doesn't happen we are taking action."

The summit came in the wake of the latest crime figures which showed break-ins at homes were up 4%, prompting fears of a "credit crunch crimewave". Ms Smith said there were 890,000 fewer burglaries now than in 1997.

Figures for July to September last year showed there were 69,000 break-ins at homes in England and Wales, the first rise in seven years, and burglaries of commercial premises also increased. Last year Ms Smith warned Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a leaked memo of a likely increase in "acquisitive" crimes including burglary as a result of the economic downturn.