The number of foreign criminals released onto Britain’s streets hits a record near 12,000
- Number of foreign criminals released onto Britain’s streets hits record high
- Home Office statistics show 11,769 people released from prison but not deported at the end of September
- The total ‘completely unacceptable’ figure has risen by more than 800 in a year
The number of foreign criminals freed from prison to walk the streets of Britain has reached a record close to 12,000.
There were 11,769 foreign offenders released from prison but not deported at the end of September, according to Home Office figures.
The “completely unacceptable” total has increased by more than 800 in one year.
This means that two foreign criminals a day, on average, have been released to live in the UK over the past 12 months.
The total has risen by 198% since 2012. More than 3,700 foreign criminals have lived in Britain for more than five years after being incarcerated.
The number of foreign criminals freed from prison to walk the streets of Britain has reached a record near 12,000 (stock image)
Another 3,320 have been on the streets for two to five years, up 640 year-on-year. There has been a drop in the number of inmates deported before the end of their prison term, the data shows.
Data showed 297 people were evicted from April to June this year, compared to a peak of 591 in the same quarter of 2016.
David Spencer, from the Center for Crime Prevention think tank, said: ‘It is totally unacceptable that so many foreign criminals have been left free to live in the community.
“This number continues to rise which is deeply disturbing and shows that neither the Home Office nor the MoJ [Ministry of Justice] has a grip on this problem.
