Nearly a third of criminals in Norfolk committed new offences within a year of being convicted or released from prison, new figures show.
From 55,697 offenders released from prison, cautioned, or handed a non-custodial conviction at court in the year to September 2021, 15,448 had reoffended within 12 months.
Victim Support said high reoffending rates represented a “shocking failure by the criminal justice system" to ensure that offenders are reformed and rehabilitated – "a failure which leads to more victims having their lives shattered by crime”.
“Research tells us that what victims want most is for the offending to stop and clearly that is not happening,” it added.
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The Norfolk reoffending rate was higher than the national average of 24pc and the 15,448 local offenders who committed new crimes in 2020/21 was up from the 12,666 in the previous year.
Theft offences had the highest reoffending rate with half of the 4,932 convicted in Norfolk going on to commit new offences, the most recent Ministry of Justice figures show.
Almost 1,800 out of 5,995 violent offenders went on to commit new offences, as did 81 of 216 those convicted of criminal damage, 31 of 171 convicted of robbery, and 549 of 1,701 convicted of public order offences.
Sex offenders were the least likely to reoffend with 90 out of 738 going on to commit further crimes, possibly due to the strict restrictions and monitoring of such people in the community.
Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "If someone needs support to move away from crime, they will have better access to the services that can help them if they are being supervised in the community than if they are locked in a prison cell for hours on end with nothing to do."
He added: "Common sense tells us that someone is much less likely to be involved in crime if they have a settled home and steady employment.”
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The 2020-21 figures also include 760 juveniles who reoffended.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "The government is investing in rehabilitation to stop prison leavers falling back into crime – including tackling drug addiction, increasing the number of offenders in work and providing basic, short-term accommodation on release.
"We’ve also more than doubled the number of offenders wearing alcohol tags and have been GPS tagging thousands more burglars and robbers ultimately keeping our communities safer."
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