ALMOST a fifth of criminals in Northern Ireland re-offended within a year of being released from prison, according to new figures.
Re-offending rates in the north also reveal that more than two-fifths of those who re-offended committed the offence within the first three months of release.
Figures released by the Department of Justice (DoJ) yesterday show that of 21,493 offenders in 2016/17, there were 3,862 who re-offended within the year following release from custody.
But it marks a 0.50 percentage point decrease in the actual rate of re-offending from the previous year.
The annual bulletin released by the DoJ provides information on the one-year re-offending rate for offenders who received a non-custodial sentence at court (such as a fine or community service), or a diversionary sentence (such as an informed warning or caution), or who were released from custody in 2016/17.
The overall re-offending rate is used as an indicator for the draft programme for government and the Northern Ireland Civil Service outcomes delivery plan.
The new figures also reveal that of the 3,862 who re-offended in the first year, 43.7 per cent committed their first re-offence within the first three months.
Overall, 12.4 per cent of females and 19.4 per cent of males had re-offended.
In terms of offending history, 61.3 per cent of the 21,493 had committed previous offences, ranging from one to 590 distinct offences.
The highest re-offending rates among adults were found amongst those who had committed burglary followed by robbery.
