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This chapter outlines some more details about individuals who re-offended within three years of release from custody, and who secured a court conviction within a further two years.
Over four fifths (84%) of individuals aged less than 21 who were released from custody in 2017 re-offended within three years of release. In addition, over seven in ten (72%) of individuals between the age of 21 and 25 also re-offended over the same period of time following their release. In total these two age groups represented just over a quarter (654 out of 2,604) of the overall number of individuals released from custodial sentences in 2017. See Figure 2.1 and Table 2.1.
| Re-offended within 3 years | |
| < 21 years | 84 |
| 21 - 25 years | 72 |
| 26 - 30 years | 70 |
| 31 - 35 years | 62 |
| 36 - 40 years | 55 |
| 41 - 50 years | 47 |
| Aged 50 and over | 27 |
Individuals released from custody for Public Order or Burglary related offences consistently rank highly in re-offending estimates when compared to other offence groups. In 2017 over three quarters (78%) of individuals who were released from sentences in relation to both these offence categories were convicted of a re-offence within three years. The lowest level of re-offending continues to be seen in relation to individuals released from sentences related to Sexual Offences (12%) or Homicide & Related offences (24%). The largest number of individuals released in 2017 were released from sentences related to Theft (593 of 2,604 in total). From this category over seven in ten (71%) re-offended within three years of release. See Table 2.2 and Figure 2.2.
Note: The offence types that individuals are released from custody does not always correspond to the same re-offence type for the individual. Table 2.3 of this publication provides details of three year re-offence types.
| Re-offended within 3 years | |
| 07 Burglary & Related offences | 78 |
| 13 Public Order & Other Social Code offences | 78 |
| 08 Theft & Related offences | 71 |
| 05 Kidnapping & Related offences | 70 |
| 11 Weapons & Explosives offences | 70 |
| 12 Damage to Property & to the Environment | 70 |
| 06 Robbery, Extortion & Hijacking offences | 67 |
| 03 Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassments & Related offences | 64 |
| 04 Dangerous or Negligent Acts | 64 |
| 14 Road & Traffic offences | 58 |
| 10 Controlled Drug offences | 40 |
| 09 Fraud, Deception & Related offences | 38 |
| 15 Offences against Government, Justice Procedures & Organisation of Crime | 25 |
| 01 Homicide & Related offences | 24 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 12 |
| 16 Offences not elsewhere classified | 0 |
Over one in five (360 out of 1,593) of all individuals who re-offended within three years of release in 2017 re-offended in Theft related offences and just under half (163 out of 360) of these re-offenders were also released from custody that related to the same offence group. In contrast eight out of the 219 (4%) of individuals released from custody in relation to offences linked with Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assault, Harassments & Related offences re-offended in the same offence type. See Table 2.3.
Almost the same proportion of males (61%) as females (60%) re-offended within three years of release from custody in 2017, although just 194 out of the total 2,604 individuals that were released in 2017 (7%) were female. See Table 2.4 and Figure 2.3.
| Re-offended in 3 years | |
| Male | 93 |
| Female | 7 |
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