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To provide more timely estimates of re-offending, this chapter provides data that relate to custodial releases that took place in 2020. To provide these estimates it is necessary to only include offences that took place a year after release and where the offender has secured a court conviction resulting in reconviction within a further year. Although this method loses coverage of a proportion of re-offending incidents and resulting convictions (as we only look at one year rather than three years) it allows the analysis to come forward to reference year 2020.
In 2020, slightly more than four out of ten (41%) individuals released from custody re-offended within a year of being released. This was a reduction of four percentage points when compared to the same re-offending estimate for 2018 (45%). Overall, there has been a reduction in one year custodial re-offending of 13 percentage points since 2011. See Figure 3.1 and Table 3.1.
1-year re-offending indicator | |
2011 | 54 |
2012 | 50 |
2013 | 45 |
2014 | 44 |
2015 | 47 |
2016 | 49 |
2017 | 47 |
2018 | 48 |
2019 | 45 |
2020 | 41 |
One-year re-offending rates in young adults (18-25 year olds) declined sharply between 2019 and 2020. In 2020 six out of ten (60%) of individuals under 21 at the time of release re-offended within a year. In comparison just under seven in ten (69%) of those released in 2019 re-offended in the same period following release. There was also a smaller decline in the proportion of 21-25 year olds who re-offended within 12 months of release. In 2020, half (50%) of those released re-offended while in 2019 it was just over half (53%). See Figure 3.2 and Table 3.2.
Less than 21 years | 21 - 25 years | 26 - 30 years | 31 - 35 years | 36 - 40 years | 41 - 50 years | Aged 50 and over | |
2011 | 76 | 64 | 51 | 47 | 44 | 39 | 33 |
2012 | 77 | 55 | 51 | 45 | 42 | 36 | 24 |
2013 | 70 | 53 | 46 | 42 | 39 | 32 | 22 |
2014 | 72 | 54 | 42 | 40 | 37 | 34 | 26 |
2015 | 71 | 58 | 53 | 44 | 37 | 34 | 19 |
2016 | 74 | 58 | 54 | 47 | 39 | 40 | 21 |
2017 | 75 | 56 | 53 | 48 | 42 | 35 | 20 |
2018 | 70 | 60 | 52 | 46 | 46 | 34 | 26 |
2019 | 69 | 53 | 48 | 45 | 39 | 37 | 24 |
2020 | 60 | 50 | 47 | 44 | 41 | 32 | 18 |
Six out of ten individuals (60%) released from custodial sentences in 2020 in relation to Public Order re-offended within a year of their release. This rate was unchanged from the 2019 estimate for the same offence group. Individuals released from custodial sentences relating to Theft had the highest number of releases (576 out of the 2,747) with 300 or 52% of these individuals linked to a re-offence in the year following their release. In contrast, individuals released from custody for serving sentences in relation to Homicide (20%) or Sexual (13%) offences were the least likely to re-offend. See Figure 3.3 and Table 3.3.
Note: The offence types that individuals are released from custody does not always correspond to the same re-offence type for the individual. Table 3.4 of this publication provides details of one-year re-offence types.
Re-offended within 1 year | |
13 Public Order & Other Social Code offences | 60 |
07 Burglary & Related offences | 54 |
12 Damage to Property & to the Environment | 53 |
08 Theft & Related offences | 52 |
06 Robbery, Extortion & Hijacking offences | 51 |
15 Offences against Government, Justice Procedures & Organisation of Crime | 48 |
11 Weapons & Explosives offences | 45 |
03 Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassments & Related offences | 37 |
04 Dangerous or Negligent Acts | 34 |
14 Road & Traffic offences | 34 |
10 Controlled Drug offences | 24 |
09 Fraud, Deception & Related offences | 23 |
05 Kidnapping & Related offences | 20 |
01 Homicide & Related offences | 20 |
16 Offences not elsewhere classified | 13 |
02 Sexual offences | 13 |
Of the 1,137 individuals who re-offended within a year of release in 2020, nearly half (48%) re-offended in just two offence groups - Theft (252) or Public Order related offences (290). Individuals released from custody in relation to offences linked to Homicide (4), Sexual offences (12) and Assaults (139) were also most likely to re-offend in Public Order (57) or Theft related offences (22). See Table 3.4.
Just over half (53%) of individuals released in 2020 who spent three to six months in custody prior to release re-offended within a year of being released. In contrast, just under one third (31%) of individuals that served custodial sentences greater than 12 months re-offended within a year following their release. See Figure 3.4 and Table 3.5.
Less than 3 months | 3 to 6 months | 6 to 9 months | 9 to 12 months | Greater than 12 months | |
% re-offending | 44 | 53 | 46 | 43 | 31 |
Just over four in ten (42%) of re-offences that took place within a year of release from custody in 2020 resulted in a re-comital for the individual. Sexual offences (100%), Robbery (88%) and Burglary (72%) were the re-offence types that were most likely to receive custodial sentences for the re-offending conviction. In contrast, the lowest level of custodial re-offence sanctions was seen in offences linked to Public Order & Other Social Code offences where just under one in five (18%) of individuals received a custodial sentence for their re-offence. See Table 3.6 and Figure 3.5
Note: Custodial sanctions cover all court outcomes that indicate individuals were detained for any period of time for their re-offending offence. Non-custodial outcomes include a variety of sanctions such as Disqualification (mostly associated with driving or licence related offences), fines, probation supervision or suspended sentences that can result in custody if conditions set out by the court are not adhered to. Further details are available in the Background notes of this publication.
Custodial sanction | Non custodial sanction | |
01 Homicide & Related offences | 0 | 0 |
13 Public Order & Other Social Code offences | 18 | 82 |
16 Offences not elsewhere classified | 19 | 81 |
15 Offences against Government, Justice Procedures & Organisation of Crime | 27 | 73 |
10 Controlled Drug offences | 29 | 71 |
14 Road & Traffic offences | 42 | 58 |
09 Fraud, Deception & Related offences | 50 | 50 |
08 Theft & Related offences | 52 | 48 |
12 Damage to Property & to the Environment | 64 | 36 |
04 Dangerous or Negligent Acts | 65 | 35 |
03 Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassments & Related offences | 67 | 33 |
07 Burglary & Related offences | 72 | 28 |
11 Weapons & Explosives offences | 72 | 28 |
06 Robbery, Extortion & Hijacking offences | 88 | 12 |
02 Sexual offences | 100 | 0 |
The South-West (50%) and Midland (49%) regions had the highest levels of one-year re-offending across Ireland in 2020, and Westmeath (60%) was the county with highest individual county re-offending rate. Donegal, Sligo and Wexford (23%) had the lowest recorded county re-offending rates which are calculated by using the location that individuals recorded living at the time of their release. See Map 3.1 and Table 3.7.
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