Probation Re-offending Statistics 2016

Young adults on probation were much more likely to re-offend than older age groups. In 2016, 45.6% of under 18’s re-offended within a year of receiving a probation order. In contrast just over one fifth (21.7%) of over 65’s re-offended within the same period. See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1.

The highest rate of probation re-offending within a year was carried out by individuals committed to probation for Theft and related offences (39.1%). Individuals who received probation orders for offences related to Sexual offences (10.2%) or Dangerous or negligent acts (22.7%) were least likely to re-offend. See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.2.

In terms of actual numbers, the most individuals who received probation orders in 2016 also came from the offence type Theft and related offences (946). Out of the total of 4,447 probation orders issued in 2016, just over one fifth (21.3%) were related to this type of offence. In contrast just 59 individuals received probation orders in relation to Sexual offences. See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.2.

In total, 34.1% of individuals who received a Probation Order in court in 2016 re-offended within a year of the court proceeding. The re-offending rate of individuals who received Community Service Orders (CSO’s) or Post Release Supervision Orders (PRSO’s) was 28.3% and 15.9% respectively. It should be noted that there are generally much smaller numbers of PRSO’s each year than Community Service or Probation Orders and they are mostly associated with more significant and less prevalent offences. See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.3.

In 2016 the highest level of 1-year probation related re-offending took place from people with registered address’ in counties Limerick (41.2%) and Kerry (40%). The lowest re-offending rates were in Leitrim (6.3%) and Donegal (18.3%). See Table 3.2 and Map 3.1.

The highest number of Probation Orders in total were received by individuals with addresses in county Dublin (1,392) and Cork (762). These two counties account for nearly half of all the Probation Orders issued in 2016 (48.4%). The rate of re-offending for these two counties was almost the same at 30.8% and 30.4% respectively. See Table 3.2 and Map 3.1.

Probation re-offending that takes place within a year of a probation order being issued mostly takes place within the first 6 months of the order's issue date. In total, almost two-thirds or 64.1% of the re-offences take place during this period with the remaining 35.9% of offending which occurs in the year after probation taking place between six and twelve months of the probation order issue date. See Table 3.3 and Figure 3.4.

In total, 932 of the 1,347 identified re-offences took place in 3 main re-offence types:

• Public order Offences and other social code offences (28.5%)
• Theft and related offences (24.4%)
• Controlled drug offences (16.3%)   

See Table 3.4 and Figure 3.5.

Custodial re-offending is calculated by collating re-offenders that receive a court sentence relating to any different type of detention together into a single estimate. For example, a court outcome described as “imprisonment” or “imprisonment – part suspended” is included as a custodial sanction while a court outcome described as a “Fine” is classified as a non-custodial sanction. A full list of the court outcomes included or excluded as custodial offences can be found in the Background Notes.

Just over half (50.6%) of 1-year probation re-offenders in 2016 received a custodial sentence for their re-offence while 49.4% received a non-custodial sentence such as a fine or Community Service Order. See Table 3.5 and Figure 3.6.