Exclusive:Almost 120 offenders with over 75 previous convictions dodged prison in Yorkshire and the Humber last year

Ministry of Justice figures show that in 2023, 119 career criminals with more than 75 previous convictions did not receive an immediate custodial sentence.

These people were all sentenced in crown court, with 15 committing violent offences, 90 sentenced for theft and one for a sexual crime.

The majority were given suspended sentences, although 25 were granted a conditional discharge - where a criminal is released without punishment provided no further offence is committed in a specified time frame.

This was the highest number of extreme serial offenders avoiding prison since 2019.

More than half of those were convicted in West Yorkshire, with the force having the highest level of convicts with more than 75 previous offences avoiding custody since 2014.

The figures pose questions about the country’s ailing prison estate and the effectiveness of the rehabilitation system.

Yasmeen Sebbana, an associate director at think tank Public First, wrote a report on the prisons crisis with the Community Trade Union earlier in the year.

She told the Yorkshire Post: “Even the idea that someone can have 75 convictions shows that rehabilitation is not working.

“In order for rehabilitation to work you have to have staff who are able, and have capacity, to provide that level of rehabilitation.

“Some prisons are still under Covid restrictions, where prisoners are in cells 23 hours a day. No one can be expected to be rehabilitated in those circumstances.

“Vocational training is seriously lacking in a lot of prisons, which makes a huge difference in people leaving.

“On top of this, there are lots of practical resettlement issues, where people are being released homeless and without a mobile phone.

“When that happens, no matter how rehabilitated you are in prison, if you are being released homeless and miles away from your support network, rehabilitation is not going to work.”

This comes as the UK’s prison population hit record levels once again, in figures released yesterday, with just 98 available places - which is 0.1 per cent of the entire estate.

The prison population has risen by 1,025 people over the past four weeks and now stands at its highest level since weekly population data was first published in 2011.

The sharp rise is likely to have been driven by the number of people remanded in custody or given jail sentences following the recent disorder across parts of the country.

Yesterday, Thomas Birley, 27, was jailed for nine years for trying to set the Manvers Holiday Inn Express on fire in the riots.

This is the longest sentence given to anyone for their involvement in the disorder.

Birley, of Rowms Lane, Swinton, Rotherham, like so many of the rioters, had a number of previous convictions, including for racially aggravated harassment.

The latest figures come just days before the Government’s temporary early release scheme is due to come into effect on September 10.

In July, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to cut the proportion of sentences inmates must serve behind bars from 50 per cent to 40 per cent as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said overcrowding had pushed jails to the “point of collapse”.

The policy will not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or some violent offences.

Recent inspection reports for HMP Lindholme, outside Doncaster, found “the serious problem of illicit drug use had worsened”, while at HMP Full Sutton, near Pocklington, violence was on the rise.

The previous government was building a “super prison” called HMP Millsike next to maximum security HMP Full Sutton, despite the protests of locals.

The government also failed to rule out the possibility of sending some inmates to prisons in Estonia to increase capacity in the short term.

According to reports, Ms Mahmood is expected to meet her Estonian counterpart Liisa Pakosta next week to discuss the leasing of cells.

Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle did not deny the reports, saying: “The last government closed loads of prison places and didn’t replace any of them, so I think that colleagues in the MoJ will be considering anything that they can to alleviate the problem.

“What we cannot have is people who are convicted of perhaps violent or serious crimes not being able to be in jail.”