More 250 offenders with other 100 previous convictions dodged jail last year

Over that time period, the number of offenders in England and Wales with between 76 and 100 previous convictions who avoided jail more than tripled from 175 to 593.

Conversely, the number of criminals who had no other convictions and dodged prison time roughly halved from 2007 to 2023.

The shock figures were revealed by a written question from Tory MP Neil O’Brien.

A number of the thugs jailed in the riots which swept across the country following the Southport stabbings have had a swathe of previous convictions.

Kenzie Roughley, from Pontefract, was filmed punching and kicking a South Yorkshire Police CCTV van during the violent disorder outside the hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham.

The 18-year-old, who admitted violent disorder, had a number of previous youth convictions including assaulting an emergency worker and racially aggravated threatening behaviour, and was also on police bail at the time of the offence.

In Liverpool, Adam Wharton, 28, was jailed for looting a community library, which rioters had set ablaze.

The court heard he had 16 previous convictions for 28 offences, including attempted robbery, robbery, thefts, assault and burglary.

While Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said that around 70 per cent of those convicted over the riots in London were career criminals.

The number of offenders with multiple previous convictions dodging jail could go up, given the prisons crisis.

The government confirmed that there would be no exemption for rioters from the early release scheme, which frees prisoners after 40 per cent of their sentence to free up space in overcrowded jails.

This was announced by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood last month, who said she had no option but to release 5,500 prisoners early, with prisons projected to overflow in September.

This could include rioters like Roughley and Wharton, a Downing Street spokeswoman confirmed.

She said: “There’s no specific exclusion for the rioters, the scheme is as previously set out by the Justice Secretary.”

“Also, we’re very clear that those who are convicted of serious violence and serve sentences of four years and over, or a terrorism offence, will be excluded,” she added.

As almost all people convicted in their roles in the riots have had sentences of less than four years, the vast majority would be eligible for early release.