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Thousands of serial burglars are escaping mandatory three-year jail terms under 'three strikes' rule, Telegraph investigation reveals

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Thousands of serial burglars have escaped mandatory three-year jail sentences as judges have spurned the “three-strikes-and-out” law, the Daily Telegraph can reveal.

Three in every four burglars who should have been sent to prison for a minimum of three years have escaped with lesser sentences, suspended jail terms or community punishments.

Under the law introduced in 1999 any adult burglar convicted of their third domestic break-in should serve at least three years in prison unless the court considered there are "exceptional circumstances.”

However, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, show that 7,802 serial burglars avoided the three-year mandatory sentences over the past decade with just 2,125 - about a quarter - forced to serve the full term.

Even those who served jail sentences would still be out after 18 months or less under the rule permitting automatic early release at the halfway point.

The MoJ statistics also reveal that there were three prolific thieves who had each been convicted of between 10 and 17 burglaries before they were finally sent to jail between 2016 and 2018.

The minimum term was introduced in December 1999 under the Powers of Criminal Courts Act and a decade later Lord Judge, then the Lord Chief Justice, told courts to hand out tough jail terms for burglars because the home should be a person's "safest refuge''.

However, just five months later, the Sentencing Advisory Panel, which advised the country's most senior judges, signalled burglars could escape a prison sentence if they are drug addicts or alcoholics.

Since then a tenth of all serial burglars - some 838 - who should have been subject to the “three-strikes-and-out” rule escaped with a non-custodial sentence such as a fine, a community punishment or a suspended sentence.

A further tenth - more than 1050 - received sentences of less than a year when brought before the courts after committing two previous burglaries.

Jack Straw, who as Home Secretary, introduced the “three strikes” law, urged the Government to urgently review it to crackdown on burglary, which could wreck people’s lives.

“They should look at this and see what is going on. There was always discretion for the courts in extreme circumstances but this has made the exception the rule.”

He was backed by Lord Blunkett, a former Labour Home Secretary and member of the Government that introduced the law, said the rule had contributed to a sharp fall in burglary into the late 2000s but “like many things in the criminal justice system people look at new ways of doing things.”

He said the Government should look to toughening the legislation to ensure it was applied as a a deterrent and “good way of sending a signal” to burglars but it needed to be combined with greater efforts to rehabilitate offenders once in jail.

Dame Vera Baird, the victims’ commissioner, said that too often, the impact of burglary upon the victims was underestimated.

“It can feel deeply intrusive and leaves many victims feeling unsafe and anxious in their own homes – the one place where all of us need to feel secure. This is particularly so where the victims are elderly or living alone. It is important the criminal justice system never loses sight of this.” 

A Government spokesman said: “This Government has made cutting crime and restoring faith in the justice system a priority – recruiting more police, building extra prison places and making the most serious offenders spend longer in prison. We’re also determined to tackle the scourge of repeat offending and will set out further measures shortly.

“While sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary who make decisions based on the facts of each case, more than 90% of criminals convicted for a third burglary offence in the last decade were sent immediately to prison.”