Government data has revealed that a shocking 99.5% of offenders are avoiding jail thanks to the UK's floundering criminal justice system. Data from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) shows that as few as one in 200 crimes resulted in an offender being sent to prison in the year to September 2024.

Of the estimated 13 million crimes committed, only 71,573 resulted in a sentence from a judge or magistrate, which is the equivalent of 0.5%, according to analysis by campaign group Crime Crush. Worrying data also shows that more than half of the offences that led to a conviction were committed by just under 10% of convicts.

The same stats show the number of prolific offenders has increased in the past decade, making Britain's street more dangerous. Criminals with more than 50 convictions have been spared jailed in more than 50,000 cases since 2017.

Meanwhile, the number of career criminal who has missed out on prison time has nearly trippled, from 1,289 in 2007 to 3,325 in 2023, MoJ figures show. Crime Crush has launched a petition calling for tougher sentences for prolific offenders, which they said committ the majority of crime in the UK.

Lawrence Newport, who founded the group, said: "At the moment, this cohort of career criminals is facing reduced sentences and avoiding prison at almost record-breaking levels. Imprisoning these career criminals for longer would protect the public and crush crime rates by up to 90%.

"Opening the courts, ensuring victims no longer have to wait years for a trial, would increase conviction rates - and more criminals, knowing they faced an efficient trial, would plead guilty and stop wasting court time. For policing, we must put a stop to the endless red-tape, use the savings from doing so to retain and recruit more of the best talent into the police. Police and crime commissioners must also fire heads of services that are failing the public."

It comes as police recorded 5.4million criminal offences in the year to September 2024, exluding fraud, computer misuse and summary motoring crime. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) found only 41pc of offences are actually reported to police.

That suggests a total of just over 13million crimes in that period. And of the 5.4million cases recorded by police, nearly 41pc were closed without a suspect. A poulty 7.1pc of the remaining cases resulted in a charge. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) secured a conviction in 82.8pc of those cases.

That means roughly 315,342 crimes - or 2.4pc of the estimated 13 million total - ended in a conviction and only 71,573 criminals received a jail sentence. Mr Newport said: "The picture is clear: of the 13 million crimes committed in a year, only a small proportion result in a suspect being charged, and an even smaller number lead to a conviction or prison sentence.

"The vast majority either go unreported, remain unsolved or do not lead to significant consequences for offenders." For London's Metropolitan Police - Britain's biggest force - fewer than one in 25 cases (4.28pc) led to a suspect being charged. In Nortfolk, which was the highest-performing force, that figure was one in eight, or 12pc.

Chris Philip, shadow home secretary and police minister under Rishi Sunak, said cops need to go back to basics. He said police should be pursuing every line of inquiry and running images of suspects caught on CCTV, video doorbells and mobile phones through the national database for facial recognition.

He said a former police minister, he set a target of doubling the number of images of suspects analysed this way from 100,000 to 200,000. He said: "Prolific offenders only belong in one place, which is prison, to prevent them from offending".

A spokesperson for the Home Office said for too long, communities across the country have seen neighbourhood policing hollowed out and crime go unpunished. They said: "That is why this Government's 'Safer Streets' mission vows to restore neighbourhood policing, restore public confidence in the criminal justice system, halve the rates of knife crime and violence against women and girls within a decade, and crack down on the crimes that people see every day in their local areas, from antisocial behaviour and fly-tipping to phone theft and shoplifting.

"Local forces have already received increased funding to start delivering the 13,000 extra neighbourhood officers we have pledged to put on the beat as part of the Government's Plan for Change. They will play a vital role in restoring visible policing, helping to ensure that all reported crimes are properly investigated and that more offenders face the justice they deserve."