Community terms 'cut reoffending'

The study claims custodial sentences lead to higher levels of reoffending

Offenders in Jersey given community penalties are less likely to reoffend than those sent to prison, a Probation and After-Care Service report found.

The study of more than 1,000 offenders revealed reconviction rates for those given community sentences were lower in Jersey than in England and Wales.

But it showed reconviction rates for those given custodial terms were higher in Jersey than in England and Wales.

A spokesman from La Moye, Jersey's prison, was unavailable for comment.

Researchers claimed the three-year study was the largest of its kind outside North America.

It was written by Jersey-based researchers Dr Helen Miles and Ms Brenda Coster, along with Professor Peter Raynor from Swansea University.

'Positive view'

The study claims custodial sentences tend to produce a "high proportion of serious reconvictions", particularly among young offenders.

Dr Miles said: "Overall the results give a positive view of probation service activities in Jersey and demonstrate the beneficial impact that probation orders have across several areas.

"The evidence is clear that offenders who are targeted appropriately to the correct intervention programme, and more importantly who go on to complete the programme, significantly reduce their risk of reconviction."

The report also said earlier findings that women's reconviction rates were "substantially lower" than men were not supported by the new data.