A third of young criminals in Preston reoffend within a year

From October 2015 to September 2016, 141 young offenders either left custody, received a non-custodial conviction or received a caution. Of those, 51 committed a proven reoffence within a year. Each reoffender committed an average of three offences within this period.

The 141 young offenders, aged under 18, also had 670 previous convictions between them.

In England and Wales, 42 per cent of juvenile offenders committed another crime within a year, committing an average of 3.9 offences each.

The Ministry of Justice has cautioned that, since the figures only measure offences resulting in convictions or cautions, this could be a significant underestimate of the true level of reoffending.

Across England and Wales, juveniles are more likely to reoffend than adults. In Preston 28 per cent of 1,687 adult offenders reoffended over the same period. Nationally, 29 per cent of adults reoffended.

Youth justice practitioner on the Law Society criminal law committee, Greg Stewart, said that the way that juvenile crime is handled could be behind high youth reoffending rates.