The Home Office has deported more than 4,000 foreign prisoners this year, exceeding the target set by the Prime Minister in July, it was announced yesterday.

The announcement from Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, comes a week after she had to rebuff claims that the Government was failing to deport thousands of less serious foreign offenders. A leaked Prison Service memorandum had stated that “as a rule” the Border and Immigration Agency would not remove foreigners sentenced to less than 12 months unless this was specifically recommended by the courts.

Ms Smith was adamant yesterday that the figures showed that the government target on foreign offenders was being met. “Foreign lawbreakers should be first in line for the first plane out of Britain,” she said. “We promised to remove 4,000 foreign national prisoners this year, and we meant it.”

The target was set in July in an attempt to accelerate the removal of prisoners after sentences, to alleviate pressure on the overcrowded system.

Among the 4,000 were at least 20 people convicted of killings, more than 200 sex offenders and more than 1,100 drug offenders.

Foreign prisoners can remain locked up in detention centres awaiting deportation after they serve their sentence.

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said that the numbers being removed were equal to those who would avoid deportation because their sentences were less than 12 months.

Last week, after the leaked memo from the Prison Service, the Conservatives claimed that at least 4,000 foreign offenders a year, including thieves, fraudsters, burglars and drug dealers, could be allowed to remain here. Responding to yesterday’s announcement Mr Davis said: “The Government should not crow about meeting this artificially set target. The Government is replicating the problem they are claiming to have solved.

“In addition, over 500 foreign prisoners have been released early by this Government, and our prisons are still at bursting point with record levels of foreign prisoners.

“Gordon Brown’s claim that, ‘If you commit a crime you will be deported from our country’, remains a piece of cynical spin.”

Last month The Timesreported that a £1,500 “bribe” was being offered to foreign prisoners to persuade them to return home. The proposed payment, in the form of education, training and resettlement grants, was part of an incentive package to persuade foreign prisoners to serve the remainder of their sentence in their home country.

The leaked memo last week, which appeared to contradict government efforts in this direction, contained an instruction to prison governors from Michael Spurr, deputy director-gener-al of the Prison Service, which said: “The Criminal Casework Directorate of the Border and Immigration Agency have confirmed to us that as a rule they have no interest in pursuing foreign prisoners serving sentences of less than 12 months for deportation.” The agency would pursue foreigners sentenced to less than 12 months were there a court recommendation for deportation or were the offender already subject to deportation proceedings.

The next day Lin Homer, head of the agency, said that the memo simply reflected the need to remove the most dangerous offenders first.

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