More than half of people charged with offences of violence against the person receive a caution rather than going to court, according to government figures published yesterday.

Hundreds of thousands of criminals, including violent offenders, are escaping punishment after a surge in the use of police cautioning.

Figures published by the Home Office revealed a 17 per cent rise in police cautions in England and Wales to reach almost 300,000 last year.

For the first time people charged with violence against the person are now more likely to receive a caution than go to court and face the prospect of a fine, community punishment or jail term.

A caution is a formal warning given by a senior officer in a police station where a person admits to a criminal offence. The caution gives an individual a police criminal record.

The jump in use of cautions was condemned by opposition politicians who accused the Government of talking tough on crime while being in charge when the cautioning rate was increasing.

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: “The public will be confused that a government that spends so much time talking tough is in fact presiding over an increasing number of cautions for serious violent crimes. Cautions should not be used in a way that lets people off the hook who have committed serious offences.”

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said that the figures were an insult to victims of crime. “It is bad enough that so many people suffer from soaring violent crime. It is outrageous that so many people get away with it.

“This is a direct consequence of Labour’s failure to address the chronic lack of capacity in our prisons, meaning people who should be in jail are not. People want to see offenders properly prosecuted and convicted.”

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We are quite clear that more serious cases of violent crime will lead to a custodial sentence. But in certain cases, involving much less serious injuries, a simple caution may be appropriate and it is right for the police to decide whether to issue a caution or whether to charge.”

The Home Office figures show that the number of suspects found guilty by the courts fell by 4 per cent last year. A total of 1.4 million people were convicted in the magistrates and Crown Courts, compared with 2.1 million in 1981 and 1.5 million in 1991. When cautions were included, 1.78 million offenders were dealt with by the criminal justice system, a fall of 1 per cent.

Within the overall increase in cautions, there was also a 17 per cent increase in cautions for the most serious offences, to reach 183,000.

A total of 55 per cent of the 91,900 people accused of violence against the person were cautioned in 2005, compared with 48 per cent the previous year. Almost half of 588 people accused of threat or conspiracy to murder received a caution from the police. But the figures show that the number of people cautioned for rape has fallen sharply from 40 in 2004 to 22 last year.

The cautioning rate for indictable, or more serious, offences rose four points to 38 per cent.

Three police forces — Dyfed-Powys in Wales, Surrey and Warwickshire — had caution rates for more serious offences of more than 50 per cent. The rate in Dyfed-Powys and Surrey was 57 per cent, compared with just 18 per cent in North Yorkshire.

Yesterday’s report also highlights the struggle that the Government has to speed up justice. The average time from an offence being committed to the case being completed in the magistrates’ court rose from 118 days in 2004 to 122 days last year.

The figures also show that the proportion convicted of sexual offences remained at 56 per cent despite wideranging government measures to boost guilty verdicts.

The number of murder convictions in the year reached 394, up from 361 in 2004.

Cautionary tale

298,000
Number of offenders cautioned in 2005, up from 255,800 in 2004

17%
Increase in cautions for serious offences

51,020
Number of cautions for violence against person, a 14% increase on 2004 rate

1,761
Number of cautions for sex offences, an 8% increase on 2004 rate

Source: Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 2005

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