Official figures from the Ministry of Justice show that more than a quarter of criminals sentenced by the courts have committed crimes on least 15 previous occasions, compared to 17% ten years ago, and the majority of these serial offenders are still not jailed after carrying out a further offence.

Out of 325,616 criminals sentenced at Crown Court in 2008, the most recent year available, 28% had a criminal history running to at least 15 previous convictions or cautions, compared to the figure for 2000 which was 17%.

Another 10% had committed between 11 and 14 previous crimes and overall, 75% had carried out an offence on at least three occasions before the new crime and more than 50% of those sentenced had committed a previous crime in the last 12 months.

In spite of  the growing problem, only 40% of those with long criminal records were jailed for their new offence in 2008, which meant that more than 73,000 serial criminals left the court with a fine, community sentence, discharge or suspended sentence after committing another crime.

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said:

“The growing proportion of serial offenders is a clear indication of Labour’s abject failure to get a grip on persistent criminals.

“An ever expanding prison estate with revolving doors is doing nothing to cut sky re-offending rates among hardened lawbreakers.

“Criminal justice policy in this country has to be moved away from posturing on penalties to what works to cut crime.”

The figures do not give details of the previous offences but 20% of violent criminals, 38% of burglars and 17% of robbers had at least 15 previous convictions or cautions for other offences.

The Sentencing Statistics also showed that 15% of juveniles sent to custody in 2008 had been in detention on at least three previous occasions, which was double the figure for 2000.

Overall, 6,487 ten to 17-year-olds were given immediate custody in 2008, 4% less than the previous year.

Joyce Moseley, chief executive of Catch22, a charity working with young people, said:

“There will always be cases where custody is appropriate and we welcome the falling numbers of young people going to prison for the first time.

“However, we are seeing a higher proportion of young people who have received previous prison sentences. This indicates a serious lack of successful resettlement services to help these young people turn their lives around and get back on track.”