A day in Britain: 11 crimes reported every minute

Eleven crimes are reported and four arrests are made every minute in Britain, shows an analysis by the police of what they say is a typical day in the criminal justice system.

Figures from the 24-hour "snapshot", the first such study, were presented yesterday in London by Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and representatives from the Crown Prosecution Service, the Probation Service and Victim Support. The statistics showed that 16,500 crimes were reported in England and Wales on 1 May, when many people joined protest marches.

Sir John urged judges and magistrates to heed comments made by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, who has argued for "stringent" sentences in some violent cases. There was also growing concern, said Sir John, at the number of violent offenders released on bail. He described the criminal justice system as "creaking" under the volume of crimes and cases.

The commissioner denied that by publishing the figures he risked antagonising the Home Secretary because he was highlighting the high levels of crime the Government had pledged to reduce. But he acknowledged: "Crime statistics do, I believe, fuel the fear of crime, there is no doubt.

"There has been tremendous emphasis on the amount of crime in London and in England and Wales in the past two to three months."

The survey also had data on transport by the privatised custody services,criticised yesterday by the Criminal Bar Association and a senior judge for delays that have led to an estimated £1m annual loss. The chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, Bruce Houlder QC, said the process had "broken down massively".

The snapshot showed that on 1 May there were 4,462 individual prisoner journeys.

The Home Office minister Lord Falconer of Thoroton disputed the commissioner's view that the figures had not been influenced by the May Day protests.