More than 200 criminals supervised by private probation firms charged with murder since 2014

Figure compares with lower number of NPS-supervised convicts

The information was released by the Ministry of Justice in response to a parliamentary question by Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts. ((Getty Images/iStockphoto))

Some 225 convicted criminals being supervised by private firms have been charged with murder since the probation service was overhauled in 2014, official figures show.

The cases compare with 142 murder charges for offenders being monitored by the National Probation Service (NPS) over the same period between 2015 and 2018.

The number of convicted offenders under supervision by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) being charged with murder rose each year, from 42 in 2015 to 71 in 2018.

By comparison, the number of convicted offenders under supervision by the NPS rose from 28 in 2015 to 47 in 2017 before falling to 43 in 2018.

The figures were released by the Ministry of Justice in response to a parliamentary question by Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts.

She asked how many Serious Further Offence (SFO) reviews had been carried out since the body handling convicted criminals was partly privatised in 2014.

An SFO review is carried out when an offender under statutory supervision in the community is charged with a "qualifying offence".

Not every charge may have resulted in a conviction, so it is not known if all murder charges were proven.

Since its creation, the NPS has dealt with offenders classed as high risk, while remaining work is carried out by CRCs.

In its answer to Ms Saville Roberts, the Ministry of Justice did not say how many criminals were being supervised by the NPS compared to the CRCs in each year.

Justice minister Lucy Frazer said: "Serious further offences are rare. Fewer than 0.5 per cent of offenders under statutory supervision are convicted of serious further offences.

"Nonetheless, every single serious further offence is taken extremely seriously, and in all cases a review is carried out to identify any lessons for the better management of future cases."

Press Association