UK Justice says nearly ,1000 criminals at large

The UK Justice Secretary says nearly 1,000 offenders who should have been sent back to prison are still at large in the country.



A total of 935 offenders whose licences had been revoked were not returned to jail, as they should have been.



Justice Secretary Jack Straw says the offenders include 19 convicted murderers who have not been returned to custody.



Conservative officials said the figures were shocking and accused the government of putting the public at risk.



However, Mr Straw says the recall system has been working well when compared with previous periods.



He says 10 times more offenders are being recalled to prison each year than before 1997 as a result of the UK’s new recall regime.