Thousands of criminals who reoffend immediately after their release from prison will be targeted by law enforcers, as part of the Government’s new plans to tackle Britain’s most harmful crime bosses.
An organised crime strategy published today by Home Secretary Sajid Javid states that there are about 6,500 organised criminals in jail.
The total — which includes some of London’s most notorious gangland bosses — represents more than a fifth of all the organised criminals known to be operating in the UK.
But the strategy unveiled today warns that some of them manage to orchestrate crimes from behind bars, arranging drug trafficking and even murders from their cells. Half also commit further offences within a year of being freed.
The new approach promises to address the problem with new “lifetime management” controls which will come into force next year.
The aim is to allow law enforcers “to track and manage priority serious and organised crime offenders through their entire journey in the criminal justice system and beyond, irrespective of where they live or where they are in prison”.
The curbs will be part of a wider crackdown designed to reduce the estimated £37 billion-a-year cost to this country of serious and organised crime. It will also include enhanced efforts against sex offenders accused of using the internet to exploit a growing number of child victims, including babies and toddlers, through methods including live streaming.
Further measures will include a purge on professional “facilitators”, including solicitors, accountants and estate agents, who ministers believe are helping wealthy criminals launder dirty money.
Private schools, art dealers and other sellers of luxury goods will also be told that they must exercise proper diligence when accepting large sums, or risk sanctions including prosecution.
Revealing the strategy, Mr Javid said that serious and organised crime was “the most deadly national security threat faced by the UK”.
He added: “We will allow no safe space for these people, their networks or their illicit money in our society.”
