Revealed: Hundreds of criminals 'jumping bail'

Police are still looking for some of the "jumpers"

More than 800 Rochdale criminals “jumped bail” last year, prompting Rochdale MP Paul Rowen to call for a Government enquiry.

A request made under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that 813 people failed to return to court after being granted bail by magistrates.

More shockingly, of those 813, 14 warrants for arrest are still outstanding.

Paul Rowen has claimed the Government is “losing control of more than just the economy”.

He said: “Labour tries to claim that they are cracking down on criminals – these figures show that this is simply not the case.

“More and more people are skipping bail because of the scarcity of prison places. The fact that nearly more than two Rochdale residents skipped bail every day is a serious cause of concern.”

Across Greater Manchester, 7322 warrants were issued for failing to appear before court. 

The Lib Dems plan to keep up the pressure until the Government acts.

A Fail to Appear warrant is issued when someone is bailed to reappear in court but fails to do so.

Rochdale's Labour Parliamentary Candidate, Simon Danczuk, has condemned the Liberal Democrats for their methods in reducing crime.

He said: “Paul Rowen MP forgets to mention is his own party’s position on this.

“Under a Lib Dem Government we would have no dispersal orders to break up youth gangs, which are currently being welcomed in Shawclough by local residents, and young violent criminals, such as the teenagers involved in the gang attack in Rochdale town centre this summer, would be simply made to apologise and not get a custodial sentence.

"His party has voted against tougher sentences for murder, sexual offences and violent crime. Yet Paul Rowen has constantly blocked measures in Parliament to give the police and local authorities more powers to tackle vandals and bullies."

The figures show that Greater Manchester has a “particularly high” rate of bail jumping. FOI figures for London show 17,000 people jumping bail in a city with a 7.5 million population.

Superintendent David Wilkinson of Greater Manchester Police's Criminal Justice Division said: "When a defendant fails to attend court while on bail it falls under the jurisdiction of the court service.

"Greater Manchester Police, like all other forces, is usually then issued with a court warrant to arrest them for failing to appear. The role of the police is to bring the person back before the court.

"We can say that the number of fail to appear warrants issued in Greater Manchester has decreased by 17 per cent, and Rochdale in particular, dropped by 18 per cent over the last two years.*

"Recent figures show that people are returned to the courts earlier in Greater Manchester than in other metropolitan areas. Office of Criminal Justice Reform figures show that in August 2008 we returned 74 per cent of people who failed to appear back to the courts within 28 days, showing the robust manner in which we pursue them."

*Between January 1 and November 30 2007, 7,240 warrants were issued across the force area. This compares to 6,007, over the same period this year, representing a reduction of 1,233.

Over the same period the number of warrants issued as a result of people failing to appear in court in Rochdale fell from 705 to 574, a reduction of 131.