He added: “We need to grip these offenders. Many have not been deterred, despite prosecuting them more quickly in 2011, and have gone on to rape and murder in some cases.
“If we want the rhetoric of a rehabilitation revolution to become a reality in our capital city, then the Mayor must be given oversight of London’s criminal justice system.”
The Met said it worked with City Hall and organisations such as the Youth Justice Board to reduce reoffending, but that the task of monitoring freed offenders was mainly the responsibility of other agencies.
A spokeswoman added: “The Met does not hold the primary responsibility for managing offenders in the community. We do, however, work closely with responsible agencies such as the Probation Service in seeking to reduce reoffending.
“The Met also specifically targets offenders who continue to commit crime, given the harm that these individuals pose to communities.”
Some offenders jailed during the riots are still in custody for the crimes they committed during the disturbances. But most have either been freed from their prison terms, despite the enhanced sentences handed out in some cases, or were given non-custodial penalties at the time.
Today’s new statistics follow this newspaper’s disclosure of separate figures from a study of eight London boroughs showing that 418 prolific offenders living there have carried out about 20,000 offences. That is an average of around 48 each. The eight worst offenders registered more than 150 crimes apiece.
Earlier Ministry of Justice statistics, obtained by the Standard last March, also highlighted the problem of reoffending in London. They showed that 554 criminals in the capital, each with at least 50 previous convictions, had offended again after being freed during one 12-month period.
