More than a quarter of criminals caught by Wiltshire Police last year were first-time offenders, new figures reveal.

Data from the Ministry of Justice shows Wiltshire Police dealt with 1,048 people who had no previous convictions and 69 of these cases involved a young person under 18.

This means first-time offenders accounted for 27 per cent of cases, slightly up from 26 per cent the previous year, and 847 were convicted, while the rest received a caution.

Tyrone Steele, deputy legal director of law reform charity JUSTICE, which strives for a fair, accessible and equal justice system in the UK, said: “Entering the criminal justice system is life-changing in all the wrong ways.

“Providing and strengthening real routes away from crime – from better access to mental health and addiction services, to housing and employment – would help to reverse the worrying trend of increases in those entering the criminal justice system for the first time, including children.”

Last year in Wiltshire, six per cent of first-time offenders were sent to prison and 21 per cent received a community sentence, but the most common indictable offence was violence against another person, accounting for 23 per cent of cases.

Whereas the most common offence for those with previous criminal convictions was theft, at 31 per cent.

Across England and Wales, around 63,700 first-time offenders were convicted in 2023 - which represented 22 per cent of all criminals – and this figure was similar the year before, but it is a significant increase from 14 per cent in 2013.

A further 21,900 first-time offenders were issued a caution last year, in the hope that early police intervention would prevent other offences.

The social justice charity Nacro, which provides 28,000 people with housing, education, justice, health and wellbeing services each year, says prison sentences often contribute to the problem and are not the solution to prevent future re-offending.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Nacro, said: “Much of the conversation on reducing crime focuses on prison and increasing sentencing despite the evidence showing that increasing the length of a prison sentence is not an effective deterrent.

“Even a short sentence can mean people lose their jobs, homes and custody of their children, making it harder to build a crime-free life afterwards.

“And the evidence shows that short prison sentences are less effective at preventing further crime than sentences served in the community.”