Number of dangerous criminals increases

The number of violent and dangerous criminals in the West Midlands has soared in the past year, official figures revealed today - along with details of how many sex offenders are living in local towns.

Rising numbers of sex attackers and paedophiles are living on the region's streets and in the West Midlands police area, officers are monitoring 1,081 dangerous criminals, up from 1,000 last year. But the Ministry of Justice statistics also show the number of high-risk criminals in Staffordshire is down.

The number of high-risk sex criminals in the West Midlands has soared by 56 per cent in the past six years.

They show the number of sex offenders considered a danger to the public is up from 1,312 in 2002/03 to 2,043.

A total of 234 sex offenders now live in Wolverhampton, up from 200 last year, while 256 have addresses in Sandwell, 185 live in Walsall and 187 in the Dudley borough.

The number registered with Staffordshire Police has almost doubled during the past six years from 365 to 694, although it has dropped by two in the past year.

Police are monitoring a total of 895 violent of dangerous criminals, including sex offenders, which is down from 920 last year.

Of those 47 have been sent back to prison for breaking their release licences, up from 39 last year, another has been convicted of a serious offence and a further offender charged for committing a serious offence.

The number of high-risk offenders monitored by officers at West Mercia Police - which covers Shropshire and Worcestershire - has risen 40 per cent from 524 to 734.

Nationally, the number of registered sex offenders across England and Wales has gone up by 51 per cent from 21,415 to 32,336.

The data on convicts was compiled by Mappa (Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements) and West Midlands Police Det Supt Cath Hannon said: "Although serious violent and sexual offending makes up a small proportion of all recorded crime, it inevitably causes the greatest concern."