Profile of Offenders subject to Public Protection Arrangements Northern Ireland during September 2016 published today

During Autumn 2017, a desk top review of offending information relating to 1,293 offenders being managed through Public Protection Arrangements Northern Ireland (PPANI) during September 2016, was completed. The current report presents findings of this review.

Key Findings

• Overall, 730 of the 1,293 (56.5%) offenders had committed at least one previous offence[1] prior to the offence which resulted in their inclusion in PPANI.   Looking more specifically at offence types committed prior to coming into contact with PPANI, 146 (11.3%) had committed one or more sexual offences and 337 (26.1%) had committed one or more violent offences. Please note these groups are not mutually exclusive, with 61 offenders having committed both a violent and sexual offence.
• Those in the Violent Offender Group appear to have a lower age profile than those in both the Sex Offender and Online Sex Offender groups. This is true for both age at first offence and age entering PPANI.
• The majority of those convicted as a Sex Offender or Online Sex Offender were assessed as meeting the criteria for PPANI Category 1 during September 2016. This was in contrast to the Violent Offenders group, where the majority were assessed as PPANI Category 2.  More than half of the PPANI Category 3 offenders were Violent Offenders. (See Appendix 3 for definitions).
• For all offenders a one year reoffending rate was calculated post entry into the PPANI arrangements.  Overall, 9.7% of offenders subject to PPANI reoffended within the first year of entering the arrangements.  In comparison, the latest overall reoffending rate for the full offender population was higher at 17.9% (Duncan and Damkat 2017).
• Summaries of the Assessment, Case Management and Evaluation system (ACE) completed closest to the offenders entry into PPANI, were used to identify problem areas influencing offending behaviours. Overall, five areas of commonality were identified where more than 50% of each of the Sex Offenders, Online Sex Offenders and Violent Offenders groups expressed a small, medium or large problem; ‘family and personal relationships’, ‘reasoning’, ‘impulsiveness’, ‘control’ and ‘lifestyle factors’.

Notes to editors: 

The Criminal Justice Order (NI) 2008 provided the legislative basis for the introduction of the Public Protection Arrangements Northern Ireland (PPANI).  The Department of Justice (DoJ) has overall policy responsibility for the risk assessment and management arrangements set out in the 2008 Order.  It acts to ensure that the funding provided is allocated effectively and the Minister remains briefed with appropriate information regarding the functioning of the legislation.

To date, there has been no wide scale review conducted of the PPANI arrangements, with a view to demonstrate the effectiveness of this multi-agency risk assessment and management process.  This paper represents the first step in this process and aims to provide an overview of the offending profile of offenders coming under the PPANI arrangements.  This will be useful when reviewing the arrangements and for future planning.

The bulletin will be available in PDF format from either

• DOJ web-site at Justice Statistics and Research or
• Analytical Services Group, Laganside House, Oxford Street, Belfast BT1 3LA. Email: statistics.research@justice-ni.x.gsi.gov.uk

All media enquiries should be directed to the Department of Justice Press Office on 028 9052 6444. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via number 028 9037 8110 and your call will be returned.

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