A record one in six crimes are not going to court as criminals, including sex offenders and robbers, are being let off.

       Ministry of Justice figures show that prosecutions fell by 32 per cent in the year ending in March, as police chose to avoid court action and instead issued community resolutions that do not result in a criminal record.

       Out of court disposals, largely made up of community resolutions, rose by nine per cent and now account for 16 per cent – or 164,000 – of all the 1.07 million offences prosecuted through the criminal justice system in the past year.

       That is a proportionate 60 per cent rise on last year, when it was only one in 10, and reflects a growing trend for “soft justice” that is now extending to more serious offences.

       Offenders handed community resolutions agree to say sorry face-to-face to those they have wronged and may be ordered to pay compensation or carry out a reparation. But they avoid a criminal record as they are not taken to court and do not receive a police caution.

       Danny Shaw, head of strategy and insight at Crest Advisory, a crime consultancy, said its ongoing research into the issue had uncovered “worrying gaps” in evidence to justify their use.

       He said: “For example, we don’t know how effective they are in preventing reoffending. In addition, community resolutions were intended to be used for low-level offending and anti-social behaviour, but figures indicate they are being applied to more serious offences. That is a source of concern.

       “For out of court disposals such as community resolutions to command public confidence, they must be used in a proportionate and appropriate way, and with the consent of victims. Police forces must provide the reassurance that this is happening.”

       The Ministry’s data showed crimes of violence against the person accounted for a quarter of the 132,000 community resolutions issued in the year to March 2021, totalling 34,061.

       There were nearly 400 sex offences and 162 robberies that resulted in the criminals escaping court and instead being issued with community resolutions. Despite concerns about rising knife crime, 1,392 offenders caught in possession of a weapon were also given community resolutions.

       The biggest category was drug offences, where 57,320 were handed community resolutions. This was in addition to a further 22,000 drug offenders let off with cautions or fines, primarily for possession of cannabis, raising concerns that it is being decriminalised by the back door.

       James Mulholland QC, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, said: “Community resolutions have their place in a functioning criminal justice system alongside – but not as an alternative to – criminal prosecutions for serious offences. Anything less and public faith in law and order begins to crumble.”

       The shift to community resolutions has been accelerated by the pandemic as police officers were advised to use them to reduce court backlogs that built up during Covid lockdowns.

       Sara Glen, the portfolio lead for charging and out of court disposals at the National Police Chiefs’ Council, wrote to forces saying they should review cases and identify those that could be dealt with outside court to ease pressure on an “already overstretched criminal justice system”.

       Outstanding magistrates and Crown Court cases rose by more than 100,000 during the pandemic to more than 500,000. The Ministry’s data also shows the upward trend in sentence lengths issued by the courts reversed in the past year. The average custodial sentence length for all offences was 18.6 months, down 0.9 months on the previous year.

       A Ministry spokesman said: “Community resolutions should only be used by police for low-level or first-time offending, and are made with the explicit agreement of victims.”