Top Crime City

Tue, 16 March 2010 Courtesy of: Sun Online

Manchester has the most hardened career criminals in the country - beating even London, it has been revealed.

About 1,500 of the 15,000 most prolific offenders are from the city and its immediate area.

This compares to 1,408 in the capital, 986 in the West Midlands - which includes Birmingham - and 788 in Nottinghamshire, which has been rocked by violent gang wars in recent years.

West Yorkshire has 631 and Lancashire 567.

Relatively law-abiding Wiltshire has just 84.

The figures were drawn up by the Home Office to identify the worst thugs who commit thousands of crimes every year.

The Home Office estimates ten per cent of criminals are responsible for half of all offences.

The figures on the 15,000 most prolific cover the one in 200 offenders who commit ten per cent of crimes.

Tories say a tiny minority of career crooks are being allowed to cause misery in our towns and cities. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said "It's tempting to think of these as Mr Bigs of crime.

"In reality, the most persistent offenders often come from the most challenging and deprived areas and are frequently driven by drug addiction. Those areas are disproportionately affected by crime."

A Home Office spokesman said "We subject hard-core offenders to intense supervision that demands they change their behaviour or face a swift enforcement action."