RECORD NUMBER OF FOREIGN SEX OFFENDERS IN BRITISH PRISONS

With nearly 7,000 overseas inmates in overcrowded cells, figures show there's a...

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RECORD numbers of foreign thieves, thugs and sex offenders are languishing in UK jails.

And it costs £360million a year to keep a total of 6,673 convicted overseas nationals behind bars.

The shocking figures are revealed in analysis of figures from the Ministry of Justice.

They show 10,772 overseas nationals are currently locked up in the UK’s overcrowded jails.

These include the 6,673 serving sentences for the crimes they committed and 3,781 being held on remand.

The remaining 318 are in prison for civil or immigration act offences

But almost half of the convicted foreign criminals have been locked up for violent and sexual crimes.

The MoJ, for the first time releasing official data by nationality, has confirmed 2,083 are behind bars for committing violent offences, with another 1,159 suspects on remand a near 50% increase since records began in 2015.

And 1,382 convicted rapists, predators and perverts have been locked up, with another 346 suspected sex offenders remanded in custody a total of around 1,730 up from the 1,367 total number 10 years ago.

Each convicted overseas national costs taxpayers an estimated £54,000 a year, adding up to the £360m money that could be much better spent, say outraged critics. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Every pound spent housing a foreign criminal is a pound that could have been spent on police, schools, or fixing that crater on your road.

“Labour's refusal to act has turned our prison system into a sanctuary for foreign offenders. And taxpayers are footing the bill.

“Our plan will change that we will deport them.”