Mislaid....

We have known for some time that this government is careless with prisoners. Three years ago Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, admitted that more than one thousand foreign prisoners were wrongly released, as there had not been consideration for deportation.

We also know that many prisoners have been released very early, to free up places in our over-crowded prisons, and that many of them have gone on to commit very serious offences.

Now it seems that almost 1,000 criminals, including murderers and rapists who should have been re-imprisoned are still at large, and that at least 59 have committed new offences, including rape and robbery. One of those missing last year, Dano Sonnex, killed two French students last year.

The police, government and probation service are all trying to pass the blame. It may be that all should hold their hands up as guilty, but the fact remains that dangerous men are free to roam our streets and commit further serious crimes.