Bail system - Making the best use of laws we have

The disclosure that people on bail on suspicion of other offences committed some 30,000 crimes inevitably raises public disquiet, especially when those include prime suspects of 15 different murders. The statistics would seem to suggest that there is something seriously amiss with our system of bail.

It is important that we understand what is actually happening. Do the figures suggest that there were any grounds for predicting that people released on bail for certain crimes were likely to commit other crimes while on bail?

The Supreme Court ruled in 1965 that those charged with a crime could only be refused bail if they were likely to flee, or interfere with either witnesses or evidence. A suspect could not be detained on a preventative basis.