THERE has been a huge rise in the number of violent offenders in Oxfordshire being let off with cautions, according to new figures.

The number of cautions dished out for violent offences in the county went up by two thirds (from 664 to 1,060) between April 2003 and March 2004 and the same period to March 2005.

A caution is a formal warning, given by a senior officer in a police station, where a person admits to a criminal offence.

The individual is given a police criminal record.

Thames Valley Police say the massive increase is due to a change in policy at the end of 2004 which called for cautions to be handed out to offenders who commit minor offences rather than giving them verbal warnings.

However, the rise in Oxfordshire figures follows a national trend.

That shows an increase in the number of cautions handed out for the more serious crimes of violence against people, burglary, sexual offences and robbery.

Across England and Wales, the number of police cautions for the most serious offences soared by 36 per cent, from 42,861 in 2004 to 58,009 last year.

For the first time, more than half of people charged with violent offences escaped a court appearance - a proportion up from 48 per cent to 55 per cent.

Shadow home secretary David Davis quickly blamed the rise in cautions on the Labour Government's failure to tackle "the chronic lack of capacity in our prisons".

He added: "This is an insult to victims of crime.

It is bad enough that so many people suffer from soaring violent crime - it is outrageous that so many people get away with it.

"How will cautions help reduce crime?

"A proper sentence offers the chance of rehabilitation, a caution does not.

"It will do nothing to deter criminals from committing more crime."

A Home Office spokesman said its advice was that "more serious cases of violent crime" should result in a jail term.

But she added: "In certain cases, involving much less serious injuries, a simple caution may be appropriate - and it is right for the police to decide whether to issue a caution or whether to charge."

However, no figures for the proportion of violent offences resulting in a caution were produced for individual police forces, making a comparison impossible.

Chief executive for victim support in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, Joanna Fenstermacher, said: "A caution could give a degree of accountability, but I have not heard many people say that.

"Victims do want offenders made accountable in whatever way that may be."

Nationwide, a total of 22 rapists were cautioned. Most were either elderly or very young, or committed the offence many years ago.