鲍鱼tv

Does prison work?

Nearly 90 percent of criminals convicted of serious crimes in Kent last year were repeat offenders. The figures have been released by the Prisons Minister Crispin Blunt following a request by the Dartford MP Gareth Johnson.

It looks as though things have not changed much in the last ten years. Back in 2001, 87% of criminals had been in trouble before (06:07, 07:07 and 08:07).

It is a crime which causes massive disruption to homeowners, businesses and commuters and it is not going away.

Railways, roads, war memorials and churches are being still being targeted by metal thieves.

So far this year, more than 2,600 metal theft crimes have been logged by Kent Police. Yesterday, officers from the county joined a national day of action to see if any of the stolen metal had been passed onto scrap dealers (07:21 and 08:22).

In the last part of our series looking at our economy, we are focussing on something that is at the forefront of our minds at this time of year, shopping.

The latest retail figures from the Office of National Statistics are out this morning, they were up in October but early figures by the British Retail Consortium show November spending may not have been so good.

We speak to a retailer in Chatham to see how they are faring? (07:48).

Show less