MORE than 1,000 violent and sexual offenders in Essex are being supervised in the community, public protection figures show.

There are a total of 824 registered sexual offenders in Essex and 330 violent offenders, who pose a higher risk to the public, according to national probation service MAPPA (Multi-Agency Pulbic Protection Arrangements).

The group, which is led by HM Prison Service, Essex Police and Essex Probation, published their report for 2009/10 yesterday.

In the year to the end of March, none of the offenders managed by MAPPA had committed a further serious offence, however 36 were returned to prison for breaching their conditions of probation.

Lay advisor to the group, John Downing, said: “This has been another very consistent year in the delivery of MAPPA throughout Essex.

“The reported performance shows that we have not been troubled by serious further offences by those offenders regularly known to us.

“I consider that the tremendous effort and hard work by all the agencies in delivering offender management plans should be applauded when we can demonstrate that we have protected the public in this way.”

MAPPA categorise the offenders into three levels depending on how serious a threat they are to the public. The report reveals that there are four sexual offenders and three violent offenders in the county which are in the ‘most dangerous’ category.

Steve Warren, in charge of public protection at Essex Police, said MAPPA was a successful example of partnership working and was the “glue” which kept the separate agencies together.

He said: “We can’t eliminate risk completely, but we can work together and put procedures in place to make sure it is managed effectively.”

The partnership has been running for nine years and has had more than 5,000 referrals with two serious further offences by people who are managed under the scheme.

Essex has 54 sexual offenders per 100,000 people with the highest concentration in the south of the county and the lowest in the west and east.