A NEW team which aims to crack down on prolific criminals and bring them to justice more quickly was launched in Ipswich yesterday .The Suffolk Local Justice Board hopes to target crimes and criminals that are blighting the community, as well as speeding up the local justice system.

A NEW team which aims to crack down on prolific criminals and bring them to justice more quickly was launched in Ipswich yesterday .

The Suffolk Local Justice Board hopes to target crimes and criminals that are blighting the community, as well as speeding up the local justice system.

Headed by Chris Yule, Suffolk's Crown Chief Prosecutor, the board brings together chief officers from the police and probation service, among others.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Yule said the board would target crimes that the public worry most about, including street violence, burglary and sexual offences.

He added: "The idea is that we will bring more cases to justice and give much greater attention to persistent offenders, who are people who have clocked up six convictions in a year.

"I think the public perception is that persistent offenders seem to delay court proceedings and then often get away with offences - we want to stop that and build public confidence in the criminal justice system.

"The justice board aims to bring to justice more of those criminals who are a persistent blight on the lives of local people and are a menace to our communities – while providing a system which is more supportive of the needs of victims and witnesses throughout the whole court process."

And the board has already set itself the task of bringing some 600 more cases to justice over the next year, using a new web-based tracking system to monitor persistent offenders.

Suffolk Chief Constable Alastair McWhirter, who is also a member of the board, said: "I think it's a very good idea and is something that has needed to be done for a very long time.

"I think we'll hit the targets well. We are already doing much better then a lot of the rest of the country but we are trying to the speed the whole process up much more."