Prescribing anti-psychotic medication to violent criminals when they leave prison could prevent around 1,500 serious crimes in Britain each year, a new study suggests.

Although medicating prisoners on their release is controversial, the University of Oxford believes that it could dramatically cut the risk of violent offending.

Researchers studied 22,275 prisoners who were released from jails in Sweden between 2005 and 2010, some of whom were prescribed drugs.

There was a 42 per cent reduction in the rate of violent reoffending for those prescribed anti-psychotic drugs and 52 per cent reduction for those given medication for addictive disorders. Antidepressants were found to have no impact on reoffending rates.

Around 3,000 serious violent crimes are committed by ex-prisoners in Britain each year but the study suggests the number could be halved if criminals were given drugs on their release.