Hundreds of foreign criminals who went missing in Britain before they could be deported represent just one of many high-profile failures for the Government’s vaunted £850m prisoner removal programme, a damning report reveals today.

Criminals who disappeared after serving their sentences have included 58 high-risk and potentially dangerous offenders who have eluded both police and a junior team of Home Office officials charged with trying to find them for more than four years.

The system was shown to be dogged by bureaucracy, delays and out-of-date technology, despite the commitment by David Cameron to send home more foreign criminals in British jails to save money and free up prison spaces.

A report by the spending watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO), discloses that there were more foreign inmates in UK prisons in 2014 than there were eight years ago – when Labour’s Home Secretary Charles Clarke was sacked after it emerged that hundreds of foreign prisoners had been freed without considering them for deportation.

Video: Body found in Boston Manor Park is Arnis Zalkans



The report covers failed attempts to prevent serious offenders from coming into the country and delays and missed opportunities to deport them after committing new crimes and serving jail terms. It said that one in six of the 4,200 foreign offenders living in the community – amounting to 760 foreign criminals – had been missing since 2010.

Any foreign offender can be turned away from Britain if they have served a sentence in their homeland of more than four years. But the report said dangerous criminals have evaded border staff on their way into the country because of an antiquated “watchlist” system that has not been upgraded. Britain is one of only four countries in the European Economic Area that does not use a more modern system of intelligence checks.

The problems were highlighted by the case Arnis Zalkalns, the prime suspect for the murder of schoolgirl Alice Gross, who was allowed into the country despite murdering his wife in his native Latvia. His previous conviction in his homeland went unchecked and undiscovered.

In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: The search for Alice Gross In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Metropolitan Police and a Dyfed Powys Police dog unit search a lake in Osterley Park, west London for missing Alice Gross In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Specialists from the London Fire Brigade Urban Search and Rescue team clear the bank of the river Brent in Hanwell, west London searching for missing Alice Gross In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Police search a section of the river Brent near to Trumpers Way In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Police search a section of wasteland between the river Brent and Elthorne Park near to Trumpers Way, Hanwell In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Horse mounted police search a section of wasteland between the river Brent and Elthorne Park near to Trumpers Way, Hanwell In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search A missing persons poster, requesting for information following the disappearance of 14-year-old Alice Gross from Hanwell, is accompanied by yellow ribbons in Hanwell town centre in west London In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search The reconstruction of the last known movements of missing schoolgirl Alice Gross Getty Images In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search A police cadet walks besides the Canal at the Brentford Locks system as she reconstructs the last known movements of missing schoolgirl Alice Gross Getty Images In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search A police cadet walks across the bridge at the Brentford Locks as part of the reconstruction of the last known movements of missing schoolgirl Alice Gross Getty Images In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Jose Gross and Rosalind Hodgkiss, the parents of missing teenager Alice Gross holding an album of photos of her at their home in Hanwell, west London Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Jose Gross and Rosalind Hodgkiss, the parents of missing teenager Alice Gross with a poster appealing for information near their home in Hanwell, west London Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Police officers search an area next to the river Brent for clues in the hunt for schoolgirl Alice Gross in London Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Police divers search the river Brent for clues in the hunt for missing school girl Alice Gross in London Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Police search the River Brent, near Hanwell, west London PA In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search The hunt for Alice Gross, who went missing on 28 August is now being described as the largest police search operation since the 7/7 bombings of 2005 PA

The NAO said that missed opportunities in identifying foreign criminals had cost the country £70m. The problems came despite a tenfold increase in staff.

“This report shows the Home Office are not doing enough to crack down on foreign prisoners,” said David Hanson, the shadow immigration minister.

The report said that an estimated 151 foreign prisoners were released from prison after 2009 without being considered for deportation – the issue that saw Mr Clarke fired in 2006.