Soft justice Britain: 29,000 criminals have avoided prison despite having 25 or more previous convictions Northumbria has softest courts in UK with 96% of defendants spared jail 8 criminals have avoided jail despite 300 or more convictions or cautions Many were found guilty of serious crimes including rape, kidnap and arson The true scale of Britain's soft justice system has been laid bare after it emerged 29,000 criminals have avoided prison sentences despite racking up 25 or more previous conditions. Research from the Centre for Crime Prevention revealed how habitual criminals are routinely avoiding jail terms with some even having received 300 or more previous convictions or cautions. Data from Freedom of Information requests shows that almost 112,000 criminals, found guilty of at least their sixth offence in 2012 avoided prison. Cushy courts: 29,000 criminals have avoided prison sentences despite racking up 25 or more previous conditions More than 55,000 avoided prison despite 15 or more previous offences, 29,000 avoided prison despite 25 or more previous offences and 5,692 offenders avoided prison despite 50 or more previous offences. Peter Cuthbertson, author of the report and Director of the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: 'The courts are utterly failing to show they take crime seriously. Prison is the only sure way to protect the public from hardened criminals. The most prolific offenders are responsible for a growing percentage of all crime, and locking them up would have a massive impact on the crime rate. How Britain's repeat offenders are dodging prison 'New Zealand recently fought rising crime by letting criminals know that it is "three strikes and you're out." In Britain, we don't even have 300 strikes and you're out.' Northumbria was found to have the softest courts in Britain with 96 per cent of all criminals avoiding prison. Warwickshire came next with 95.5 per cent, followed by Lincolnshire (94.7 per cent) and Dyfed-Powys (94.4 per cent). And contrary to claims that women are treated more harshly by the courts, male criminals with either one or two previous convictions or cautions were found to be more than twice as likely to go to prison. Last week we revealed how many criminals avoiding jail had been found guilty of serious offences including rape, kidnap and arson. Only 14 per cent of the 4,659 people convicted of common assault were jailed and fewer than a quarter of the 615 convicted of cruelty or neglect of children and 27 per cent of people who caused death by dangerous driving were given prison sentences. Scott free: The areas of the country with the highest percentage of criminals avoiding prison Justice Secretary Mr Grayling said: 'Since 2010 those who break the law are more likely to go to prison for longer and we are continuing to overhaul sentencing to ensure that the toughest sentencing measures are available to the courts.'