Hundreds of criminals, including knife offenders, spared jail under Coalition In 2012, one offender with 487 previous convictions including more than 400 for drunkenness and disorder was spared jail after failing to surrender to bail. The same offender was not imprisoned in the previous year, again with hundreds of convictions for drunkenness and disorder, dozens for harassment. Mr Davies, who obtained the information through Parliamentary Questions, said the figures were "an absolute disgrace." He said: "This lays bare how soft our courts are even with persistent and serious offenders, and also show how ineffective community sentences are in deterring crime. These figures should shame the judiciary and successive governments. The Government need to ensure that serious offenders are sent to prison as the public have completely lost faith in the criminal justice system. Robert Buckland, a criminal lawyer and Tory MP, said: "At a time when the public is demanding a cut in the rates of reoffending it is very important that we acknowledge that - where habitual reoffenders have no prospect of rehabilation - then prison is the only option. A robust use of custodial offences is very much part of what the crininal justice system should be all about. Mr Grayling defended the Government's record on knife crime, stressing the proportion of those jailed for knife possession had jumped from 16 per cent in 2008 to 28 per cent in 2013. He said: "The Government remains committed to tackling the scourge of knife crime. On 3rd December the Government implemented tougher minimum sentences for threat and has just announced measures to limit the use of cautions for knife possession. He said that "when a court sentences an offender the courts must treat convictions as an aggravating factor." He added that ministers were "committed to strengthening sentences, so that they combine robust punishment with requirements that are effective at preventing further offending and which provide reparation to victims and communities." The figures are an embarrassment for Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, who has expressed his concern about knife criminals being handed cautions and other non-custodial punishments. Mr Grayling brought in new measures in December which were designed to impose mandatory jail sentences on anyone who uses a knife or offensive weapon to threaten and endanger others. Figures published in June showed that out of 1,331 offenders convicted of possessing a knife in the year to the end of March - who had at least two previous convictions for the same offence - only 703 went straight to prison.