TWO of the region's Crime Commissioners have thrown their weight behind a campaign to highlight court constraints in dealing with sex offenders.

The Northern Echo launched the Keep Our Kids Safe crusade this week after a series of cases raised concerns over how perverts are dealt with.

The campaign was in response to the number of sex offenders - often those who download images of child abuse from the internet - who walk free.

Approved treatment programmes in prison are only available to those who get a sentence over two years - and often their crimes do not pass that mark.

Judges have spoken of their frustration at the anomaly, and said although offenders deserve to go to jail, they would not get the help they need.

Suspended sentences of imprisonment or community orders are, therefore, routinely passed so the offenders can get treatment to curb their warped ways.

Last night, Police and Crime Commissioners for Durham and Northumbria, Ron Hogg and Vera Baird, came out in support of our moves to see improvements.

Their backing comes in the wake of praise from campaigners and a cross-party group of MPs from our region who have joined the calls for change.

Mr Hogg - a former high-ranking police officer with both the Durham and Cleveland forces - said: “I fully support the campaign.

"A lot of these people do need treatment, but at the end of the day we have got to have a system that is robust and protects vulnerable people within our community and not allow these people to escape punishment.”

Ms Baird, a former Teesside MP and before that a QC, praised The Echo for its campaigning tradition, and said change was needed "speedily".

In an article written for the newspaper today, she says: "Low-grade sex offenders might be the very people for whom sex offender treatment course could be most effective, by turning them around at an early stage.

"But the courses are in short supply in custody and are only realistically available to people on longer sentences.

"Reducing crime is in everybody's interests, and we must press for this obvious loophole to be closed speedily with the introduction of more sex offender course in prison.

"It is good that we, in the North-East, have a campaigning newspaper on our side."