FORMER detective Ray Mallon yesterday helped to launch a programme aimed at keeping the region's young offenders from making repeat visits to prison.

The Mayor of Middlesbrough was at Durham City's Gala Theatre to kickstart the campaign, Smart Justice.

The campaign, backed by organisations including Nacro and the Prison Governors' Association, says punishing non-violent offenders in the community is a more effective way of preventing re-offending than locking them up.

Government statistics show more than half of adults and three quarters of young prisoners re-offend soon after they are freed, at a cost of £11bn to the taxpayer.

Smart Justice promotes compulsory work and education programmes, and tagging, to change offenders instead of incarcerating them.

Mr Mallon, whose tough image dates back to his zero tolerance style of policing on Teesside, insisted education and community punishments were not soft options.

He said: "I believe there are some criminals where we might as well lock them up and throw away the key, but there are many who can be diverted from crime.

"We want to engage with children before they are even born, when they are in the womb.

"We know which families are likely to produce the burglars of tomorrow and the task is to engage with those families."

Juliet Lyons, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "There is enough evidence in the North-East that proves that there are good community initiatives that work to reduce re-offending.''