Summary: A hardened core of 100,000 criminals convicted last year already had at least 15 offences to their names. This group of serial offenders is growing and now contains more than one in three of all criminals coming before the courts. Worryingly, official figures show that less than four in ten were sent to jail last year, despite their lengthy criminal records. The number of offenders with such prolific records has shot up by more than 50 per cent in a decade. Revenue chiefs are naming and shaming tax dodging small firms while multinationals avoid paying billions. Nine ordinary business people, including a hairdresser and a coach operator, were listed by HMRC as part of a scheme to highlight deliberate defaulters. The idea is that the stigma of appearing on the list, to be updated every three months, will persuade those thinking of avoiding tax to pay up. KIDS’ campaigner Esther Rantzen has revealed how learning of TV perv Jimmy Savile’s abuse was “a dagger in my heart”. The ChildLine founder, 72, had dismissed rumours she heard in the 1970s. She says: “He was an icon. We as viewers and crowds helped him. We went along with this mythology.” HE has been dropping clangers for more than half a century. And Prince Philip proved he hasn't lost his appetite for mischief during a visit to a Luton hospital yesterday. In the latest of a long, long list of cringe-worthy comments, the 91-year-old Duke told a Filipino nurse her country must be "half empty. You're all here running the NHS." No-one is immune from Phil's lack of tact - women, heads of state... even children.
