The Deputy Prime Minister, 47, cautioned MPs while speaking before the Commons justice committee. Mr Raab stated he wished to see a “more precautionary approach” to prison releases.

He stated: “I suspect that’s something the public would like to see.”

The 47-year-old politician stressed to the committee the cases waiting to be dealt with by criminal courts has become “serious” and must be reduced as quickly as possible.

The former Secretary of State told the committee the criminal courts backlog would “remain a problem for many years” and would only increase as the Government hires more police officers and arrests more criminals.

He said: “We’re in the middle of recruiting 20,000 police officers.

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“The more criminals that police catch, the more demand is going to increase.

“We want that demand, if you like, going through the crown courts, because it shows you that we’re cracking down on crime, but we’ve also got to make sure the court has got the capacity to get back to a normal level of backlog.”

His comments follow the arrest of double child killer Colin Pitchfork last week.

Pitchfork, who raped and murdered two 15-year-old girls in Leicestershire in the 1980s, was recalled to prison last week, two months after being released.

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It followed concerns by probation staff about his behaviour.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast last week, Mr Raab said: “One of the problems in cases like this is there is, if you like, a presumption that unless it can be determined that the individual presents a risk, that they will be released.

“I want to look at that again because actually I think that presumption is the wrong way.

“If you take, for example, climate change and environmental law, we have what is called a precautionary principle because of the risk involved.

“I think in cases like this, where there is a serious question about risk to the public, and public protection, I think we should have a more precautionary approach.”

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