Sex offenders, drug traffickers and violent thugs are among 14,000 foreign criminals who have been let off without a conviction because they said sorry for their crimes.

The foreigners were among more than 412,000 offenders who escaped receiving a criminal record over the last three years because they were handed ‘community resolution orders’ instead of being charged.

The orders – which see criminals apologise for their actions – are meant for low level crimes and were introduced to allow troubled youths and first-time offenders to avoid a criminal record and get their lives back on track.

The new data – obtained under Freedom of Information laws from 38 of the UK’s police forces – show that sex offenders from Albania, Congo, Iran, the Philippines, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Romania, India, France, Lithuania, Pakistan, Nepal, Hong Kong, Algeria, Syria, Nigeria and Zimbabwe were all handed the orders and therefore did not face court.

Read more: The 14,000 foreign criminals let off for saying SORRY – with sex offenders, drug traffickers and violent thugs all escaping charges