By Offenders face drinking ban to cut alcohol-fuelled crime
Probation tags fitted with alcohol-monitoring software are set to be used in a world-first move in the UK in an attempt to curb crime rates.
The tags will be given to those who are deemed more likely to reoffend if under the influence of alcohol and will allow probation officers to closely monitor progress.
In trials, offenders with an alcohol ban have stayed sober 97 per cent of the time they were tagged.
Deputy Prime Minister, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, Dominic Raab MP said:
“Rolling the tags out further will help cut alcohol-fuelled crime, which causes untold misery for victims and lands society with a £21 billion bill each year.
“Offenders now have a clear choice. If they don’t work with probation staff to curb their drinking and change their ways, they face being sent back to jail.”
Alcohol plays a part in 39 per cent of all violent crime in the UK and it is thought that one in five offenders supervised by the Probation Service have a drinking problem.
It is thought that around 12,000 people will be required to wear this alcohol-tag over the next three years.
The tags will come into effect next Summer in England and immediately in Wales.
Offenders will be given either a licence requiring them to go sober for a year or they will be closely monitored.
Alcohol tags have been available for judges and magistrates to hand down to offenders serving community sentences since last October.
These tags are part of a £183 million three-year scheme to increase the amount of people tagged from 13,500 to around 25,000 in 2025.
The government launched a GPS-tracking tag earlier this year, as part of this scheme, to track prolific robbers, thieves and burglars.
