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The new way criminals are being monitored to stop them drinking alcohol is working

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A huge 94 per cent complied with alcohol bans

A scheme banning criminals from drinking alcohol while wearing an electronic tag has proven to be a success.

A scheme banning criminals from drinking alcohol while wearing an electronic tag has proven to be a success.

In the two years from June 2017, 226 offenders from the Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire areas were ordered by the courts to wear an electronic tag that accurately detected alcohol in their system, with an alarm sent to the probation services if any alcohol was used and a potential recall to court.

A report has now been released detailing the outcome of the pilot scheme, showing 94 per cent of offenders complied with the alcohol ban.

The scheme is known as the Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire (HLNY) Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirement (AAMR).

Magistrates’ and Crown Courts in the pilot areas were able to impose an AAMR as part of a community sentence or suspended sentence order imposed on offenders who had committed violent and other crimes, while under the influence of alcohol.

Unlike other pilots, the HLNY approach used the period without alcohol ordered by the court to work with offenders in a bid to prevent them from reoffending.

A scheme banning criminals from drinking alcohol while wearing an electronic tag has proved to be a success
A scheme banning criminals from drinking alcohol while wearing an electronic tag has proved to be a success

A very significant feature of the HLNY pilot was the inclusion of domestic violence offenders.

Offenders were screened before being tagged to ensure that the tags were not used on people who were alcohol dependent or had certain medical conditions.

Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner Keith Hunter, who worked in partnership with the scheme, said: “Reoffending rates are much higher for people where alcohol plays a role in the offence.

“As this pilot scheme has indicated, there is a likelihood we can reduce the victims of crime in the future, particularly victims of domestic abuse.

“The period in which the offender is tagged will give rehabilitation agencies a real opportunity to work with the individual and get them to recognise and change their behaviour, hopefully for good.

Police and crime commissioner Keith Hunter (Image: HullLive)

“I would like to see these orders available nationally as a standard feature of the Criminal Justice System.”

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) reported:

  • Over the course of the pilot, 226 individuals were issued the AAMR order. These individuals were predominantly white (98 per cent) and male (88 per cent). Almost all (96 per cent) wearers were under 50 years old.
  • Half (52 per cent) of wearers were sentenced in Lincolnshire, one-third (33 per cent) in Humberside and 13 per cent in North Yorkshire at the time of receiving the AAMR order.
Source: HullLive
Location: United Kingdom