Offenders who commit alcohol-driven crimes can be ordered to wear a tag which takes a sample of their sweat every 30 minutes and alerts the probation service if alcohol is detected
Nearly 4,000 offenders are wearing alcohol tags this Christmas and New Year – a third more compared to last year.
Some 2,800 people were fitted with an electronic monitoring device at the end of 2023, while some 3,800 were wearing one at the end of last month, according to official statistics out on Monday.
Alcohol is linked to a spike in crimes including domestic abuse and drunken public disorder during the festive period. Offenders who commit alcohol-driven crimes can be ordered to wear a tag which takes a sample of their sweat every 30 minutes and alerts the probation service if alcohol is detected. They face further court sentences or fines if caught breaching a ban.
Sobriety tags have a huge success rate – with offenders staying sober for 97% of the days they wear one. Roughly 20% of those supervised by probation are classified as having a drinking problem. Alcohol-fuelled crime costs the taxpayer up to £21billion each year.
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Prisons Minister James Timpson said: “The sad reality is alcohol-fuelled crime such as domestic abuse and public disorder spikes at Christmas and has a devastating impact in our homes and town centres. Technology like this is playing a key role in the Government’s mission to take back our streets by monitoring offenders and cutting crime.”
Alcohol monitoring was introduced to courts in Wales in October 2020 and went live throughout England on in March 2021 to support community sentencing options. It can only be used when sentencing for alcohol-related criminal behaviour and it imposes a total ban on drinking alcohol for up to 120 days.
The government is currently carrying out a major review into sentencing to find new ways to punish offenders and deal with overflowing prisons. The Justice Secretary said criminals could be ordered to serve their sentences at home instead of in jail under plans to overhaul the prison system, which would include increasing the use of electronic monitoring.
At the time the review was announced in October, Shabana Mahmood said: “We have an opportunity now to reshape and redesign what punishment outside of a prison looks like. I believe in punishment. I believe in prison, but I also believe that we must increase the range of punishments we use.
“And that those prisoners who earn the right to turn their lives around should be encouraged to do so. The Sentencing Review will make sure prison and punishment work – and that there is always a cell waiting for dangerous offenders.”
