Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Hundreds of sex offenders registered in county
There were hundreds of registered sex offenders living in Lanarkshire last year.
The latest available figures, from the annual Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) report, show 450 sex offenders were being managed across both North and South Lanarkshire.
MAPPA is a joint system to manage risks posed by offenders, with input from councils, Police Scotland, the NHS and the Scottish Prison Service.
The report provides a snapshot of statistics relating to sex offenders at liberty across the county on March 31, 2017.
The documentation shows that 18 registered sex offenders living in Lanarkshire broke the notification rules between April 1 2016, and March 31 2017.
Nine offenders were returned to custody over the year for breaching their conditions.
Of the 450 living in the county, 446 were male, and the other four were female.
One of the offenders was under the age of 18, while there were 14 aged between 18 and 21, 37 between 22 and 25, and 40 aged 26 to 30.
The largest age bracket of registered sex offenders in Lanarkshire was between 31 and 40, with a total of 96 living in the area.
There were 92 aged between 41 and 50, 95 aged from 51 to 60, 43 between 61 and 70, and the remaining 32 were older than 70.
Although on the snapshot date of March 31 last year there were 450 registered sex offenders in Lanarkshire, the MAPPA report also revealed that the number of sex offenders they managed in total during that 12-month period was significantly higher, at 711.
Liam Purdie, chair of MAPPA, said: “MAPPA brings together partners including Police Scotland, North and South Lanarkshire councils, NHS Lanarkshire, the Scottish Prison Service and other agencies to manage registered sex offenders either in the community or in custody.
“These agencies work in partnership to ensure that the assessment and management of risk is undertaken with all registered sex offenders. This is to manage and reduce risk of further reoffending and ensure public safety.”
Councillors on North Lanarkshire’s social work sub-committee were presented with the annual report yesterday.