Criminals may face alcohol ban under ‘sobriety tag’ proposals
Criminals in Scotland could have their alcohol consumption monitored remotely under proposals to introduce “sobriety tags”.
The move would see offenders wear water-resistant ankle tags which would carry out tests on their sweat every halfhour to detect whether alcohol has been consumed.
Similar to the current electronic tags used on criminals, the devices would send alerts to authorities if they are removed or tampered with.
It comes after a contract was awarded by the Scottish Government to security firm G4S to run electronic monitoring operations for the next five years.
Last year MSPS passed the Management of Offenders Act, which allows for the possibility of remotely monitoring for alcohol consumption, as well as other methods of electronic monitoring.
The proposals could allow Scottish courts to make those convicted of offences relating to alcohol wear the tags as part of their sentence. Failure to comply would be a criminal offence.
According to official figures, 46 per cent of the 172,000 violent crimes which were committed in Scotland in 2017-18 were alcohol-related.
So-called sobriety tags have already been used in the US and parts of Europe and been issued to those found guilty of drink-driving.
US actress Lindsay Lohan was ordered to wear one in 2007.
The UK Government is considering a move to roll out the scheme across England and Wales.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The Management of Offenders Act widens the availability of electronic monitoring and allows for the introduction of other technologies, including remote monitoring of alcohol consumption and GPS.
“We are discussing with partners how such enhanced monitoring may be used in future when the relevant parts of the Act come into force.”
Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr told the Daily Mail: “There’s definitely a place for measures like this, especially for those whose offending is specifically linked to alcohol.
“But they absolutely cannot be used as an excuse to empty jails as opposed to a targeted and thorough intervention.
“Victims of crime will be furious if offenders whose crimes are serious enough to warrant prison are instead given these tags.
“We know the SNP likes softtouch initiatives, so it has to prove that won’t be the case here.”
Amit Sethi, head of European relations at SCRAM Systems, which monitors 24,000 people a day around the world using sobriety tags, said: ‘The SCRAM continuous alcohol monitoring tag is a tried, tested and proven device that assists in changing alcohol-related offending behaviour.”