NUMBER OF ELECTRONIC TAGS ON RISE

THE number of electronic tagging orders handed out by Scottish courts has risen to more than 900 a year.

Scottish Government figures show 910 were imposed in 2012-13, the most recent data available, up by 8 per cent from 84 in 2011-12.

Critics say tagging has become a way of easing pressure on overcrowded jails and that public safety is being put at risk as a result.

In October 200 , convicted thug Callum Evans left his Glasgow home while wearing his tag but it failed to trigger an alarm.

Only moments later, he was taking part in an assault that left victim John Hatfield with 132 injuries. Mr Hatfield later died.

The contract for electronic tagging at the time of his murder was handled by Reliance, the private security firm that had been at the centre of a string of scandals after wrongly releasing criminals under its prisoner escort contract. The contract is now operated by G4S.

Reliance said at the time that Evans’s tagging alarm failed to go off due to a ‘freak’ technical problem. He was found guilty of murder.

The number of criminals handed a community sentence – including Community Payback Orders and other disposals such as tagging orders – is now 17,2 4, the highest on record, up from 16,934 the previous year and from only 16,077 in 2006-07.

This compares with 14,7 8 people in custody in 2012-13, compared with 16,7 8 in 2006-07.