Lincolnshire: Sobriety tag scheme to be rolled out nationally after successful county pilot

A scheme to tackle alcohol abuse among offenders has been rolled out across the country following a successful trial in Lincolnshire.

Offenders were required to wear 'sobriety tags', after receiving an alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement as part of their court sentence.

An ankle braclet detects the alcohol levels in the wear's sweat and alerts the authorities if there has been a breach.

New legislation enabling courts to order people to wear the tags has now come into force across England and Wales.

Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones said: “I am delighted that the Government has recognised the huge success of the project.

“A review of the pilot shows the use of tags has made a very real difference in combatting alcohol-fuelled offending and it is good news it can now be employed across the UK.

"On top of the additional financial support we hope to receive, it is exciting that innovations being carried out in Lincolnshire are recognised by national Government as best practice.”

The pilot was funded by Mr Jones and carried out by Humberside, Lincolnshire & North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company.

A review of the project found that:

• Over the course of the pilot, 226 individuals were issued the AAMR order. These individuals were predominantly white (98%) and male (88%). Almost all (96%) wearers were under 50 years old.

• Half (52%) of wearers were sentenced in Lincolnshire, one-third (33%) in Humberside and 13% in North Yorkshire at the time of receiving the AAMR order.

• Alcohol is a significant factor in offending in the pilot areas, particularly in domestic violence cases and 31% of wearers were convicted of a domestic violence offence.

• Compliance with the AAMR was high, 94% successfully completed the requirement and 97.4% of all the days monitored were free of alcohol.

One offender claimed that the wearing of a tag gave him three months sobriety in which his life changed forever as it gave him the space he needed to seek help for his issues.