Violent partners to face drinking ban

Published on Monday 18 August 2008 21:40

MEN accused of assaulting their partners face being banned from drinking alcohol, under a radical plan to tackle the rising tide of domestic abuse.

In an attempt to sever the link between drinking and violence in the home, police and prosecutors are set to seek alcohol consumption bail orders, which would mean accused individuals having to turn up at police stations for regular alcohol tests.

If they prove a success, the orders – which would be the first of their kind to be pursued by police and prosecutors in Scotland – could be used for people accused of other offences linked to alcohol.

Details of the scheme, which could be in force by the autumn, are still being discussed by senior officers and Crown officials. But last night, some experts branded the idea unworkable, as it would be too difficult to police.

Campbell Corrigan, the acting assistant chief constable at Strathclyde Police, revealed the plan to members of his force's police board last week.

He said the orders would be targeted at offenders who were drunk at the time they harassed or physically attacked their partners or former spouses.

Police usually see a big rise in domestic-abuse incidents at the weekend, when alcohol is more likely to play a part. On the night Scotland lost to Italy in the Euro 2008 qualifier last November, 126 domestic abuse incidents were reported in Strathclyde, compared with a Saturday average of 92.

The force has a detailed profile of domestic-abuse offenders, and will target those where alcohol is most closely linked to their offending.

Mr Corrigan said: "If you can take out one factor that will stop that person being reassaulted, you should have the ability to ban alcohol for those type of people.

"The Crown are very supportive of this at the moment. We may seek for it to be widened out to other offences."

Lily Greenan, the manager of Scottish Women's Aid, said the orders were "an interesting concept" that could reduce the number of repeat attacks.

She said: "We are always concerned when people try to link alcohol as a causal factor of domestic abuse. But there's no doubt, in terms of reports to the police, alcohol is a trigger point for incidents of violence.

However, she said bail orders would be "contentious" and could raise human rights concerns.

There are also worries about the efficiency of testing, as alcohol does not remain in the bloodstream for that long. For example, if a person consumes seven pints of beer on a night out, the alcohol could be out of their system within 18 hours.

Sandra White, an SNP MSP for Glasgow, said: "It is an interesting concept, but the idea is unworkable and it would be impossible to police."

Dr Mairead Tagg, a psychologist who works with victims of domestic abuse, accused the authorities of "missing the point". She said: "The concept that men only abuse their partners when they are drunk is nonsense. How does that account for all the cases where alcohol is not involved?" "Domestic abuse is a very complex thing, and to focus on alcohol is very unhelpful."

The orders are part of an ongoing drive to reduce violence, particularly domestic abuse, launched at the start of the year by Strathclyde Police.

Latest figures show violence against women in the home is at an all-time high. A 7 per cent rise in recorded incidents of abuse took the number of cases in Scotland last year to more than 48,000, but a victim survey has revealed many incidents go unreported, and the true number could be as high as 250,000.

Those accused of domestic abuse-related offences – usually breach of the peace and assault – are already subject to bail conditions that stop them going back to the home of their victim. But breach rates among perpetrators of domestic violence are notoriously high. An evaluation of the domestic abuse court in Glasgow found 28 per cent of offenders had been on bail.

This year, officers from Strathclyde have carried out more than 1,400 home visits to check whether an accused was continuing to harass and attack his ex-partner. The visits, many of which were made repeatedly to the same home, resulted in 173 arrests for breach of bail.

Helen Hughes, chairwoman of the Scottish Family Law Association, gave the new bail order plan a cautious welcome – but said police had to recognise that alcohol itself was not the underlying cause of domestic abuse.

"Anything that deters an abuser from committing an act of violence or abuse towards an ex-spouse has to be welcomed," she said. "But the difficulty I have with this is how do you police it? Alcohol only stays in the system for a relatively short period.

"I would also have concerns as bail conditions only last as long as the case is outstanding. As soon as the trial begins, the conditions fall.

"The alcohol problem may well be long-standing and will need long-standing solutions. A bail order on its own will do little to tackle the problem. There also needs to be help to tackle the alcohol addiction.''

A Crown Office spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that a proposal from the police is under discussion."

ANALYSIS - Dr Mairead Tagg

THERE is a danger that this project trivialises domestic violence. It minimises the impact of domestic abuse and reduces it to the status of a Saturday-night drunk.

This is not about men and women holding their own in a fight. It is about coercive control.

Some of these people also have alcohol problems. They have a proclivity to use violence and to assume that one thing causes the other is nonsense.

I also think the concept that men only abuse their partners when they are drunk is nonsense.

How does that account for all the cases where alcohol is not involved? It is playing to the old myths that bad drink causes domestic abuse.

We need to do proper assessment on these men, which would be a far more useful exercise.

Analysis - Dr Mairead Tagg: Focus on alcohol as root of violence not the answer

THERE is a danger that this project trivialises domestic violence. It minimises the impact of domestic abuse and reduces it to the status of a Saturday-night drunk.

A lot of these men abuse women without drinking. It is ludicrous because domestic abuse is very complex and to focus on alcohol is very unhelpful.

Most of these people go home and batter their wives. They don't behave violently towards other people.

I'd like the police to explain how these men drink outside the house and don't fight with anyone, but wait until they get home and the violence is targeted towards their partner.

Alcohol is a red herring because there are other factors.

This is not about keeping people sober and solving the problem. If someone has alcohol dependency that's their primary focus.

If a man passes the alcohol tests and still abuses the woman, what will they say then? His lawyer will say he hasn't breached the alcohol test. I don't see what possible use this is going to be. It would be better to increase the number of domestic abuse liaison officers to give them more clout.

We want these guys to be addressing their behaviour at all levels with proper risk assessment. Agencies would then have an idea of what they are dealing with.

When you just put it all down to alcohol, are we really saying that the person who drinks the most is the most dangerous? Clearly that is not the case.

It's great that (the government is] trying to do something and I fully understand that alcohol is a worry, but there are better ways of dealing with this and focusing on alcohol is a dangerous path to go down.

&#149 Dr Mairead Tagg is a psychologist who works with women who have suffered domestic violence.

FACT BOX

&#149 DOMESTIC violence has reached a record high in Scotland, as figures show there were 48,801 incidents recorded in 2006-07, a 7 per cent increase compared to the 45,812 incidents recorded in 2005-06.

&#149 This continues the steady increase in incidents reported since 1999-2000, the first year for which reliable data is available.

&#149 Just under half of the incidents recorded in 2006-07 (23,803) led to the recording of a crime or offence.

&#149 The most common crime or offence recorded in 2006-07 remained the offence of minor assault, 22 per cent (10,578) of all incidents, with breach of the peace, 15 per cent (7,455), the second most common.

&#149 Cases with a female victim and male perpetrator represented nearly 87 per cent of all incidents of domestic abuse where this information was recorded, down by less than half of 1 per cent from 2005-06.

&#149 When looking at the incidence per 100,000 population, females are at most risk of being victims of domestic abuse when aged between 22 and 25 and males when aged between 36 and 40.

&#149 Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police involving co-habitees or partners accounted for 42 per cent of all cases.

&#149 The overwhelming majority of incidents of domestic abuse took place in the home/house (90 per cent of all incidents where the location was recorded).