Number of offenders who breach orders rises

The number of sex offenders who have breached their orders has risen for the third year in a row, according to new Scottish figures.

The Scottish Government’s Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) annual report 2010/11 revealed that the number of registered sex offenders in Scotland has reached 3,098.

It found the number reported for breaches of notification had increased to 192 after the previous two years’ figures of 136 (2009) and 178 (2010).

The report also shows that 39 sex offenders were convicted of a further violent or sexual crime.

Earlier this week, statistics showed a rise in the number of sex crimes, with crimes of rape recorded by police hitting a ten-year high.

Labour has called for a comprehensive strategy for dealing with short- and long-term sex offenders in Scotland’s prisons, echoing comments by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Hugh Monro following a recent inspection of Dumfries prison.

The party’s justice spokesman, James Kelly, said: “Dealing with sex offenders is a notoriously difficult task, but to see the number of sex offenders breaching their conditions increase for the third year in a row is extremely alarming.”

Conservative justice spokesman John Lamont said: “It is bad enough that sex offenders sent to jail for fixed terms are often set free after half or even less of their sentence. It is worse that when they do walk free more is not done to monitor them.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Scotland has one of the most robust systems of managing sex offenders in the world, and the MAPPA arrangements have strengthened how police, social work and other agencies work together to assess, monitor and reduce risks posed by convicted sex offenders.”