Offenders ignoring restrictions as electronic tagging orders soar

• Increase in use of electronic tags on offenders as alternative to prison

• Rise in order breaches indicative of increased monitoring says Executive

• Opponents to scheme concerned that public are not being protected

Key quote

"Little can be done during a short jail sentence to tackle the root causes of criminality and too often such individuals will be reconvicted within a short period of leaving prison. Robust community sentences can offer a more effective way of dealing with such offenders." - CATHY JAMIESON, JUSTICE MINISTER

Story in full MORE than half of Scotland's electronically-tagged offenders are breaching their orders, official figures reveal.

Last year, courts imposed 1,335 restriction of liberty orders (RLOs) to tag offenders, a rise of 65 per cent on 2003-4.

In the same year 770 were breached, according to statistics released by the Scottish Executive yesterday.

The figures prompted Conservative claims that tagging was being over-used and was failing to protect the public.

But Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, said the figures reflected a growing confidence in tagging and other so-called "community-based sentences" among sheriffs and judges.

The figures also showed the number of probation orders rose by 9 per cent to 8,465 and there were 2,769 court applications relating to breaches of probation.

The number of supervised attendance orders rose by 11 per cent to 3,360 and there were 1,203 court applications relating to breaches of orders, a rise of 19 per cent.

Meanwhile, the number of community service orders went up by 12 per cent to 8,330, and the number of drug treatment and testing orders rose by 33 per cent to 549.

Ms Jamieson said that for many offenders, tagging and other non-custodial sentences were far more effective than prison.

"Little can be done during a short jail sentence to tackle the root causes of criminality and too often such individuals will be reconvicted within a short period of leaving prison," she said.

"Robust community sentences can offer a more effective way of dealing with such offenders."

She said research in 2004 showed that almost half of those completing drug treatment and testing orders had no further convictions within two years.

And the rise in the use of tagging orders showed these were proving "increasingly attractive" to the courts, she added.

"They restrict an individual to their home for up to 12 hours a day, limiting any opportunity for reoffending, while enabling individuals to remain with the families and engage with employment and training.

"This is important if we are to break their cycle of offending and bring order to their chaotic lives."

Scottish courts have been able to impose tagging orders since May 2002, following three pilot schemes in Hamilton, Peterhead and Aberdeen. An RLO restricts an offender to a specific place for up to 12 hours a day for up to 12 months. They are also used to bar someone from entering a house, street or town. If an order is breached the offender is sent back to court, where an alternative punishment may be imposed.

Tagging was thrown into the spotlight last year by the case of Peter Williams, a teenager who removed his device to take part in a raid on a Nottingham jeweller's shop in which his accomplice shot the owner, Marian Bates, as she tried to shield her daughter. Williams had been detained for housebreaking but was released on licence and tagged three weeks before the killing.

The use of tagging in Scotland is to be extended to thousands of "low-risk" prisoners, who will be allowed to serve the last part of their sentence at home. It is also being used on under-16s as an alternative to secure accommodation and on some accused people as a condition of bail.

Aidan McCorry, the depute director of Apex Scotland, which helps young offenders back into work, said tagging orders were "a badge of honour" for some offenders. "I think that is what leads many to breach their orders," he said.

The Scottish Conservatives said the increasing reliance on tagging was posing a threat to public safety.

Margaret Mitchell MSP, the party's justice spokeswoman, said: "These figures make it look like tagging is just a mechanism to get people out of jail, rather than to protect the public. It confirms our earlier concerns looking at the experience of England, where people released into electronic tagging went on to commit some horrendous offences."

But an Executive spokeswoman said it was not surprising that breaches of RLOs were rising as the total number of orders was increasing. She said: "Recorded breaches are simply evidence that tagging orders are not a soft option, that they are rigorously enforced, and that when they are breached the individual is hauled back to court."

Reliance, the controversial security firm which has operated the tagging scheme, recently lost out on a 30 million contract to run the service for the next five years to the rival firm Serco.