Prisoners leaving Norfolk’s jails are now being ordered to wear an alcohol monitoring tag if their probation officer thinks they could reoffend when drinking.
The electronic sobriety ankle tags, which monitor alcohol levels in sweat, will help officers keep a closer eye on offenders’ behaviour and support them to turn their backs on crime.
Their introduction in England this month follows a scheme in Wales that showed offenders on a tag stuck to their alcohol restrictions 97pc of the time.
Probation minister Kit Malthouse said: “The great results we have seen so far, and now the expansion, mean that the use of tagging technology is firmly embedded as a critical tool for offender managers, proving a huge incentive for offenders to change.”
An offender’s licence for release will stipulate that the alcohol tag must be worn for a minimum of 30 days up to a maximum of one year, with reviews carried out every three months to ensure it is still necessary, reasonable and proportionate to the risk they pose.
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