Tagging and drug treatment orders soar

1 Feb 06

Use of tagging orders up 65% - but reoffending rate significant

The number of tagging and drug treatment orders is rocketing, according to statistics published yesterday by the Scottish Executive.

This is partly a result of courts steering criminals away from prison into a wider range of sentences.

There has also been an increase in the numbers of orders being broken or ignored.

Courts made 1,335 tagging orders last year, a rise of 65% on the previous year and the number of breached tagging orders was up 19% to 170.

There is also evidence of a significant proportion of reoffending by those given probation, tagging or drug treatment orders.