Thousands of criminals fitted with ankle tags that alert police if they drink during World Cup
Thousands of offenders in the UK will be issued with an ankle tag during the World Cup that will inform police if they drink alcohol.
England are currently once again at the World Cup with dreams of finally reliving the glory of 1966, undeterred that 'thirty years of hurt' has now doubled to sixty.
While many fans will watch the games with a drink, some fans will abstain from drinking alcohol for a very good reason.
The UK government has said that around 7,300 offenders who are released from prison or are serving a community sentence will have to wear an ankle monitor during the World Cup tournament.
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These monitors serve a variety of purposes, for example monitoring someone's location if they are subject to a restraining order, court-mandated curfew, or have been barred from entering a certain area, as well as of course if someone tampers with them.
But another function they can serve is monitoring someone's blood alcohol level by analysing their sweat.
The tag is switched on 24 hours a day and can tell the difference between someone being around alcohol and consuming it, and if someone's sweat indicates that they have consumed alcohol then this sends an alert to the police.
What happens next depends on why the person was wearing the monitor, but if they have breached bail conditions by drinking alcohol then they could face further court hearings or even the activation of suspended prison sentences or recall to prison.
And in terms of stopping people drinking, figures indicate that the monitors are effective in this regard, with 97 percent of offenders tagged on community orders abstaining from alcohol during their ban.
The UK government has said that around 5,000 people were wearing the tags when the World Cup started, and expects around 2,300 more to be fitted during the tournament.
They hope that the devices will help to cut down on alcohol-related crime, such as property damage, public order offences, and violent crimes, which the National Audit Office estimates costs the UK economy around £21 billion a year, as well as the direct impact on people are victims of some of this offending.
Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending Minister Lord Timpson said in a statement: "Major sporting events should be a time for the country to come together and enjoy the game, not for alcohol-fuelled violence and disorder to ruin the occasion.
"Having this tech fixed around the ankle is the wake-up call to offenders and leaves them with the sobering thought that one slip-up could send them to jail."
Kit Roberts