According to the Home Office, new powers will be introduced targeting criminals found guilty of committing crimes fuelled by drink. These powers will force offenders to ‘go sober’ and face up to the causes of their behaviour. If they fail the sobriety tests, they could face jail sentences.
Developed in conjunction with London’s Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse and supported by the Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe, the new powers allow for alcohol levels to be monitored either by innovative alcohol tags (which test sobriety levels every 30 minutes) or by compelling offenders to attend a police station in order that they may be breathalysed on a daily basis. The powers are based on a scheme trialled successfully in the USA.
“Alcohol-fuelled violence and criminality causes mayhem in our towns and city centres,” stressed policing and criminal justice minister Nick Herbert. “These new sobriety powers will allow us to tackle this problem more effectively and demand that binge drinkers who commit crime sober up.”
The new sobriety tests will be piloted as requirements for conditional cautions, community orders and suspended sentences imposed by courts on offenders who have committed alcohol-related crimes. Pilot areas will be announced in the near future.
The conditional caution scheme is set to focus on lower level offences such as drunk and disorderly, criminal damage and public disorder affray, while community sentences and suspended sentence are targeted at more serious offences like common assault and grievous bodily harm.
The Government has tabled amendments to legislate for the new measures as part of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill which is currently progressing through Parliament.
Link between alcohol abuse and social harm
The link between drink and social harm is clear, with almost one million violent crimes and 1.2 million hospital admissions involving alcohol in 2010-2011 alone. This means police and hospital staff are fighting a constant battle against the effects of drunkenness, with the taxpayer left picking up a bill of around GB pound 21 billion per annum.
The Government’s Alcohol Strategy sets out proposals to crackdown on the ‘binge drinking’ culture, cut booze-fuelled violence and disorder that blights communities and slash the number of people drinking to harmful levels.
Speaking today, Home Secretary Theresa May said: “We all know there is a significant minority in this country who drink dangerously and who cause disproportionate harm. Drunken brawls and disorder have made many town centres no-go areas for law-abiding citizens. The effects of such dangerous drinking on crime, our communities, on children and our families are clear so we need to deal with the dangerous drinkers, crackdown on the irresponsible businesses and stem the tide of cheap alcohol.”
The Home Secretary added: “That means providing punishment and treatment for those who have shown they cannot drink sensibly. It means tightening our licensing laws and cracking down on those who sell alcohol to children or drunks. For the first time, it also means putting a sensible price on those drinks that cause harm.”
According to May most drinks will not be affected, but cheap vodka, super strength cider and lagers will go up in price. “The dangerous drinks will become more expensive,” stated the Home Secretary. “The price of a normal pint in the local pub will not increase by a single penny.”
The Government’s strategy also aims to:
