People convicted of crimes when drunk could face compulsory alcohol tests with the threat of jail if they fail them under a pilot scheme to be introduced in the New Year. The ''24/7 sobriety'' programme involves people paying to be tested for alcohol twice a day after being convicted of drink-related crime, and appearing in court to face the prospect of custody if they test positive.
It has already been implemented in the US, with the state of South Dakota reporting a 14 per cent drop in the prison population as a result, according to Deputy Mayor of London Kit Malthouse. He said he would like to pilot the scheme in the capital in the New Year, subject to government approval. He described London as having a "desperate problem" with alcohol where up to 50 per cent of crime is alcohol-related.
"The advantage of this is it is not just punitive but corrective," he told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. "It may be that it is used as an alternative to prison or conjunctive to prison." Mr Malthouse said that current methods such as counselling did not work to discourage persistent offenders and that some needed a "more rigorous approach". He added: "If you ask the police there are some people who cause trouble every Saturday night."
Mr Malthouse said the American version of the scheme had a 99 per cent compliance rate and that it was "of no cost to the tax payer", because the people taking part paid a dollar per alcohol test. He described it as a ''cheaper and more cost-effective'' alternative to prison.The deputy mayor said that he hoped the scheme would have an impact on the amount of domestic violence that takes place in London, much of which is drink related. He said that in Dakota people can be on the programme for one to two years.
Mr Malthouse concluded: ''We would like to try it here. We do think drink is a great driver of crime in this city.'' However, Don Shenker, who runs Alcohol Concern, said he did not think "compulsory sobriety" was the best way to teach people to drink moderately and called for more government funding for alcohol education programmes. He said: "The evidence shows that if you give people brief advice on their drinking and ask them to look at why they are drinking then they can change that."
