Criminals to get pub bans

CRIMINALS will be barred from pubs, gigs and sports matches under new sentencing powers.

- BY ALEXANDER BROWN Assistant Political Editor

Ministers aim to strengthen community punishment by letting judges ban travel and confine offenders to some areas for any crime.

Currently, judges can give out restrictions for specific crimes, such as football bans for offences in a stadium on match day.

There is also to be more mandatory drug testing for post-prison cons supervised by probation, even if they have no history of substance abuse.