House arrest 'unworkable' police warn

FREEING hundreds more convicts under “house arrest” to ease prison overcrowding will become “unworkable” amid Scotland’s shrinking blue line, it is claimed.

- By Mary Wright

The SNP's soft-touch justice policies are back under the spotlight as the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) warned government rules to widen the use of home detention curfews after previous early release schemes delivered only short-term respite for under-pressure prison staff.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) says population numbers remain “consistently high” and are expected to hit 8,400 this summer.