Alcohol court project launched

A pilot ‘alcohol court’ has been launched in Glasgow, aiming to deliver sentences tailored to help change offenders’ behaviour. The offenders are held accountable through intense social work supervision and their progress is rigorously monitored in court by the presiding sheriff.

The pilot project, which is supported by Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership, deals with people convicted of less serious crime (on summary complaint) where alcohol has contributed significantly to their offending. This applies to offenders living in Glasgow who are convicted in the sheriff summary court of charges involving violence or dishonesty; public order offences; or drink driving offences in circumstances where alcohol abuse appears to have contributed significantly to the offending. The current target offender group is aged under 35 with two or more previous convictions for similar offences. However, this will remain under ongoing review. The Court is not designed for people facing charges involving domestic abuse.

If the presiding sheriff in a case at the stage of conviction decides that an offender is suitable for the problem solving approach, they can request an Alcohol Court Assessment Report and adjourn the sentence to the next appropriate alcohol court.

Other problem solving courts are already in place in Scotland in Aberdeen and Forfar, while a drug problem court has been running in Glasgow since 2001 and an alcohol problem court was set up in Edinburgh in 2016.

See our blog for more information on the Edinburgh Alcohol Court.