What is Home Detention Curfew?
HDC, more commonly known as “tagging,” is the means by which some prisoners may spend a proportion of their sentence confined to their home during a specified period of the day, usually for 12 night time hours. The prisoner on HDC will have to wear an electronic tag, normally around an ankle for the duration of the HDC. The tag emits an electronic signal which is monitored by a private company contracted to the Prison Service to ensure the prisoner does not breach the curfew. How do I know if I am eligible for release on HDC? Prisoners serving sentences of 3 months or over but less than 4 years under the Criminal Justice Act 1991, or Standard Determinate Sentences of any length under the CJA 2003, are eligible to be considered for HDC. However there are several qualifications to this. Some groups of prisoners are ruled out of the system altogether and are ineligible to apply. Others are ‘presumed unsuitable’ and will only get HDC in ‘exceptional circumstances’ (see PSI 31/2003). At the
This allows prisoners serving sentences of over three months but fewer than four years to spend up to 90 days at the end of their sentence in the community. Most of these prisoners are automatically considered for the Home Detention Curfew, although not all will be placed on the scheme. At home the prisoner is fitted with an electronic tag and monitoring equipment will be installed at their home address. If the prisoner breaks the curfew they may be sent back to prison and they will not be placed on Home Detention Curfew again.
