Row over woman's security tag

Mrs Briggs feels she is being discriminated against

A Norfolk woman convicted of fraud has narrowly avoided being sent back to prison after an argument over a security tag.

Linda Briggs, from Welney on the Norfolk/Cambridgeshire border, was released on licence from an open prison in Kent one week ago.

She had served four months of a 15 month sentence for theft from an elderly relative, and is currently appealing against her sentence.

Under the rules of her licence, Mrs Briggs has to wear a tag which tracks her movements, and it should have been fitted on the day of her release.

Norwich tagging firm Premier Monitoring usually fit the tags around the ankle as it is considered more secure, but Mrs Briggs wanted the tag on her wrist for cosmetic reasons, and refused the ankle tag.

Home Office

She said: "If a man wears a tag on his ankle, he can cover it up with a sock and a pair of trousers.

"If I have one on my ankle and I choose to wear a skirt - which I obviously wouldn't be able to - I'm then discriminated against because I'm a woman.

"I have to wear trousers."

Wrist tags are considered to be a security risk

Due to the delay in fitting her security tag, Mrs Briggs was breaking the terms of her release and on Monday the Home Office said she would have to go back to prison.

But late on Monday night, Premier Monitoring agreed to try a wrist tag.

In a statement the company said: "Wrist tags are rarely fitted. In each case, where to put the prison tag is our decision, made on the grounds of security."