Sex offenders list change demand

News of the World published 49 names and photos

The Scottish Executive is being urged by opposition politicians to change the way the sex offenders register operates in Scotland.

The monitoring of offenders is back in the spotlight after the News of the World "named and shamed" sex criminals around the UK, 15 of them in Scotland.

The Scottish Executive says it is reviewing the register to try to close loopholes that have emerged since it was introduced in 1997.

The Home Office has been looking at the management of the sex offenders register for some time and a report is due soon. The executive will study the findings and apply any relevant changes to Scotland.

My worst fear is that sex offenders will go underground

Susan Matheson, Sacro

The News of the World said it decided to publish because two-thirds of convicted paedophiles re-offend and that was one of the reasons the sex offenders' register was put in place.

It is estimated there are 110,000 sex offenders in the UK - 6,000 of them in Scotland - who were convicted before 1997 and do not feature on the register.

Some of the offenders are missing from the register because they committed sex crimes overseas, served short sentences or were convicted of indecent exposure.

'Cosmetic exercise'

The Conservatives' deputy home affairs spokeswoman, Lyndsay McIntosh MSP, said: "I would like to see all of the names being put on the register.

"I think that we have a cosmetic exercise here, something that was a rush to be put into place, done in haste, and now we could very well be repenting at leisure."

The Scottish National Party's deputy justice spokesman, Michael Matheson MSP, said the register should be made retrospective to 1997.

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"I think it would address the main concerns around the possible 80% of people who are not on the register.

"The police are now having to keep informal registers of those people who committed crimes prior to the legislation coming into force," he added.

In the face of public concern about sex offenders and paedophiles - heightened by the Sarah Payne case - ministers have privately admitted urgent action is needed to prevent Scotland's most dangerous men reoffending.

Tagging studied

As well as reviewing the sex offenders register ministers are also studying the possibility of electronically tagging sex offenders on their release from jail.

However, there are fears the job of keeping track of convicted offenders could be made more difficult for the police in the wake of the News of the World's name and shame move.

It printed and put online the names, photographs and believed whereabouts of 49 people it says are convicted paedophiles.

Susan Matheson: Condemned the News of the World

There are fears the move could encourage members of the public to take vigilante action and may force sex offenders underground.

Vallance Robison, vice-chairman of the Association Of Chief Police Officers In Scotland, said the organisation shared the public's concerns about the issues surrounding sex offenders in the community.

But he said efforts to reduce the chances of re-offending could be "significantly assisted" by a programme of supporting and monitoring sex offenders in the community.

"For individuals to be monitored effectively it is important that the authorities know their whereabouts.

'Worst fear'

"It is much more difficult to monitor an offender who is moving from place to place in an attempt to avoid public or media attention," he added.

Susan Matheson, of the charity Sacro, which helps to resettle prisoners, said: "My worst fear is that sex offenders will go underground.

"At the moment, by and large, they will be known to the authorities and importantly they will be working with them to help them to change their behaviour.

"And if not they will be being kept under surveillance."

But the paper's executives defended the action, saying it is urging readers not to take matters into their own hands.