Criminals are set to be electronically tagged for the first time in a bid to cut the prison population and ease the strain on Bermuda?s crowded jails.

yesterday outlined plans for a pilot tagging scheme, which could see the first batch of offenders tagged within weeks.

Speaking after confirming the plans in the Budget debate, he told that if the trial run was a success, use of tracking devices would become more widespread.

Already widely used in the UK and America, the tamper-proof tags are usually attached to the leg of the offender. They can contain a global positioning satellite to check exact locations. And, if the criminal breaks a curfew or strays too close to potential victims, a tiny transmitter sends a signal warning the Police.

Mr. Horton said he saw the system in operation first hand during a trip to England last September and was impressed with how it worked.

He told the House of Assembly that it cost $68,000 a year to keep an inmate in Bermuda?s prison system.

And afterwards he said that he hoped the pilot, due to be introduced within the next month by the Department of Corrections and the Department of Court Services, could help curb repeat offending rates.

He said tagging could be used to monitor people on parole who have just been released from prison. Serial house-breakers could be monitored this way, the Minister added, and he said that tags might be used to keep tabs on convicted child sex offenders who target schools.

Mr. Horton also said the system might be used to keep first-time offenders out of jail by issuing ?tag? curfews, depending on the severity of their crime.

The Minister said that if the pilot scheme proved successful changes would have to be made to the law. About $35,000 has been set aside for the pilot project and it is understood that this will fund about a dozen tagging devices.

One form of device in regular use in the UK, sees a base station connected to a telephone line at the offender?s home, before a tag is attached to the offender?s ankle. If the tag is not responding and within range of the base during curfew hours, or if the base is disconnected from the phone line, then Police are alerted.