Convicted sex offenders face mandatory lie detector test in attempt to make offenders more honest and cut re-offending on release from prison. This comes after the success of a two–year pilot scheme in the Midlands. The pilot scheme found that there were twice as many admissions from offenders about contacting victims on their release when faced with a polygraph test than those who were not.

A Downing Street source said: “It’s vital that we protect the public from serious sex offenders. That’s why the conditions after they leave prison need to be both strict and rigorously enforced.

“The pilot schemes using lie detectors to manage offenders in the community have been a success.

“So now we’re looking at how it could be rolled out to provide probation officers with more information to manage the most serious sex offenders.”

Approximately 3,000 sex offenders are out on licence and of these, 750 are considered in the most serious category. It is the most serious category of sex offenders who will face mandatory polygraph tests, which measures an person’s blood pressure, heart rate, breathing and levels of perspiration whilst answering questions.