A PSYCHOLOGIST specialising in work with sex offenders is helping Basingstoke probation officers run a programme to stop repeat sex crimes.

Jo Shingler, 31, has been working in prisons - including a specialist unit for those who have killed for sexual motives - for the past eight years.

She is now sharpening up the skills of probation officers in Basingstoke, who hold weekly sessions with around 15 sex offenders from the area, by giving the staff advice and training.

Ms Shingler has researched and developed the most successful methods of dealing with sex offenders, and believes there is good evidence that the right treatment can reduce the likelihood of violent and sexual offending by up to 60 per cent.

"First of all, an offender has to be motivated to want help to change," she said. "Then, his problems, attitudes and behaviour are tackled in a carefully structured way.

"These sessions teach the offenders about aspects of their behaviour and their emotional lives, and how to take steps away from the offending behaviour - how to manage their lifestyles more effectively, to realise when there is a risk and avoid re-offending."

The proportion of sex offenders serving community sentences in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is quite small - about one per cent of the total caseload of nearly 7,000.

The majority have been assessed as not being potentially dangerous, but if their behaviour gives any cause for concern, they can be recalled to prison or their case can be referred to a multi-agency public protection panel which seeks to prevent re-offending.