Electronic ankle tag put on man's fake leg in deadly mistake

GPS device mistakenly applied to the ankle of Mr Green’s false limb in April while he was on house arrest for a gun charge

A collection of prosthetic limbs (Getty Images)

A slip-up made by a technician fitting an electronic tracking bracelet on a man with a long-standing criminal record has ended in tragedy.

The GPS device was mistakenly applied to the ankle of Washington DC man Quincy Green’s fake leg in April, while he was on house arrest for a gun charge.

Mr Green, 34, then removed his prosthetic leg with the electronic tracker attached, before allegedly shooting and killing Dana Hamilton, 44, in the American capital in the early hours of 19 May.

An executive at the company that supplies the tracking devices said the employee had fitted the bracelet over Mr Green’s sock without realising it was covering a prosthetic leg, according to the Washington Post.

Mr Green was then seemingly able to remove the device along with the fake leg, replace it with a different prosthesis he had, and leave his house.

“Why would they put it on a prosthetic leg, when it was supposed to go on a person’s real leg?” Mr Hamilton’s mother Lily, who lived with her late son, told local TV station WUSA9.

“This is the worst thing that’s happened to me in my life and I am 72 years old.”

Police have not disclosed a possible motive for the crime, but say they have charged Mr Green with second-degree murder after obtaining a search warrant and discovering the spare leg with the bracelet attached in a box at his home.

According to Fox 5, police were unable to name any suspects for six days after Mr Hamilton’s death due to the error.

Around 480 people awaiting trial in Washington DC must wear the devices.

But in this case, the bracelet was “absolutely not” applied according to protocol which dictates it must be applied directly to skin, said the executive for Sentinel, the company which supplies and fits the bracelets.

Sergeant Matthew Mahl, chairman of the DC police union, told the Washington Post it was frustrating for a potentially dangerous suspect to be released when “accountability for these defendants isn’t always up to par.”

In the UK, electronic tags are given to people under enforced curfews or on condition of a court or prison order.

In February, plans to increase to use of satellite tagging along with more community punishments were announced in an attempt to reduce the UK’s overall prison population.