Blunder led to 11 sex attacks
ONE of the most shocking examples of early release came after a probation service blunder allowed Joseph McCann to carry out sex attacks on 11 women and children.
The 34-year-old kidnapped, raped and molested victims aged between 11 and 71 in a cocaine and vodka-fuelled rampage which lasted a fortnight.
The convicted burglar who began offending as a child, was freed in error halfway through a three-year sentence. Two months later he embarked on his 15-day reign of terror, attacking victims in Watford, London and the North-west.
At the Old Bailey Mr Justice Edis branded McCann a “classic psychopath”, adding: “This was a campaign of rape, violence and abduction of a kind which I have never seen or heard of before. The three-year sentence imposed in
January 2018 was ordered to run concurrently with any recall, but no such recall ever took place.
“You should not have been at liberty to commit these offences.”
The probation service issued an unreserved apology for the blunder which led to McCann’s release in February last year.
A review found he should have been immediately recalled to jail for an earlier offence.
The court heard McCann snatched a 21-year-old single mother from a street as she walked home from a nightclub and raped her in her own bed.
Five days later he abducted a 25-year-woman and repeatedly raped and molested her for 14 hours.
Hours later, he was caught on CCTV bundling another woman into his car as her sister ran off screaming.
He then tricked his way into the home of a woman he had met in a bar. Once inside, he tied her to a bed and molested her 11-yearold son and 17-year-old daughter.
McCann also abducted and raped a 71-year-old woman and sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl he had snatched from the street.
McCann was seen by probation officers 10 times, jurors at his trial were told. Three days after the last meeting he started the attacks.
He was given an unprecedented 33 life sentences and was told he must serve a minimum of 30 years in prison. spend more time where they belong – behind bars.
Never again should the victim of a heinous violent or sexual crime need to worry that their attacker might only serve half of the sentence handed down to them by a judge.
These types of criminals will now spend two-thirds of their sentence in prison before they are released. And, as with all serious offenders, they will then be subject to strict licence conditions that would see them returned to prison if they breach them.
Keeping these people off the streets means they will have fewer opportunities to offend and more time to change their ways.
It will keep the public safer in the short term and, in the longer term, give offenders a greater opportunity to contemplate the true impact of their crimes.
It is a change that will help to restore faith in the justice system.