3 warnings thug should be in jail before murder
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A PROBATION officer warned bosses three times a “feral” thug freed early from jail should have been recalled to prison before he stabbed a dad to death.
Timothy Deakin, 23, was released after serving half of a four years and eight months sentence for biting off a man’s ear.
He was suspected of breaching his licence by dealing drugs, carrying weapons and associating with criminals. Probation officer Natalia Atkinson, who was put in charge of his case, described Deakin as “feral”, “animalistic” and “lawless”.
She felt he revelled in his notoriety following his earlier crime and told probation chiefs she thought he should be back behind bars.
But three emails she fired off to different bosses were ignored.
Two months after she sent the last, Deakin killed dad Michael Hoolickin, 27, by stabbing him five times outside a pub in Middleton, Gtr Manchester.
The victim, the son of former Oldham Athletic footballer Garry Hoolickin, had chastised Deakin for hitting a woman.
Deakin was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 27 years after being convicted of murder.
But Mr Hoolickin’s inquest in Heywood, Gtr Manchester, heard Deakin’s own probation officer had not thought he was safe to wander the streets.
She said: “The number of previous convictions and sanctions on record were indicative of someone who was effectively lawless.
“Our arguments for recall were becoming challenged more frequently by management. There were a number of problem cases I escalated to managers for support, saying that I felt professionally unsafe.”
One of the officers she emailed, David Rhoden, said there was “no new information to suggest an increased risk.”
At an earlier inquest hearing which was adjourned, Garry Hoolickin, who played more than 200 times for Oldham, said: “It’s nearly killed myself and my wife. It’s absolutely disgraceful.” The hearing continues.