Abuser housed within yards of victim’s home
WOMAN SHOCKED TO COME ACROSS ATTACKER IN STREET
A VICTIM of domestic abuse says she has been left terrified after her attacker was housed just yards from where she lives.
Maria Chadwick was attacked and harassed by Daniel Jackson and, as a result, suffers from anxiety, panic attacks and PTSD.
He was jailed earlier this year but after his early release he was housed nearby.
Ms Chadwick, 46, said: “I took my dog for a walk. I went over the road and he was there, walking down my road. He definitely clocked me and gave me a sarcastic smile. I went back inside so he definitely knows where I live now.”
The company that housed him says it is taking steps to move Jackson to a different area.
A DERBY domestic abuse survivor says she is terrified after her attacker was housed a stone’s throw away from where she lives.
Maria Chadwick suffers from anxiety, panic attacks and PTSD after Daniel Jackson attacked and harassed her.
Though he was sent to prison for his crimes in March this year, on his release in September he was housed by court services within a five-minute walk of his victim.
Ms Chadwick, 46, who lives near the city centre, says she is disgusted at the service.
She said: “On Monday, I took my dog for a walk. I went over the road and he was there, walking down my road. He definitely clocked me and gave me a sarcastic smile. I went back inside so he definitely knows where I live now.”
Jackson was housed by the Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland Community Rehabilitation Company (DLNRCRC), which manages low- and medium-risk offenders through the court process. This includes housing offenders once they leave prison.
The company says it has now been made aware of Ms Chadwick’s address, and it is taking steps to move Jackson to a different area.
But Miss Chadwick says she told them in August that she had moved to her new address that June. This was a month before Jackson’s release from prison in September
She said: “They knew, they knew because my domestic violence worker told the probation officer who was working on his case while he was in prison. My domestic violence worker has now also been on them for three weeks trying to get him moved, and they’ve been told again and again but they’ve not moved him.
“I suffer from anxiety, panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder from his attacks on me.
“I’m scared if I go out my house I might bump into him because he knows where I live. I should be able to feel safe while walking around where I live. I’m having to put a hood up around my head so that he doesn’t see me when I’m out.”
Miss Chadwick has heavily criticised the probation service which she feels is responsible.
She said: “I think it is disgusting the way I have been treated by probation. And I’m worried if there might be young women with kids who are living near their abusers now. How many other people have they done this to? Probation has messed up. They need to put it right. They have put me in a situation where I am scared to leave my house.”
Miss Chadwick explained how she and Jackson were a couple from April 2018. She said: “He was lovely when he wasn’t drunk. He was the perfect boyfriend and he’d do anything for you but the moment he got drink down him he was a different person.”
The relationship deteriorated with Jackson becoming increasingly violent, she said, until February 29 this year.
Miss Chadwick said: “He brutally smashed into my house, broke two windows and beat me up. He got arrested and got 26 weeks in prison suspended for two years, and a twoyear restraining order in court on March 10.
“Then just four days after that court case he came banging on my front door and shouting his mouth off. I called the police and he was arrested and went to a trial in May which I had to attend. He was found guilty and given 51 weeks in prison, plus an extra year on the restraining order.”
Jackson was released from prison in September after serving half of his sentence, which is standard practice but Miss Chadwick says he was put up in shared accommodation not five minutes on foot from her house on his release.
She said: “Probation knew my address because I told them, and they still did it. How many other domestic violence victims are they doing this to? Putting the abuser that’s been violent towards them near where they live?”
A Reducing Reoffending Partnership spokesperson said: “Protecting domestic violence victims is of utmost importance to us and checks are carried out before offenders are relocated.
“As soon as we were made aware that the victim had moved house we began reviewing this case.
“Domestic abuse offenders who breach restrictions that prevent them from contacting their victims can be recalled to custody.”