Killer ‘should have been in jail’ when he murdered dad

HE’D ALREADY BREACHED RELEASE TERMS, SAYS PROBATION OFFICER

A PROBATION officer who managed a violent criminal before he stabbed a young father to death while on licence told an inquest she believed the thug should have been recalled to prison months before committing the murder.

Michael Hoolickin, 27, was knifed five times by Timothy Deakin outside a pub in Middleton, after he chastised him for hitting a woman.

At the time, Deakin, 23, had been released from prison on licence having served half of a four year and eight month sentence for biting half a man’s ear off.

An earlier inquest hearing in June last year heard that before killing Mr Hoolickin, Deakin had been suspected of breaching his licence by carrying weapons, dealing drugs and spending time with a previous co-defendant.

Senior coroner for north Manchester Joanne Kearsley adjourned that hearing so further investigations could be carried out to determine whether Deakin should have been recalled to prison.

She also pressed the probation service to confirm how many other offenders in Greater Manchester had committed murder or manslaughter while they were on licence.

As the Heywood inquest resumed, Deakin’s probation case manager Natalia Atkinson told the court that she believed the threshold for recall had been ‘firmly met.’

Yet, by October 2016 – despite claiming to have alerted senior probation officers about increasing concerns over Deakin’s risk of harm – he had not been sent back to prison.

Having been at large for eight months, Deakin went on to stab fatherof-one Mr Hoolickin five times – a crime for which he was jailed for life, with a minimum of 27 years to serve.

The hearing was told Ms Atkinson had been managing Deakin, who was categorised by the probation service as a ‘high-risk offender,’ since March 2016.

He was let out of prison on February 23, 2016, and was subjected to 10 conditions – including that he initially stay at a hostel for newly-released offenders and abide by a curfew – as well as agreeing to further drug testing.

Deakin was one of 50 ‘high risk’ offenders Ms Atkinson’s was dealing with at the time, the court was told.

“My case load was excessive – I believe the evidence suggests at times it was 170pc capacity,” Ms Atkinson said.

Deakin’s risk of re-offending was deemed ‘very high,’ with a 90pc chance of him committing another offence within 24 months, the court was told.

Ms Atkinson described a number of ‘risk factors’ identified by the probation service, which made Deakin susceptible to re-offend or commit serious harm, including his previous convictions and misuse of drugs and alcohol.

“The number of previous convictions and sanctions on record were indicative of someone who was effectively lawless,” she told the court.

Ms Atkinson listed a number of licence breaches on Deakin’s record, deemed as ‘low risk.’ But, by June 2016, police relayed concerns about ‘intelligence’ that Deakin had been seen carrying weapons and spending time with his co-defendant from his previous offence.

Ms Atkinson said it was at that time that she formed the view that all options had been ‘exhausted’ and believed he should have been recalled to prison.

“If it was my job to keep the public safe, then Mr Deakin wasn’t engaging in any of that,” she said.

Proceeding Timothy Deakin, left, stabbed Michael Hoolickin to death