Coroner warning after death of Cherylee
ACORONER has raised alarms over the handling of dangerous offenders following the murder of Cherylee Shennan.
Lancashire Coroner James Newman has written to Justice Secretary David Gauke outlining actions to be taken to prevent future deaths, which the Probation Services say they are giving “very careful” consideration.
An inquest into the 40-year-old Rawtenstall businesswoman’s death in March 2014 concluded in July this year that she was unlawfully killed after being stabbed multiple times by Paul O’Hara, who had been released in 2012 following a prison sentence for killing a previous partner. The inquest found that a failure to recall O’Hara to prison after reports of domestic violence against Cherylee were first made, contributed to her death, while a ‘lack of inter-agency management or the appropriate sharing of information’ could have also been a factor.
In the Regulation 28 reports, Mr Newman raised concerns relating to O’Hara’s management on release at MAPPA (Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements) Level 1, workloads caused by ‘a national shortage of professional probation staff’, and the initial grading of responses to calls to report of domestic abuse.
He wrote: “My concern centres on the issue that an offender who has served a significant sentence and accordingly has never been fully tested before release on licence, and who has a significant history of domestic abuse and violence, will still be released on MAPPA level 1. On the evidence that was heard there remains no mandated process for joined up interagency working or communication at the point of their release, or when they develop new personal relationships.”
Mr Newman also referenced a report of the Chief Inspector of Probation 2019 and, in particular, the finding that ‘many individuals were drifting through their supervision period without being challenged or supported to change their predilection for domestic abuse’ and that ‘the number of probation professionals is now at a critical level.’
“It was agreed by those senior probation witnesses that staffing and workloads had been an issue in this matter, as found by the jury, and furthermore continued to be so.”
O’Hara, of Heywood, stabbed to death a previous partner, Janine Waterworth in 1998 in Oldham. The inquest heard that O’Hara, who on release in 2012 was deemed ‘of high risk of causing significant harm to women’, was subject to a life licence and monitoring.
A Probation Service spokeswoman said: “This was an appalling crime and our thoughts remain with Cherylee’s family and friends. Since Cherylee’s tragic murder there has been a complete reorganisation of the Probation Service and a significant number of operational changes and improvements have been made. We will be giving the coroner’s recommendations very careful consideration and will be responding shortly.”
A Lancashire Police spokesman said: “Our thoughts remain with Cherylee’s family and friends. Her murder was a truly horrendous incident which took the life of a woman with so much to live for.
“We acknowledge the ruling from the Coroner and will provide him with a detailed response in due course.
“Domestic Homicide Reviews allow agencies to learn and improve their response to domestic abuse. Reviews improve understanding of events and information that was known around the time of the victim’s death and identify how responses by public bodies such as the police, social services, councils and other community based agencies can be improved.
“The Constabulary would like to point out that there have been significant changes in arrangements for both the Multi-agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASH) and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) since the Domestic Homicide Review was published and we work hard to ensure our focus is on continuous improvement in tackling Domestic Abuse of all kinds.”