WE NEED TO LISTEN TO VICTIMS
RAPISTS freed from jail have gone on to rape again at the rate of one a week, the Sunday People reveals today.
We discovered that 264 sexual predators released from prison over the past five years went on to strike again.
Last year alone five people every month fell prey to violent criminals already convicted of rape.
The list of repeat sex fiends includes Ashley Shuck, 25, who was last night serving a life sentence for attacking two women just three weeks after he was freed half-way through an eight-year term for rape.
Another is sexual sadist Andy Johnson, 46, who struck again after being secretly granted day release from a psychiatric unit. And Jermaine Hussie, 34, raped a disabled woman just nine days after being freed on licence from a six-year sentence for rape.
Our revelations will raise fears that rapists are often being released too soon. Black cab rapist John Worboys — one of the UK’S worst sex attackers – was only stopped from being freed by the Parole Board after a public uproar and legal challenge earlier this year.
We also revealed that rapist policeman Stephen Mitchell – feared to have attacked up to 30 women – has been freed less than seven years after being jailed for life.
Last night our latest disclosures prompted calls from campaigners for new measures to protect the public.
Sarah Green, co-director of End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “These figures are alarming. We need to ask some serious questions about the quality of parole board and police decision-making.
“We also need to hear from the Government as to what assessment they are making as to whether the justice system is really up to protecting women and girls from some of the most serious crimes on the book.”
Figures uncovered by the Sunday People show that last year a total of 1,448 criminals were convicted of rape.
Of those, 63 had already been convicted of rape. More than one in 10 already had a record for some form of sex attack. One of them was Ashley RAPISTS and sexual offenders tend to be serial offenders – we know that from successive studies.
But the Sunday People’s figures are alarming. And we know sexual violence is under-reported so this is probably only a fraction of the serial offenders.
We also know that there is a real issue about police referral, then charging, then prosecution and then Shuck, who was freed in May last year after serving four years for raping an 18-year-old.
Three weeks later – while supposedly being managed on licence – he sexually assaulted one woman and raped conviction rates. All these figures are relatively low compared to other crimes – and they’re going down while complaints go up.
And all these factors point to a justice crisis for victims and survivors of sexual violence.
Sentences certainly could be longer but more importantly there needs to be much more transparency around parole.
What we need to take into another in Kidderminster, Worcs, in 12 hours. One victim was 77. Shuck broke into her home, raped her twice then forced her to drive at knifepoint nearly 100 miles before letting her go.
He was sentenced to life at Worcester consideration when we are thinking about sentencing and parole decisions is the impact the crime has on victims.
The effect of sexual violence is wide-ranging, long-term and can be lifelong, involving physical and mental wellbeing.
These are inherently violent crimes and they need to be treated that way.
We need to listen to survivors more and the impact these crimes have on their lives. Crown Court. Last year five men convicted of a rape attack already had TWO rape convictions on their record when they then struck for a third time.
Another 94 offenders who were convicted of rape in the last year already had a different sex offence on their records.
And 100 other criminals convicted of rape in 2017 already had an offence of violence on their criminal records.
Risk
David Spencer, Research Director at the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: “It would seem self-evident to most people that someone found guilty of a violent sex crime should not be released back into the community until we are sure beyond reasonable doubt that they will not re-offend.
“Given that many attacks are taking place very shortly after release from