NATIONAL SCANDAL
of serious sexual and violent offences who have opted to be in the Government’s Victim Contact Scheme have a right to be kept informed of key decisions in relation to the offender’s release and licence conditions.
“This means being told when an offender has been recalled, when they are located and returned to prison and when they will be re-released or have a case referred to the Parole Board.
“Despite the fact that a period of time may have elapsed between the original offence and the breach of licence, in the case of victims of serious sexual or violent offences, knowing the offender’s whereabouts is unknown by the authorities can have a big effect upon the victim’s sense of wellbeing.”
In 2014, violent con
Michael Wheatley – nicknamed the Skull Cracker – robbed a building society after being granted day release from Standford Hill jail in Kent.
He had 23 previous convictions for robbery, two for attempted robbery and 18 for firearms offences. Following the raid in Sunbury, Surrey, Wheatley went on the run for five days before being arrested and jailed for life.
Meanwhile Dano Sonnex, 35, and his pal Nigel Farmer, 45, tortured and killed French students Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23, in South London in 2008.
It later emerged Sonnex had been at large despite having been recalled to prison.
Yesterday the Ministry of Justice said: “Public protection is our priority and we will take tough action to ensure that those who abscond, fail to return or commit crime while on licence are returned to prison to face further punishment.
We work closely with the police to locate offenders who have been recalled until they are returned to custody, and police put out warnings if an offender poses a significant risk to the public.
“Over 99 per cent of offenders recalled are returned to prison. It should be noted that these figures will include those who have died or been deported as the National Probation Service does not automatically get notified of this.
“The proportion of unlawfully at large offenders which are located is improving.”
Our probe comes just days after a report warned lessons were not being learned from offenders carrying out crimes while on probation. A watchdog claimed the public were being put at risk because officials were “not doing enough” to correct past mistakes. More than 2,100 convicts under community supervision have appeared in court accused of crimes including murder and rape since 2015-16.
In each case, a serious further offence review was held to find out if the crime could have been prevented.
But the Chief Inspector of Probation said internal inquiries rarely explain how risks can be reduced and amount to probation chiefs “marking their own homework”.