MOJ expert ‘bullied out of job’ after sex offender warning

A FORMER Ministry of Justice analyst has claimed she was bullied out of her job after telling bosses a sex offender rehabilitation scheme the Government ran for over 20 years was not working.

Kathryn Hopkins alleged at a tribunal this week that the Government had sat on a report that showed inmates who took part in the controversial Core Sex Offenders Treatment Programme, which involved groups of prisoners discussing their crimes, were more likely to commit another sexual offence than those who did not.

Ms Hopkins, who is suing the MOJ for alleged discrimination, claimed she had warned of the findings as early as 2012, but the scheme was not scrapped until 2017, shortly before the MOJ published a report revealing a slight increase in the likelihood of reoffending.

The MOJ has disputed that Ms Hopkins raised her concerns in 2012 and said the findings were not robust enough for them to act on.