Major flaws in safeguards to protect public from killers and paedophiles

6-19-2009 Scotland:

SERIOUS flaws have been exposed in the work of police, social work and other agencies tasked with protecting the public from the most dangerous violent and sexual offenders.

A study published today finds the assessment of the risk posed by the most dangerous rapists, paedophiles and murderers after they are released from prison is often "poor or absent".

The way public agencies try to monitor and manage the risk posed by sexual or violent offenders after they are freed has been under the microscope following a number of tragedies in recent years, particularly where the victims have been children.

The murders of victims Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells in Soham in 2002, Mark Cummings, from Glasgow, in 2004, and Karen Dewar, from Fife, all exposed serious weaknesses in the management of offenders released into the community.

That led to the introduction of new measures to enhance public protections – in particular, Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (Mappa), which are designed to improve risk assessment and information-sharing about the most serious offenders on their release from prison.

But the new inspection report, entitled Assessing and Managing Offenders Who Present a High Risk of Serious Harm 2009, says much more work needs to be done.

The joint report – by the Social Work Inspection Agency, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland and HM Inspectorate of Prisons – uncovered wide variations across the country in how agencies worked together to manage risk from paedophiles, rapists and murderers.

It also found evidence that when a high-risk offender came into custody, information about risk often did not reach the receiving prison.

The report found social work planning for serious violent offenders was "generally of a poor standard". A third of the social work plans for sex offenders were deemed "not good enough".

The study, commissioned by Scottish ministers, aimed to review the pre- and post-release arrangements for offenders who pose a risk of serious harm to the public, and identify ways to improve how to manage them.

It set out 19 recommendations to the Scottish Government and other key agencies. The report found that Mappas have improved the management of sex offender risk.

However, other aspects of information-sharing needed "significant improvement".

The electronic system ViSOR, which shares key information about sex offenders between agencies, was effectively unusable as it required such a high level of security for users.

The report also identified problems in transferring information between prisons.

It urged Scottish ministers to publish national standards and guidelines for risk assessment practice.

Speaking on behalf of HM Inspectorate of Prisons, John McCaig, deputy chief inspector of prisons, said: "This report stresses the absolute need to assess and manage the risk posed by offenders who might cause serious harm."

Alexis Jay, chief social work inspector for Scotland, said it was "essential" ministers met the challenges highlighted in the report. Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said: "Public protection is a continuous process and the inspectors have outlined the key areas where we can further strengthen processes."

Murder of boy exposed the failures in the system

THE murder of eight-year-old Mark Cummings by a convicted sex offender triggered moves to improve the way the most dangerous paedophiles and rapists are managed in the community.

Stuart Leggate sexually assaulted Mark at a block of flats in Royston, Glasgow, in June 2004. He strangled the child and threw his body down the flats' refuse chute.

Leggate, who was jailed for a minimum of 20 years, had previous convictions for sexually assaulting children and was on the sex offenders' register when he murdered Mark.

The fact that Leggate was housed close to children like Mark, despite being a registered sex offender, highlighted the lack of proper risk assessments and information-sharing between prison staff, police, social workers, housing departments and other agencies. It also triggered calls for parents to be given the right to know when a paedophile is posing a risk to their children. ..Source.. by Michael Howie