Probation officers made a collection of failings earlier than a “psychopathic” felony murdered three kids and his pregnant companion, a watchdog has stated.
Damien Bendall killed his 35-year-old girlfriend Terri Harris, her 11-year-old daughter Lacey Bennett, her 13-year-old son John Paul Bennett, and Lacey’s 11-year-old good friend Connie Gent in Killamarsh, Derbyshire, in September 2021.
They had been attacked with a claw hammer, and Bendall additionally admitted raping Lacey.
He is now serving a whole-life order for the murders, however a overview has discovered that the Probation Service’s dealing with of Bendall was of an “unacceptable standard” at each stage – and “critical opportunities” to appropriate errors had been missed.
Chief inspector of probation Justin Russell stated the Probation Service’s dealing with of Bendall, from court docket to throughout the neighborhood, “fell far below what was required” – and he was dealt with by “insufficiently qualified and experienced” officers.
Bendall was dwelling beneath curfew with Ms Harris and her kids, regardless of earlier convictions for violent crime, and allegations of home abuse made by a former companion.
He was on probation serving a suspended jail sentence for arson – and gave Ms Harris’s tackle for his curfew order.
But the probation officers coping with the case didn’t ask Ms Harris if she consented to him giving her tackle, nor did they go to the home to evaluate the degrees of threat.
With a historical past of crime courting again to 2004, Bendall is first recorded as being supervised by probation in 2011 – greater than a decade earlier than the killings.
He had earlier convictions for crimes together with theft, tried theft and grievous bodily hurt – prompting Justice Secretary Dominic Raab to order a overview.
A litany of failings
Mr Russell’s report revealed a plethora of missed alternatives by probation officers, which led to “serious consequences”.
This contains how Bendall’s data confirmed allegations of home abuse made in opposition to him by an ex-partner – and that Wiltshire Police’s baby sexual exploitation unit had contacted probation as that they had proof that he held a “sexual risk of harm to girls”.
According to the report, officers on the time had been targeted on Bendall’s violence behind bars and excessive right-wing views after he claimed that he was a high-ranking member of a white supremacist group.
As a consequence, the report stated intelligence in regards to the threat of “serious sexual harm” was “not explored or recorded sufficiently” to tell checks to assist hold kids protected.
Despite the killer admitting to utilizing Class A medication and alcohol – and “frequently” taking cash from his household to gas his habit – this info was not escalated to a supervisor and the danger to companions and youngsters continued to be assessed as low.
Decisions taken by officers had been put all the way down to their lack of expertise. The report stated officers “should not have been exposed to cases such as (Bendall’s) at this stage in their careers”.
Making 17 suggestions for enchancment, Mr Russell stated: “If Bendall had been assessed as presenting a higher risk of serious harm – which would have been appropriate – it is unlikely a curfew order would have been deemed suitable and he would have been assigned to more experienced and confident probation officers.”
He added that this case was the “most concerning” of his tenure – and the mother and father of Ms Harris and Connie Gent had been “shocked” by the findings.
In an announcement, prisons and probation minister Damian Hinds confirmed that disciplinary motion has already been taken in opposition to two members of employees, and added: “The extra funding of £155m a year we have put into the Probation Service is being used to recruit thousands more frontline staff and to ensure domestic abuse and child safeguarding checks are always carried out before any offender is given a curfew.
“The Probation Service has additionally improved info sharing with police and councils, so no household is put at such important threat once more.”
Source: information.sky.com”