There have been “serious failings” within the Probation Service’s dealing with of a drug seller who murdered his girlfriend and three of her members of the family, a watchdog has discovered.
Joshua Jacques, 29, was jailed for all times, with a minimal sentence of 46 years, on the Old Bailey final week after stabbing to demise Samantha Drummonds and her family at their residence in Bermondsey, south London, in April 2022 – 5 months after he was launched from jail.
He claimed he had killed Ms Drummonds, 27, her mom Tanysha Ofori-Akuffo, 45, grandmother Dolet Hill, 64, and Ms Hill’s companion, Denton Burke, 58, as a “sacrifice” after their our bodies have been found by police.
Mr Justice Bryan stated he had dedicated the “horrific catalogue of murders” after abusing skunk hashish, of which he was “well aware” of the impression on his psychological well being and contributed to his offending.
Jacques was on probation on the time, having been launched on licence on 11 November 2022 from a 51-month jail sentence in 2019 for supplying Class A medication and possession of Class B medicine.
After finishing up an unbiased overview of how the Probation Service managed Jacques, Chief Inspector of Probation Martin Jones stated “there were serious failings” in his supervision.
“Despite concerns about repeated non-compliance with his licence conditions, enforcement practice was inconsistent and opportunities to recall Jacques to custody were missed,” he stated.
A situation to interact in drug abuse intervention was not organised and Jacques repeatedly used hashish whereas on probation, the overview discovered.
Probation officers have been conscious of Jacques’ psychological well being historical past, together with that he had been sectioned in 2018 and he had reported random aggression as a symptom of a decline in his psychological well being.
“In February 2022, Jacques disclosed to probation court staff that he was experiencing a decline in his mental health; however, no action was taken,” stated Mr Jones.
Before his launch, Jacques was assessed as posing a excessive threat of significant hurt to the general public however his threat to workers or potential companions was “underestimated” and no threat evaluation was accomplished after he was freed.
The overview discovered Jacques was wrongly allotted a newly certified probation officer who had completed their coaching simply three months earlier, and that there was “insufficient” administration and “a lack of professional curiosity”.
“This meant several events, such as an arrest for further offences, disclosure of declining mental health, problematic behaviour towards neighbours, a new relationship, and the unpermitted use of social media, were not responded to or explored sufficiently,” stated Mr Jones.
“Sadly, this case is symptomatic of the issues we have observed across the probation service in recent years.
“A reliance on an inexperienced cohort of probation workers, a scarcity of help for psychological well being and substance misuse points alongside inadequate administration oversight are issues which have been highlighted repeatedly.
“As a result of this review, eight recommendations were made to HMPPS (HM Prison and Probation Service). They have accepted all these recommendations and responded with an action plan for implementing them.”
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The chief probation officer for England and Wales Kim Thornden-Edwards, has apologised to the households and mates of the victims.
“I am deeply sorry for the unacceptable failings in this case and our thoughts remain with the families and friends of Samantha Drummonds, Denton Burke, Dolet Hill and Tanysha Ofori-Akuffo,” she stated.
“The former justice secretary (Dominic Raab) commissioned an independent review into this case and we are taking immediate steps to address the issues raised, including increased support for newly qualified probation officers and improved access to substance misuse treatment for supervised offenders with a history of drug use.
“We are additionally utilizing the additional £155 million being invested into the Probation Service yearly to strengthen supervision, scale back caseloads, steer offenders away from crime and preserve the general public protected.”
The case is the most recent to show failures within the Probation Service’s dealing with of offenders, following damning reviews on the circumstances of quadruple killer Damien Bendall and Jordan McSweeney, who stalked and murdered regulation graduate Zara Aleena, 35.
A watchdog discovered the dealing with of Bendall was of an “unacceptable standard” at each stage and “critical opportunities” to right errors have been missed earlier than he murdered three kids and his pregnant companion with a claw hammer in Killamarsh, Derbyshire.
A coroner later discovered a collection of “very stark” failures had contributed to the deaths of his 35-year-old girlfriend Terri Harris, her kids, John Paul Bennett, 13, and Lacey Bennett, 11, and Lacey’s buddy, 11-year-old Connie Gent, in September 2021.
Another report discovered a catalogue of errors within the dealing with of McSweeney meant he was not handled as a high-risk offender when he ought to have been and was left free to kill Ms Aleena simply days after he was launched from jail.
Source: information.sky.com”