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A quarter of a million offenders
on probation and on our streets, | 0:00:03 | 0:00:07 | |
so how safe are we? | 0:00:07 | 0:00:10 | |
I just haven't stopped
screaming and crying. | 0:00:10 | 0:00:13 | |
I just constantly was keep asking,
"What have you done to my son?" | 0:00:13 | 0:00:16 | |
We speak to probation staff, who say
they're swamped by their caseloads. | 0:00:16 | 0:00:21 | |
Some of these people are highly
vulnerable, and they need help, | 0:00:21 | 0:00:24 | |
and they need intervention.
They're not getting that. | 0:00:24 | 0:00:28 | |
And families, whose lives have been
devastated by offenders | 0:00:28 | 0:00:30 | |
whose supervision failed. | 0:00:30 | 0:00:32 | |
I've lost my job, I've lost me. | 0:00:32 | 0:00:35 | |
And obviously,
the biggest loss is Conner. | 0:00:35 | 0:00:39 | |
We reveal the huge number
of probation appointments | 0:00:39 | 0:00:41 | |
still being missed by offenders,
despite official warnings. | 0:00:41 | 0:00:44 | |
I expressed grave concerns
about the number | 0:00:44 | 0:00:48 | |
of missed appointments,
and the number of people | 0:00:48 | 0:00:50 | |
not being seen at all. | 0:00:50 | 0:00:52 | |
We ask, is it time for
the government to rethink | 0:00:52 | 0:00:57 | |
controversial reforms
introduced just three years ago? | 0:00:57 | 0:01:00 | |
We need to have a clear set
of proposals from government | 0:01:00 | 0:01:03 | |
as to what they're
going to do to act. | 0:01:03 | 0:01:06 | |
Conner was an 18-year-old,
who was just sort of | 0:01:21 | 0:01:24 | |
starting out on his, sort of,
next phase of his adventure. | 0:01:24 | 0:01:28 | |
He'd finished school,
he'd been to college, | 0:01:28 | 0:01:31 | |
and he was really just enjoying
the fact that he sort of | 0:01:31 | 0:01:35 | |
had something to look forward to. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:38 | |
He'd arranged with a few of his
friends to go down to Porthcawl. | 0:01:38 | 0:01:43 | |
There was an unwritten rule,
that wherever he was, | 0:01:43 | 0:01:47 | |
he'd always send me
a text when he got home, | 0:01:47 | 0:01:52 | |
just so that I knew he was safe.
And he would always text, | 0:01:52 | 0:01:55 | |
"Nos da. Garu di." | 0:01:55 | 0:01:56 | |
Which was, "Good night. I love you."
And I didn't get the text. | 0:01:56 | 0:02:02 | |
Conner was attacked just yards
from the caravan in South Wales | 0:02:02 | 0:02:10 | |
where he was staying,
by a stranger, David Braddon. | 0:02:10 | 0:02:12 | |
He had a history of
violence, alcohol and drug abuse. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:16 | |
He attacked him from behind
with some sort of blunt instrument. | 0:02:16 | 0:02:20 | |
And then, this horrific attack
just played out. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:25 | |
He'd really, really
beaten him badly. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:30 | |
A few days later, in March, 2015,
Conner died in hospital. | 0:02:30 | 0:02:35 | |
It was five months before Nadine
found out that David Braddon had | 0:02:35 | 0:02:39 | |
been on probation at the time
of the murder. | 0:02:39 | 0:02:46 | |
Probation officials only wrote
to her after Braddon had | 0:02:46 | 0:02:48 | |
been jailed for life. | 0:02:48 | 0:02:49 | |
Not once had it been mentioned
or suggested that there was any | 0:02:49 | 0:02:52 | |
probation link whatsoever. | 0:02:52 | 0:02:58 | |
And then, we had this letter, and it
sort of changed the whole game. | 0:02:58 | 0:03:02 | |
David Braddon had been under
the supervision of a private company | 0:03:02 | 0:03:06 | |
called Working Links. | 0:03:06 | 0:03:10 | |
It took over the running
of most of the probabtion | 0:03:10 | 0:03:13 | |
service in Wales in 2015. | 0:03:13 | 0:03:22 | |
Under radical government reforms,
the supervision of low and medium | 0:03:22 | 0:03:25 | |
risk offenders across England
and Wales was privatised. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:27 | |
High risk offenders became
the responsibility of the new state | 0:03:27 | 0:03:30 | |
run National probation service, but
there were concerns from the start. | 0:03:30 | 0:03:39 | |
We warned that the total separation
of the service into two arms | 0:03:39 | 0:03:47 | |
was likely to spell disaster
in terms of organisation, | 0:03:47 | 0:03:51 | |
in terms of the cost
to the taxpayer. | 0:03:51 | 0:03:53 | |
And, I suppose,
most importantly, the impact | 0:03:53 | 0:03:55 | |
on communities and public safety. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:59 | |
It wasn't just
the union that was worried. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:08 | |
Some inside the Ministry of Justice
were, too, according to | 0:04:08 | 0:04:11 | |
an internal memo. | 0:04:11 | 0:04:12 | |
It's clear that the government
was given explicit warnings before | 0:04:12 | 0:04:14 | |
it incremented the reforms
about the dangers and | 0:04:14 | 0:04:16 | |
risks of them failing. | 0:04:16 | 0:04:17 | |
This is a leaked government policy
document, which makes it perfectly | 0:04:17 | 0:04:20 | |
clear that "there was a risk
of an unacceptable drop | 0:04:20 | 0:04:23 | |
in operational performance
during the programme, | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
which might lead to delivery failure
and reputational damage." | 0:04:25 | 0:04:32 | |
The death of Conner Marshall
looked like an early failure. | 0:04:32 | 0:04:35 | |
His mother Nadine wanted to know
exactly what had gone wrong, | 0:04:35 | 0:04:38 | |
but struggled to get any answers. | 0:04:38 | 0:04:40 | |
Nobody wanted to tell us anything. | 0:04:40 | 0:04:45 | |
I just kept on and on, and on,
for weeks, four months, | 0:04:45 | 0:04:50 | |
until eventually, we were told
that this report had been generated. | 0:04:50 | 0:04:56 | |
It was a serious further offences
report, written by the company. | 0:04:56 | 0:05:06 | |
It took Nadine eight months to get
government permission | 0:05:07 | 0:05:12 | |
to have a copy. | 0:05:12 | 0:05:13 | |
It revealed failures in how
Braddon's level of risk, | 0:05:13 | 0:05:15 | |
how dangerous he was to the public,
was assessed and monitored. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:18 | |
They found that David Braddon
was either low to medium risk, | 0:05:18 | 0:05:21 | |
even though he had
this history of violence and drugs. | 0:05:21 | 0:05:25 | |
But what we now know was that that
risk assessment was never revisited. | 0:05:25 | 0:05:28 | |
The report found that Braddon's
increasingly withdrawn behaviour | 0:05:28 | 0:05:30 | |
and lack of cooperation wasn't
being properly dealt with. | 0:05:30 | 0:05:39 | |
He was known to be doing
all the things that were showing | 0:05:39 | 0:05:42 | |
that he wasn't complying. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:43 | |
And yet, the probation
supervision wasn't increasing. | 0:05:43 | 0:05:50 | |
The main purpose of probation
is to monitor and supervise | 0:05:50 | 0:05:54 | |
offenders who have just
been released from prison, | 0:05:54 | 0:05:56 | |
or who are serving their
sentences in the community. | 0:05:56 | 0:06:01 | |
Under its reforms, the government
hope to reduce reoffending | 0:06:01 | 0:06:03 | |
by expanding the service
to more people. | 0:06:03 | 0:06:07 | |
The big new idea was to extend
probation to a group of offenders | 0:06:07 | 0:06:12 | |
who have previously been
unsupervised after being | 0:06:12 | 0:06:13 | |
released from prison. | 0:06:13 | 0:06:17 | |
This was the group of up to
50,000 prisoners who'd only served | 0:06:17 | 0:06:20 | |
short-term sentences of
up to a year, but were, in fact, | 0:06:20 | 0:06:22 | |
among the most likely to reoffend. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:24 | |
I'm meeting one of them. | 0:06:24 | 0:06:27 | |
Sean was given an eight week
sentence in March for possessing | 0:06:27 | 0:06:30 | |
an offensive weapon. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:34 | |
Like all recently released
short-term prisoners, | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
he's now on probation for 12 months. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:40 | |
Tell me a bit about yourself.
When did you get out of prison? | 0:06:40 | 0:06:43 | |
I got out in May. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:46 | |
What contact have you had
with probation since then? | 0:06:46 | 0:06:49 | |
Very little. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:57 | |
I didn't even meet my probation
officer until about three weeks, | 0:06:57 | 0:06:59 | |
almost a month, after my release. | 0:06:59 | 0:07:01 | |
So tell me about the housing.
Where are you living now? | 0:07:01 | 0:07:03 | |
What's your situation? | 0:07:03 | 0:07:05 | |
I'm staying with, like,
some friends, and stuff. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:07 | |
Have you had your own place
since you came out in May? | 0:07:07 | 0:07:09 | |
Since I've come out of prison, no.
I haven't had my own place at all. | 0:07:09 | 0:07:13 | |
Not having a permanent place to live
makes it more likely that offenders | 0:07:13 | 0:07:16 | |
will go back to crime. | 0:07:16 | 0:07:18 | |
So helping people like Sean
get settled is a top priority. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:20 | |
Everybody needs, like,
a base to function from. | 0:07:20 | 0:07:24 | |
It's not easy. It's quite daunting. | 0:07:24 | 0:07:27 | |
Sometimes it can lead to
other things as well, like, | 0:07:27 | 0:07:30 | |
I can see how people can reoffend. | 0:07:30 | 0:07:31 | |
You've been in trouble before,
haven't you, in the past? | 0:07:31 | 0:07:34 | |
Yeah, a couple of times. | 0:07:34 | 0:07:35 | |
So, you must have had contact
with probation then as well? Yeah. | 0:07:35 | 0:07:38 | |
Have you noticed any difference
in probation since then? | 0:07:38 | 0:07:40 | |
It seems like it's gotten worse,
to be honest. | 0:07:40 | 0:07:43 | |
Because at least back then,
I kind of knew exactly | 0:07:43 | 0:07:45 | |
who my probation officer was.
But these days, it's hard to tell. | 0:07:45 | 0:07:48 | |
The company is now supervising
all low and medium risk offenders | 0:07:48 | 0:07:51 | |
agreed contracts with the government
worth nearly £4 billion | 0:07:51 | 0:07:56 | |
over seven years. | 0:07:56 | 0:07:59 | |
But there was a problem. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:04 | |
Most of their income depends on the
number of people there supervising, | 0:08:04 | 0:08:08 | |
and private companies expected
more work, more offenders to look | 0:08:08 | 0:08:11 | |
after them actually materialise. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:20 | |
When the government reorganised
the probation service, | 0:08:22 | 0:08:23 | |
it expected the private companies
to get 70% of the work. | 0:08:23 | 0:08:26 | |
In reality, it turned out
to be more like 50%. | 0:08:26 | 0:08:28 | |
They weren't making enough money. | 0:08:28 | 0:08:30 | |
We were very concerned indeed. | 0:08:30 | 0:08:32 | |
They weren't getting the volumes
of work coming through that | 0:08:32 | 0:08:34 | |
had been anticipated. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:36 | |
That leads us to concerns
as to whether some of those will be | 0:08:36 | 0:08:40 | |
able to sustain the contracts,
and that was likely to feed | 0:08:40 | 0:08:43 | |
through into whether or not
it was a long-term stable | 0:08:43 | 0:08:45 | |
system going forward. | 0:08:45 | 0:08:46 | |
The performance of the privately
run probation companies | 0:08:46 | 0:08:48 | |
is being closely monitored. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:51 | |
Amongst the private companies,
we're seeing a very mixed picture. | 0:08:51 | 0:08:53 | |
A minority of those that we've been
to see it are doing well enough, | 0:08:53 | 0:08:57 | |
but the majority are not. | 0:08:57 | 0:09:01 | |
They're not yet in a stable
position, they're not yet operating | 0:09:01 | 0:09:06 | |
in an established way,
and that does surprise me. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:10 | |
And just how alarming is the picture
with those private companies? | 0:09:10 | 0:09:13 | |
Well, clearly,
I'm expressing a significant amount | 0:09:13 | 0:09:15 | |
of concern about it. | 0:09:15 | 0:09:17 | |
The financial stability
of the private companies | 0:09:17 | 0:09:19 | |
was at the heart of those concerns. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:24 | |
Some of these companies are losing
significant amounts of money. | 0:09:24 | 0:09:27 | |
It's not surprising, then,
that they are looking for ways | 0:09:27 | 0:09:32 | |
to balance the books,
so they should. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
Often as not, that does mean
reducing staff numbers to what, | 0:09:35 | 0:09:37 | |
in my view, is below
an acceptable level. | 0:09:37 | 0:09:41 | |
The general strategy has been
to reduce costs as low | 0:09:41 | 0:09:43 | |
as you can to make a profit. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:49 | |
What that has meant is,
although there are less | 0:09:49 | 0:09:51 | |
people coming through,
actually, you've got less | 0:09:51 | 0:09:53 | |
people doing the work. | 0:09:53 | 0:09:54 | |
So they've actually
got higher caseloads. | 0:09:54 | 0:09:55 | |
This whistle-blower,
whose identity we're protecting, | 0:09:55 | 0:09:57 | |
works for MTC Novo. | 0:09:57 | 0:10:02 | |
The company won the £980 million
probation contract for London. | 0:10:02 | 0:10:08 | |
We've been told it's employing fewer
fully qualified probation officers. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:13 | |
I used to manage around 50 offenders
when we were London Probation Trust. | 0:10:13 | 0:10:18 | |
When we were privatised,
I had a caseload of around 76. | 0:10:18 | 0:10:23 | |
Some of these people are highly
vulnerable, and they need help, | 0:10:23 | 0:10:27 | |
and they need intervention.
They're not getting that. | 0:10:27 | 0:10:29 | |
We're not building a rapport. | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
If you see me once a month for 20
minutes, how are you going to open | 0:10:32 | 0:10:36 | |
up to me and tell me
what's going on inside your head? | 0:10:36 | 0:10:39 | |
What's going on behind the scenes? | 0:10:39 | 0:10:41 | |
The new way, I don't know them,
they don't trust me. | 0:10:41 | 0:10:43 | |
You're stranger to them.
Exactly. | 0:10:43 | 0:10:44 | |
And they're a stranger to me. | 0:10:44 | 0:10:48 | |
What we're seeing is shortages
of staff with probation officers | 0:10:48 | 0:10:52 | |
carrying alarmingly high caseloads,
in some cases, and the consequences | 0:10:52 | 0:10:56 | |
of that are that people
under supervision are not | 0:10:56 | 0:10:58 | |
being supervised effectively. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:01 | |
I've seen an explosion in my
caseload of offenders reoffending, | 0:11:01 | 0:11:04 | |
and some serious offences. | 0:11:04 | 0:11:09 | |
You know, GBH, racially
aggravated violent offences | 0:11:09 | 0:11:16 | |
and domestic violence,
abuse of their partners | 0:11:16 | 0:11:18 | |
and to their children. | 0:11:18 | 0:11:19 | |
This is Alex Malcolm,
the video was filmed | 0:11:19 | 0:11:25 | |
by his mother, Liliya. | 0:11:25 | 0:11:31 | |
This baby.
How old is he there? | 0:11:31 | 0:11:32 | |
This is about one and a half. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:38 | |
Through friends, Liliya
was introduced last year | 0:11:38 | 0:11:40 | |
to this man, Marvyn Iheanacho. | 0:11:40 | 0:11:41 | |
He was coming to the end
of a prison sentence. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:44 | |
Iheanacho hid from Liliya
that he'd been jailed | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
for attacking a former partner. | 0:11:46 | 0:11:47 | |
They began a relationship. | 0:11:47 | 0:11:50 | |
He said he was innocent. | 0:11:50 | 0:11:54 | |
He just had been in the wrong
time, wrong place. | 0:11:54 | 0:11:58 | |
I'm quite a trustworthy person.
There was no reason not to believe. | 0:11:58 | 0:12:02 | |
Iheanacho quickly became
part of Liliya's life, | 0:12:02 | 0:12:08 | |
and a father figure
to five-year-old Alex. | 0:12:08 | 0:12:10 | |
He would help Alex
to do his homework. | 0:12:10 | 0:12:13 | |
He sometimes would be cooking, also. | 0:12:13 | 0:12:15 | |
You know, just really
normal day-to-day. | 0:12:15 | 0:12:20 | |
Iheanacho was being supervised
by the government run | 0:12:20 | 0:12:22 | |
National Probation Service. | 0:12:22 | 0:12:25 | |
He was a high-risk offender,
but no one told Liliya. | 0:12:25 | 0:12:30 | |
London, November, 2016,
and the figure walking | 0:12:30 | 0:12:33 | |
in the distance is Marvyn Iheanacho. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:39 | |
I was cooking dinner. | 0:12:39 | 0:12:41 | |
And Marvyn, he just
wanted to go to the shop. | 0:12:41 | 0:12:45 | |
He asked if he can
take Alex with him. | 0:12:45 | 0:12:49 | |
And then, I said,
"You know what, it's Sunday. | 0:12:49 | 0:12:52 | |
He still needs to do his homework." | 0:12:52 | 0:12:57 | |
I expected them to be
no longer than an hour, | 0:12:57 | 0:13:00 | |
and be back by the time
I'd finished cooking dinner. | 0:13:00 | 0:13:03 | |
Without telling Liliya, Iheanacho
had taken Alex to a local park. | 0:13:03 | 0:13:08 | |
It started getting late, then
I started panicking, and thinking, | 0:13:08 | 0:13:12 | |
"Why are they still not back?" | 0:13:12 | 0:13:14 | |
I gave him a call to ask,
where are you guys? | 0:13:14 | 0:13:20 | |
And then, he just simply replied,
"Alex lost his shoe." | 0:13:20 | 0:13:24 | |
Iheanacho was caught again on CCTV
carrying the limp figure of Alex. | 0:13:24 | 0:13:33 | |
In a rage, he'd beaten the boy
over the missing shoe. | 0:13:33 | 0:13:36 | |
When I ran quickly downstairs,
all I saw was just Alex | 0:13:36 | 0:13:39 | |
just wasn't conscious.
Sorry... | 0:13:39 | 0:13:40 | |
I just always get really upset... | 0:13:40 | 0:13:43 | |
That's fine. That's fine.
Take your time. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:46 | |
Was he holding Alex at that point?
Yeah. | 0:13:46 | 0:13:48 | |
He hold him like a baby. | 0:13:48 | 0:13:54 | |
I just haven't stopped screaming
and crying ever since I saw him, | 0:13:54 | 0:13:59 | |
I just constantly was keep asking,
"What happened? | 0:13:59 | 0:14:01 | |
What have you done to my son?" | 0:14:01 | 0:14:06 | |
Alex died in hospital
from his injuries. | 0:14:06 | 0:14:10 | |
Iheanacho was convicted of murder
and jailed for life. | 0:14:10 | 0:14:17 | |
During his trial, it emerged
that he had a long list | 0:14:17 | 0:14:23 | |
of convictions for violence,
including six for domestic abuse. | 0:14:23 | 0:14:25 | |
This came as a shock to Liliya. | 0:14:25 | 0:14:28 | |
There's not one, two, three. | 0:14:28 | 0:14:30 | |
There was four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine. | 0:14:30 | 0:14:32 | |
This guy had the worst track
record you can imagine. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:39 | |
Liliya should have been told
that she and Alex were in danger, | 0:14:39 | 0:14:42 | |
but the probation service
didn't warn her. | 0:14:42 | 0:14:47 | |
How do you know that probation knew
that you were his girlfriend? | 0:14:47 | 0:14:52 | |
He told them. | 0:14:52 | 0:14:54 | |
He told them I was his girlfriend,
and he told them I have child. | 0:14:54 | 0:14:57 | |
And the probation officer,
didn't she ask you? | 0:14:57 | 0:14:59 | |
She just asked me who I was, and I
said I was Marvyn's girlfriend. | 0:14:59 | 0:15:03 | |
And she said, "Oh, OK, fine." | 0:15:03 | 0:15:05 | |
And that's it. | 0:15:05 | 0:15:07 | |
How easy would it have been
for the probation service to have | 0:15:07 | 0:15:10 | |
prevented Alex's murder? | 0:15:10 | 0:15:13 | |
I cannot blame them completely,
but they did play a big part | 0:15:13 | 0:15:16 | |
in what happened to Alex. | 0:15:16 | 0:15:20 | |
And... | 0:15:20 | 0:15:22 | |
If they did inform me
about his previous conviction, | 0:15:22 | 0:15:25 | |
100% I won't be involved
with this person. | 0:15:25 | 0:15:31 | |
The National Probation Service,
which was supervising Iheanacho, | 0:15:31 | 0:15:33 | |
was also under pressure
following the reforms. | 0:15:33 | 0:15:39 | |
While the private companies
had less work than they | 0:15:39 | 0:15:41 | |
expected, it had more. | 0:15:41 | 0:15:45 | |
It too has been inspected. | 0:15:45 | 0:15:46 | |
We weren't entirely
satisfied with how the NPS | 0:15:46 | 0:15:48 | |
were performing in London. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:51 | |
It is a difficult city, actually,
to deliver probation service in 32 | 0:15:51 | 0:15:54 | |
boroughs and a rather mobile
offending population, | 0:15:54 | 0:15:56 | |
so it's a particularly onerous task. | 0:15:56 | 0:16:01 | |
We're inspecting again
in London now as we speak. | 0:16:01 | 0:16:05 | |
The inspection reports say
that the National Probation Service | 0:16:05 | 0:16:10 | |
is generally doing
better outside London. | 0:16:10 | 0:16:12 | |
But an officer who works outside
of London says the reforms | 0:16:12 | 0:16:15 | |
are undermining her work. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:16 | |
We're protecting her identity. | 0:16:16 | 0:16:20 | |
We know it's a mess. | 0:16:20 | 0:16:21 | |
Everyone knows it's a mess. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:24 | |
Last week in my full working week
I spent no more than two hours | 0:16:24 | 0:16:27 | |
in actual physical face to face
contact with the people I supervise. | 0:16:27 | 0:16:33 | |
How would it have been, say,
five years ago or whatever, | 0:16:33 | 0:16:36 | |
before the reforms? | 0:16:36 | 0:16:37 | |
I think I would have
spent about half of my | 0:16:37 | 0:16:39 | |
time, 15 hours a week. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:41 | |
Right, OK. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:41 | |
And she says the reforms have caused
division and inefficiency. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:45 | |
The natural relationships
are severing with the colleagues | 0:16:45 | 0:16:47 | |
in the private companies. | 0:16:47 | 0:16:49 | |
Previously if I had a problem
with somebody who someone | 0:16:49 | 0:16:52 | |
else was supervising,
say, I'd walk across the office | 0:16:52 | 0:16:55 | |
and have a conversation. | 0:16:55 | 0:16:56 | |
But if I want to e-mail somebody
from the private company, | 0:16:56 | 0:16:59 | |
that just takes longer. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:00 | |
If I phone up I get a call centre. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:03 | |
So that sense of being actually able
to communicate in a sensible, | 0:17:03 | 0:17:06 | |
ordinary way, is gone. | 0:17:06 | 0:17:10 | |
Nadine Marshall is now campaigning
against the reforms. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:21 | |
The report written by Working Links,
the company supervising | 0:17:21 | 0:17:23 | |
the man who killed her son,
reveals that David Braddon had been | 0:17:23 | 0:17:26 | |
evading probation staff. | 0:17:26 | 0:17:32 | |
I read the rest of the document. | 0:17:32 | 0:17:35 | |
That was when we found out
the equally horrific information | 0:17:35 | 0:17:37 | |
with appointments missed. | 0:17:37 | 0:17:42 | |
He was missing eight appointments. | 0:17:42 | 0:17:45 | |
Offenders who fail to comply
with the terms of their probation, | 0:17:45 | 0:17:48 | |
like missing appointments,
can be taken back to court | 0:17:48 | 0:17:50 | |
and even imprisoned. | 0:17:50 | 0:17:54 | |
But in Braddon's case,
that didn't happen. | 0:17:54 | 0:17:57 | |
What might have happened to him? | 0:17:57 | 0:17:58 | |
It's very likely that he would have
been taken to prison, | 0:17:58 | 0:18:01 | |
because he wasn't complying. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:04 | |
So that means that he might not have
been around to attack... | 0:18:04 | 0:18:06 | |
He might not have been
at liberty to attack Conner? | 0:18:06 | 0:18:09 | |
Yeah, he wouldn't, yeah. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:10 | |
That's the horrible,
horrible point that | 0:18:10 | 0:18:11 | |
you have to digest -
which we can't - is that, yeah, | 0:18:11 | 0:18:14 | |
had they done what they should have
done, the very likelihood | 0:18:14 | 0:18:17 | |
is that he wouldn't have been there. | 0:18:17 | 0:18:22 | |
Of the eight appointments missed
by Braddon, Working Links says only | 0:18:22 | 0:18:25 | |
two were judged to be unacceptable. | 0:18:25 | 0:18:29 | |
After the second,
they started proceedings | 0:18:29 | 0:18:30 | |
to take him back to court. | 0:18:30 | 0:18:34 | |
By then, Braddon had committed his
fatal attack and was on the run. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:39 | |
The company says: "The serious
further offences report found | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
Braddon's management wasn't linked
to Conner's murder, which was not | 0:18:42 | 0:18:46 | |
predictable or preventable,
a conclusion supported | 0:18:46 | 0:18:48 | |
by the probation inspector." | 0:18:48 | 0:18:53 | |
The company says public protection
is its top priority and it's changed | 0:18:53 | 0:18:56 | |
the way it works to give front line
probation officers more | 0:18:56 | 0:18:58 | |
time with service users
who are most likely to reoffend. | 0:18:58 | 0:19:05 | |
The Ministry of Justice says had
Braddon been sent back to court, | 0:19:05 | 0:19:07 | |
it's unlikely he would
have been jailed. | 0:19:07 | 0:19:13 | |
Dealing with offenders who miss
appointments is a key part | 0:19:15 | 0:19:17 | |
of a probation officer's job. | 0:19:17 | 0:19:20 | |
We've discovered evidence that one
company has a big problem. | 0:19:20 | 0:19:24 | |
Panorama has seen records
from inside the company that handles | 0:19:24 | 0:19:26 | |
all low and medium risk offenders
on probation in London, MTCnovo. | 0:19:26 | 0:19:33 | |
The records reveal that offenders
across the capital missed more | 0:19:33 | 0:19:37 | |
than 15,000 appointments over a 16
month period, and the probation | 0:19:37 | 0:19:40 | |
officers looking after them failed
to take any action at all. | 0:19:40 | 0:19:47 | |
What's your opinion of that? | 0:19:47 | 0:19:48 | |
Does that surprise you? | 0:19:48 | 0:19:49 | |
It doesn't surprise me. | 0:19:49 | 0:19:52 | |
I inherit cases where there
is 20 to 30 appointments | 0:19:52 | 0:19:56 | |
that they haven't attended,
for unpaid work or for | 0:19:56 | 0:19:58 | |
their supervision, and no
action has been taken. | 0:19:58 | 0:20:03 | |
But he says the company
did take some action, | 0:20:03 | 0:20:05 | |
instructing staff to alter records. | 0:20:05 | 0:20:09 | |
We've also heard that there
was an order that went out | 0:20:09 | 0:20:11 | |
within the London private company
that any missed appointments | 0:20:11 | 0:20:14 | |
by offenders which hadn't already
been addressed could just be wiped | 0:20:14 | 0:20:17 | |
from the system if they were more
than two weeks old. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:21 | |
That was correct. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:23 | |
Yeah, about six months ago we got
an instruction from our managers, | 0:20:23 | 0:20:26 | |
and I went through all my cases
and cleared those | 0:20:26 | 0:20:28 | |
missed appointments up. | 0:20:28 | 0:20:30 | |
Some of them were two years old. | 0:20:30 | 0:20:33 | |
That's completely unacceptable. | 0:20:33 | 0:20:37 | |
If there are unactioned missed
appointments then how can you have | 0:20:37 | 0:20:41 | |
that level of monitoring and control
to reassure the public that things | 0:20:41 | 0:20:43 | |
are being done properly
and there is not the risk | 0:20:43 | 0:20:48 | |
of reoffending or harm to members
of the public? | 0:20:48 | 0:20:51 | |
Our evidence reinforces
concerns raised last year | 0:20:51 | 0:20:54 | |
following an inspection of part
of MTCnovo's operations | 0:20:54 | 0:20:56 | |
in North London. | 0:20:56 | 0:21:02 | |
Inspected London probation company
last year, and I expressed grave | 0:21:02 | 0:21:04 | |
concerns about the number of missed
appointments and the number | 0:21:04 | 0:21:07 | |
of people not being seen at all. | 0:21:07 | 0:21:12 | |
I was so concerned about it
I required an action plan from it | 0:21:12 | 0:21:15 | |
and I am inspecting that London
probation company again now. | 0:21:15 | 0:21:22 | |
This latest inspection
is Londonwide. | 0:21:22 | 0:21:32 | |
The inspectorate routinely tells
the companies what it | 0:21:33 | 0:21:35 | |
intends to look at. | 0:21:35 | 0:21:36 | |
Insiders say this gives
them time to prepare. | 0:21:36 | 0:21:37 | |
We've been having team meetings,
senior managers have attended | 0:21:37 | 0:21:40 | |
those team meetings. | 0:21:40 | 0:21:41 | |
We've been scripted what to say,
what kinds of questions | 0:21:41 | 0:21:43 | |
are going to be asked and what kind
of answers we should be | 0:21:43 | 0:21:46 | |
giving to the inspection. | 0:21:46 | 0:21:49 | |
People's cases have been reduced,
and we're being given directives | 0:21:49 | 0:21:51 | |
to make the case look
as good as possible. | 0:21:51 | 0:21:58 | |
Recently released offender Sean
is under MTCnovo's supervision. | 0:22:00 | 0:22:05 | |
Is he feeling the effects
of its preparations for inspection? | 0:22:05 | 0:22:10 | |
Sean's got a job on a construction
site, and I'm down here | 0:22:10 | 0:22:13 | |
to meet him during his break
because apparently his probation | 0:22:13 | 0:22:15 | |
officer has said there's a problem. | 0:22:15 | 0:22:17 | |
Hey. | 0:22:17 | 0:22:19 | |
How you doing? | 0:22:19 | 0:22:20 | |
How you doing, Sean? | 0:22:20 | 0:22:21 | |
Good to see you. | 0:22:21 | 0:22:22 | |
So what's the latest? | 0:22:22 | 0:22:23 | |
Basically they've said to me
that if I don't attend | 0:22:23 | 0:22:25 | |
an appointment with them tomorrow,
that they're basically | 0:22:25 | 0:22:27 | |
going to recall me,
which is going to basically put me | 0:22:27 | 0:22:30 | |
back into prison. | 0:22:30 | 0:22:31 | |
If I don't come tomorrow,
it's curtains for me. | 0:22:31 | 0:22:33 | |
Why? | 0:22:33 | 0:22:34 | |
Why have they said that? | 0:22:34 | 0:22:35 | |
I don't know, like,
your guess is as good as mine. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:38 | |
They said that I've missed
a couple appointments, | 0:22:38 | 0:22:40 | |
but I've not been made of any
appointments at all. | 0:22:40 | 0:22:42 | |
So this just caught you by surprise? | 0:22:42 | 0:22:44 | |
Yeah, exactly. | 0:22:44 | 0:22:45 | |
So I'm also going to
have to miss work now. | 0:22:45 | 0:22:47 | |
Sean still hasn't found
a permanent place to live. | 0:22:47 | 0:22:50 | |
I meet him the next day
after the appointment | 0:22:51 | 0:22:53 | |
with his probation officer. | 0:22:53 | 0:22:55 | |
How you doing? | 0:22:55 | 0:22:56 | |
How you doing? | 0:22:56 | 0:22:57 | |
All right, man. | 0:22:57 | 0:22:58 | |
Good to see you. | 0:22:58 | 0:22:59 | |
Take a seat. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:00 | |
Yeah, that's great. | 0:23:00 | 0:23:01 | |
How did the meeting with your
probation worker go? | 0:23:01 | 0:23:04 | |
Because I've missed two
appointments, according to them, | 0:23:04 | 0:23:05 | |
that's going to send me back
to prison, and that's also | 0:23:05 | 0:23:08 | |
going to mess up the housing
situation which I'm currently trying | 0:23:08 | 0:23:11 | |
to work on. | 0:23:11 | 0:23:12 | |
These meetings that
you apparently missed, | 0:23:12 | 0:23:13 | |
when were they meant to have been? | 0:23:13 | 0:23:15 | |
In September. | 0:23:15 | 0:23:16 | |
They're saying to me that
they've sent letters, | 0:23:16 | 0:23:18 | |
but they know that my current
housing situation, | 0:23:18 | 0:23:20 | |
they know what that is. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:21 | |
I'm trying to work hard
to do all these things, | 0:23:21 | 0:23:26 | |
I've got myself employment,
all of this stuff I'm trying to do | 0:23:26 | 0:23:29 | |
for myself and basically
they are just jeopardising it. | 0:23:29 | 0:23:31 | |
Sean has been asked to account
for his missed appointments. | 0:23:31 | 0:23:34 | |
If the reasons he gives
aren't judged good enough, | 0:23:34 | 0:23:36 | |
he could be sent back to jail. | 0:23:36 | 0:23:39 | |
MTCnovo says it can't comment
on individual cases. | 0:23:39 | 0:23:43 | |
It says public protection
is its number one priority, | 0:23:43 | 0:23:47 | |
that staff are required to take
action on any missed appointments | 0:23:47 | 0:23:50 | |
and this is closely monitored. | 0:23:50 | 0:23:52 | |
It says it inherited issues
from before the reforms and it's | 0:23:52 | 0:23:55 | |
made significant progress over
the last 12 months in reducing | 0:23:55 | 0:23:57 | |
and balancing caseloads. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:01 | |
It says preparing for inspections
is standard practice. | 0:24:01 | 0:24:05 | |
I'm waiting for Liliya. | 0:24:11 | 0:24:13 | |
She's been at a serious case review,
an official inquiry into the murder | 0:24:13 | 0:24:16 | |
of her five-year-old son,
Alex. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:20 | |
She's discovered more
about her former boyfriend | 0:24:20 | 0:24:21 | |
and the terms of his supervision
by the National Probation Service. | 0:24:21 | 0:24:26 | |
Hiya. | 0:24:26 | 0:24:27 | |
How did it go? | 0:24:27 | 0:24:28 | |
It went well. | 0:24:28 | 0:24:29 | |
Yeah? | 0:24:29 | 0:24:30 | |
Yeah. | 0:24:30 | 0:24:31 | |
Apparently he wasn't even
allowed to be around | 0:24:31 | 0:24:33 | |
kids under 16 years old. | 0:24:33 | 0:24:35 | |
Under the terms of his probation,
Marvyn Iheanacho wasn't meant | 0:24:35 | 0:24:38 | |
to have unsupervised
contact with children. | 0:24:38 | 0:24:41 | |
Spending time with Alex should have
had serious consequences for him. | 0:24:41 | 0:24:47 | |
He should have been
recalled back to prison. | 0:24:47 | 0:24:49 | |
That's another
shocking thing for me. | 0:24:49 | 0:24:51 | |
So the probation has clearly just
failed to do their job, | 0:24:51 | 0:24:54 | |
particularly with Marvyn. | 0:24:54 | 0:24:56 | |
So it's like, step-by-step,
I'm constantly finding | 0:24:56 | 0:24:58 | |
out new little things. | 0:24:58 | 0:24:59 | |
And this is really upsetting. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:04 | |
The Ministry of Justice says it
apologises sincerely to Liliya | 0:25:04 | 0:25:06 | |
for unacceptable failings. | 0:25:06 | 0:25:09 | |
These include repeated breaches
of his licence conditions | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
being ignored and information
suggesting Iheanacho was in contact | 0:25:12 | 0:25:19 | |
with a number of women
and children not being acted on. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:25 | |
It says two members of staff have
been suspended and strict procedures | 0:25:25 | 0:25:28 | |
have been put in place to help
prevent a tragic case | 0:25:28 | 0:25:31 | |
like this happening again. | 0:25:31 | 0:25:32 | |
It's now clear the Government
is concerned about the way | 0:25:32 | 0:25:34 | |
its reforms are working. | 0:25:34 | 0:25:36 | |
This summer it rewrote the contracts
with private companies to give them | 0:25:36 | 0:25:39 | |
greater financial security. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:42 | |
It says this will enable them to
focus on rehabilitating offenders. | 0:25:42 | 0:25:46 | |
But that's not all. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:49 | |
Earlier this year the Government
ordered a review of its probation | 0:25:49 | 0:25:52 | |
reforms following widespread concern
about how they were working. | 0:25:52 | 0:25:56 | |
But it seems that the results
are going to be for ministers' eyes | 0:25:56 | 0:25:59 | |
only, because so far
they are refusing | 0:25:59 | 0:26:01 | |
to publish any of it. | 0:26:01 | 0:26:05 | |
I think, actually, the Government
should come clean and publish that. | 0:26:05 | 0:26:08 | |
And we need also to have a clear set
of proposals from Government | 0:26:08 | 0:26:11 | |
as to what they're going to do
to act upon what I suspect | 0:26:11 | 0:26:14 | |
are going to be the deficiencies
that that review finds. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:19 | |
The Ministry of Justice says public
protection is its top priority, | 0:26:19 | 0:26:22 | |
and while probation needs to work
better it was absolutely right | 0:26:22 | 0:26:25 | |
to reform the system,
which has led to 40,000 previously | 0:26:25 | 0:26:28 | |
unmonitored short-term
offenders being supervised. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:35 | |
It says there is a great deal
of evidence that private companies | 0:26:35 | 0:26:38 | |
and the National Probation Service,
which is expanding and recruiting | 0:26:38 | 0:26:40 | |
more staff, are working closely
together to ensure offenders | 0:26:40 | 0:26:44 | |
have the most appropriate
level of supervision. | 0:26:44 | 0:26:49 | |
But calls for the Government to
think again about its controversial | 0:26:49 | 0:26:52 | |
reforms to the probation service
are growing louder. | 0:26:52 | 0:26:57 | |
I think no one in the probation
service would have accepted that | 0:26:57 | 0:27:00 | |
everything was perfect,
but I think what they've | 0:27:00 | 0:27:02 | |
done is that they've
destabilised the system. | 0:27:02 | 0:27:06 | |
How broken is the system now? | 0:27:06 | 0:27:08 | |
By and large, from where it was four
years ago, yeah, it's broken. | 0:27:08 | 0:27:11 | |
We want probation to work. | 0:27:11 | 0:27:14 | |
It's in no one's interest
if suddenly services just collapse. | 0:27:14 | 0:27:18 | |
How alarmed should members
of the public be by the way | 0:27:18 | 0:27:21 | |
that the probation service
is currently working? | 0:27:21 | 0:27:24 | |
Well, I'm not able to provide them
with the assurance that | 0:27:24 | 0:27:26 | |
I would like, and I can't say
for certain that every private | 0:27:26 | 0:27:29 | |
company is managing to protect
the public as well as it could. | 0:27:29 | 0:27:35 | |
The flaws in the probation service
have already left the deepest | 0:27:35 | 0:27:38 | |
of scars across the lives
of some families. | 0:27:38 | 0:27:43 | |
How likely is it that another
tragedy is going to happen? | 0:27:43 | 0:27:46 | |
It's going to happen
any time, anywhere. | 0:27:46 | 0:27:48 | |
If nothing changes,
100% it will happen. | 0:27:48 | 0:27:55 | |
It's affected every part of my life. | 0:27:55 | 0:27:58 | |
I've lost my job, I've
lost me, and obviously | 0:27:58 | 0:28:02 | |
the biggest loss is Conner. | 0:28:02 | 0:28:05 | |
I've lost my number one. | 0:28:05 | 0:28:07 | |
No amount of searching through
reports is going to help me there. | 0:28:07 | 0:28:11 | |
My little boy. | 0:28:11 | 0:28:13 | |
And that's when it gets me. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:18 | |
The Government is about to release
its latest reoffending figures. | 0:28:18 | 0:28:23 | |
Whatever they reveal,
critics of the probation reforms say | 0:28:23 | 0:28:26 | |
the Government shouldn't ignore
deep-seated problems they say | 0:28:26 | 0:28:27 | |
are putting lives at risk. | 0:28:27 | 0:28:34 |