March 1 2006: Probation Inspectorate's Report Shows "Mismanagement" of Risk

The report into the murder of John Monckton was published yesterday by HM Inspectorate of Probation.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke had commissioned the report on 19 December 2005 when he ordered an urgent investigation into the events surrounding the murder. Damien Hanson and Elliot White were convicted of killing Mr Monckton and the attempted murder of his wife in December 2005. Both Hanson and White were under Probation Service supervision of the  at the time the crimes were committed in November 2004.

The Probation Inspectorate report identifies many serious deficiencies in the way in which the cases of Hanson and White were managed and identifies the lessons to be learned for all the authorities involved. HM Chief Inspector of Probation Andrew Bridges said:

"While it is not possible to eliminate risk altogether when managing an offender in the community, the public is entitled to expect the authorities to do their job properly in managing serious and dangerous offenders - which simply did not happen in the cases of Hanson and White."

"It would be wrong to suggest that the mismanagement of these two cases reflects a poor standard that is currently widespread among probation staff. Nevertheless, our report is clear that the mismanagement of these cases did fail to reduce the risk posed to the public by these two men."

"While no one can ever truly know whether Mr Monckton would still be alive today if Hanson and White had been managed properly, we owe it to his family and friends, other victims of crime and the public generally to ensure that lessons are learned from this dreadful chain of events. As such, our report outlines five recommendations and sets out the lessons to be learned in a Conclusion entitled 'From offender mismanagement to Offender Management'. Its contents are designed to eradicate the failures we found and improve practice to ensure that the mistakes made in these cases are not repeated."

The full report is available for download from HM Inspectorate of Probation.

According to London Probation chief officer David Scott:

"We accept the report's findings in their entirety and are determined to learn everything we can from them to make London as safe as possible.We owe that to Mrs Monckton and her family who have suffered from such an appalling crime, and to all the people of London.

"The report's findings and recommendations will strengthen and support the root and branch overhaul already underway.We have learned many lessons and have taken action across the board to improve the assessment and management of offenders and every aspect of our enforcement work.

"We have recruited 500 new staff during 2005-06 and have secured additional funding to recruit over 200 new probation officers during 2006-07.These extra staff will help implement the report's recommendations.

"The report acknowledges the action we have taken to turn around our performance and make London one of the fastest improving probation areas in the country."