When White was finally called to court for further breach of the order, a full pre-sentence report was not completed by the LPA, and the expedited report given lacks any significant information. OASys and OGRS2 assessments also failed to be undertaken, meaning that the making of the DTTO was based on very inadequate information. Bearing in mind the experience of the LPA in working with him over the previous year this was simply not good enough.
Interventions – Effectiveness
After being granted early release Hanson was given a parole licence that would last from August 2004 until August 20006 and the conditions of this licence were made clear to him.
On leave, hostel placements fell through and LPA failed to find an alternative appropriate hostel, this should have meant postponing release, but instead inappropriate accommodation was rearranged. Another major issue was that the office Hanson was to report to was in an area which would mean breach of his licence, and the option of seeing Hanson at the hostel was never considered. Overall Hanson’s release was so disorganised and unclear, that it couldn’t be expected of him to follow his licence, as it was contradictory within itself.
On occasions Hanson’s supervising officer allowed him to leave his hostel and stay at other addresses, but this lead to many abortive visits. Due to lack of supervision, Hanson began to break curfews, and there is no evidence to suggest that anything was done to follow up or act on this. Eventually, Police meet with probation staff at probation office and Hanson was recalled to prison for the breach of his licence.
Hanson parole licence was clearly ineffective and should never have been given; a better alternative would have been that of MAPPA which he should have been referred to following risk assessments.
For the outset of White’s DTTO no proper supervision plan was drawn up and contact logs were incomplete, in affect the DTTO team were working without information systems that was central to effective staff supervision.
After failing to attend numerous appointments, a review report noted minimal compliance by White, and little evidence to state that White was being managed properly by LPA, as breach action should have been taken. When appearing in court for earlier drug offences, a pre sentence report showed White to be a medium risk of harm, but the court failed to sentence White and instead deferred his sentence.
On day of the Monkton’s murder, white told Minster Road that he had been stabbed in hand. This should have prompted the supervising officer to look into White’s lifestyle and risk of harm; instead this incident seemed to be simply ignored.
Due to continued failure to attend Munster Road discharged White, and case records showed that a letter was eventually sent to White for breach of the DTTO. What also is worrying about the interventions in place for both Hanson and White is the fact there was even some confusion about the nature of the order made by the court. Staff from all agencies were unclear of their own responsibilities which also led to the mismanagement of the offenders.
It therefore comes as no surprise that The Evening Standard news reports that ‘Four probation officers were suspended from their jobs’ after a damning report blamed a catalogue of serious failures, such as the inadequate level of staff supervision provided by the senior probation officers, for the murder of John Monckton.
Alternative interventions and recommendations
It is obvious from that both Hanson and White were not dealt with correctly and either wrong interventions were in place or were simply not carried out effectively.
After breaching his CRO, White should not have been given the DTTO as it was too similar to the previous CRO. A more appropriate sentence such as prison should have been given, whereby White could have been supervised properly and couldn’t propose risk.
Hanson was mistakenly not referred to MAPPA when risk assessments showed he should have been. In cases such as Hanson and White’s, the probation service should have ensured all assessments are completed and made available to the parole panel, so correct decisions can be made. Although The OASys used by the Probation and Prison service has been hailed as ‘probably the most advanced tool for this purpose in the world’ (Her Majesty’s Inspection Report, 2006). It does not however enable a detailed assessment of specific offence types. It would seem instead it simply produces ‘norms’.
A soon as an offender breaches order or licence conditions, they should be brought back to court promptly, correct punishment carried out. This is vital for public confidence in the supervision of offenders in the community. The Offenders managers should also make sure that all information is made available.
Expectations of the order or licence should be made clear to the offender and all agencies involved the and there should be clear protocols in place requiring effective communication between all agencies to ensure correct supervision. By achieving early first contact with the offender coveys the seriousness of supervision and sets a pattern for future contact and compliance. When contact is broken, like it was with White, a special face to face interview should be set up to re-confirm requirements. The importance of clear record keeping by all agencies should also be emphasised.
Hanson was advised to complete the ‘CALM’ programme, that didn’t infact address instrumental violence. A Home Office spokesman stated that ‘There are other interventions and therapies that address the root causes of this instrumental violence which might be more beneficial to these individuals when delivered as part of a risk management package.’
According to the report 7% of offenders under supervision come into the High or Very High RoH category, and it is wise to devote more staff time and other resources to these offenders, Specialist teams who deal with an should be fully trained in the Risk of Harm department and should be made fully aware of their responsibilities.
Due to overcrowding issues in prisons, if a prison sentence is four years or more, early release for parole can be granted at the half way point of the sentence. This is an issue which needs to be rectified, as those with a High RoH would be a threat if let back into the community. If Hanson had to be released on parole due to overcrowding issues, the supervision should have been more intense with a stricter programme to
Conclusion
It is clear to see that Hanson & White were not handled in the thorough or efficient manner. The correct interventions were either not chosen, or correct interventions were either not carried out properly by agencies and were not fully explained or understood. The overall analysis was classed as “offender mismanagement” and if such precautions were undertaken as were initially intended, the murder of John Monckton and similar cases could have been prevented. Maybe both men were simply let off lightly due to overcrowding issues in prisons, however this problem should not mean that high risk criminals should be aloud to roam free in society putting everyone at risk. If overcrowding is a problem then the government should look into the production of more prisons so those that need to be behind bars, can be.
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Part B
For my assessment I joined a group to create a presentation on the Hanson and White report. I had to look at the enquiry, and explain interventions that were used, why they were unsuccessful, and address recommendations made. Even though I had done run through the day before I was still very nervous just before presenting. Nevertheless, as soon as I started to speak I overcame my nerves and projected my voice well. I also tried to keep eye contact with the class whilst explaining my slides. I could however have improved this presentation by condensing the information on the slides, as they contained a lot of information that may have been very confusing to the audience. I could also have made the slides more interesting for the audience as they were very plain. I will take all of these points into account next time I have to create and present a presentation in order to make it better. Overall I really enjoyed the experience and enjoyed being part of a group as it gave me a lot of support and helped me a lot with my confidence, I overcame my nervous and in future I believe I will have a lot more confidence when presenting to a class.
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Reference
Martin Bentham (2006). Probation officers suspended over Monckton killer blunders; Failures left violent man free to attack financier. [Online] High Beam Research, The Evening Standard (London, England). Last accessed 16 December 2009 at :
HM Inspectorate of Probation (2006) 'An independent review of a serious further offence case; Damien Hanson and Elliot White'. Last accessed 16 December 2009.
HM Inspectorate of Probation (2006). An Independent Review of a Serious Further Offence Case: Anthony Rice. London HMI Probation. Last accessed 15 December 2009
(2006). Offenders' anger control classes help make some more dangerous. [Online]. The Guardian. Last accessed 16 December 2009 at