Inquiry Finds ‘Catalogue Of Failures’ Over Paroled Child Killer

The probation service failed to manage a dangerous psychopath and child killer who was released after 38 years in prison without a proper assessment of his risk to the public, an official inquiry has found.

The investigation into the case of Frank Parker, 61, published today, concludes that a “catalogue of failures” by parole and probation managers enabled Parker to lie about his whereabouts, take pictures of a semi-naked teenage girl and collect women’s clothing.

The damning report into the latest high-profile bungled release of a life-sentenced prisoner comes as Tony Blair is due to unveil plans to put the 500 most prolific offenders on licence under supervision for the rest of their lives.

The overhaul of the government’s crime strategy, contained in a 62-page cabinet-level policy document, will also propose a further extension of summary justice, bypassing the courts with more on-the-spot fines and new sanctions such as confiscating driving licences.

The inquiry by the chief inspector of probation, Andrew Bridges, into the failures of probation service bail hostel staff to monitor high-risk offenders in the community follows allegations made in a BBC Panorama documentary. The Bridges report, Not Locked Up, But Subject to Rules, concludes that the public were placed in a “position of avoidable risk” by the release of Parker to live in a Bristol bail hostel, after serving 38 years for the murder of a neighbour’s 10-year-old daughter.

The chief inspector says the parole board failed to do its job. Parker was not categorised as a high-risk offender because he was released without proper testing of his psychopathic tendencies, and senior probation managers did not do their jobs properly because they failed to carry out a proper risk of harm assessment.

The failure to class Parker as a high risk offender meant he “fell below the radar” of the Avon and Somerset probation service, which did not even categorise him as a registered sex offender.

Mr Bridges says that a “growing catalogue of problems”, including lying about his whereabouts, hiding a penknife and women’s clothing in his room and taking pictures of a semi-naked teenage girl were not dealt with as symptoms of “escalating dangerousness”.

“The assessment and management of this case by all involved was poor. There was evidence of his offender manager, her manager and hostel staff being manipulated by K [Parker] … In our view, the risk of harm posed by K was always high,” said the report, which does not identify him, despite his being named by the BBC.

Secret filming had shown Parker befriending children in the area and the Bridges report concludes that the failure to send him back to prison was a “serious misjudgment”.

Mr Bridges said yesterday the high profile failure in this case should not be taken to mean that bail hostels were failing to carry out their job: “It is simply not possible to eliminate risk to the public, and we do not criticise staff for failing to achieve the impossible. But it is right for the public to expect that public servants will do their job properly.”

Asked yesterday what this would mean for the prime minister’s plans to place the 500 most prolific offenders under supervision for the rest of their lives, the chief inspector of probation stressed that expectations of what could be done were realistic and that community supervision was not a substitute for prison.

“It is not helpful to make it sound as if community supervision is like ‘prison in the community’, when it plainly is not,” Mr Bridges said.