Probation checks not sound, says new report

London probation chiefs today face a second critical report into their work to protect the public from criminals freed into the community.

The probation watchdog in particular raised concerns over the monitoring of medium- and low-risk offenders, a group which commits three quarters of further crimes.

But Andrew Bridges, the chief inspector of probation, praised the London service for improving its handling of cases involving the offenders deemed most dangerous.

He said: "Whilst there were encouraging signs of better practice with the highest risk-of-harm offenders, we were concerned that the base-line level of risk-of-harm practice across the caseload was not of sufficient quality."

The latest report, entitled On The Right Road, was ordered in the wake of the case of Gary Chester-Nash, who had been under the supervision of probation officers in London and Cambridgeshire and knifed to death a cleaner in Cornwall just a week after being freed from Pentonville prison in 2005. He was jailed for life.

The new study examined 280 cases, including 38 where special panels monitored offenders judged to pose the second-highest level of risk.

In a third of the 38 cases, the watchdog found that risk-of-harm assessments were insufficient.

It also raised worries over whether enough home visits were being done to safeguard children.

Mr Bridges stressed that for highrisk offenders, London probation service has raised its game to above the national average, though he still believes improvements need to be made.

However, he is far more concerned about the bulk of cases and highlighted that out of 155 where there should have been a full analysis of the risk of harm, only 73 out of 138 completed were judged to be of sufficient standard.

Probation failures were highlighted by the killing of City financier John Monckton at his Chelsea home in 2004 by Damien Hanson and Elliot White, who were both under supervision. White was deemed a medium risk.

A report by the probation inspectors last month warned of shortfalls in monitoring offenders but found that overall the London service was making "tentative but promising" progress.