Probation and Social Work on Trial: Violent Offenders and Child Abusers

209 Pages·2011·0.65 MB·English

by  Wendy Fitzgibbon (auth.)

Probation and Social Work on Trial
This page intentionally left blank
Probation and Social
Work on Trial
Violent Offenders and Child Abusers
Wendy Fitzgibbon
London Metropolitan University, UK
© Wendy Fitzgibbon 2011
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-27537-9
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2011 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries
ISBN 978-1-349-32472-9 ISBN 978-0-230-34333-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230343337
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fitzgibbon, Wendy.
Probation and social work on trial : violent offenders and child
abusers / Wendy Fitzgibbon.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. Child abuse–Great Britain. 2. Probation–Great Britain. 3. Family
violence–Great Britain. I. Title.
HV6626.54.G7F58 2011
364.6’30941–dc23 2011024173
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
For Jack and Irene Fitzgibbon
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Chapter1 Introduction 1
Chapter2 Media Responses 17
Chapter3 Family, Community and Violence 45
Chapter4 Political Responses and Inquiries 75
Chapter5 The Demise of Probation and Social Service 113
Practice
Chapter6 Conclusions 151
Bibliography 175
Index 188
vii
Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the support,
guidance and insight of a number of academics and practitioners.
I hope that I have sufficiently recognised and acknowledged the skill
and dedication of practitioners working in the demanding areas of
probation and child protection services. If I have managed to give
a voice to many of their concerns I will have succeeded in one of
my aims.
In particular I wish to thank Sharon Brereton, Steven Calder,
Angus Cameron, Shirley George, Anthony Goodman, John Harding,
Charlotte Holt, John Lea, John Lloyd, Helen Lockwood, Clare Martin-
dale, Julie Olayinka, Janet Ransom, Adrian Smith, Lucien Spencer,
Bill Weston and Graham Wheeler. I am as ever indebted to my family
and friends for their abundant encouragement and support and their
ceaseless faith in this project. Any mistakes or misconceptions are
my own.
viii
1
Introduction
In June 2008 Dano Sonnex and his accomplice Nigel Farmer in what
the prosecuting counsel at the subsequent trial called a ‘joint enter-
prise of unmitigated evil’ brutally tortured and murdered two French
research students, Gabriel Ferez and Laurent Bonomo, having broken
into their flat in the New Cross area of south London, in an orgy of
violence, stabbing the students over 200 times (Gill et al. 2009).
It soon became clear that this was not simply a tragic murder but
one that on the face of it could have been prevented: Sonnex was
on release from prison on licence and was under the supervision of
London Probation (Hill 2009). The fact that the victims were French
visitors added to the subsequent media furore. Jack Straw the Justice
Secretary made a personal apology to the parents of the victims. He
also secured the resignation of David Scott, the Chief of London
Probation, who had admitted failings on the part of the service (Bird
& Ford 2009).
Sonnex had in fact been under the supposedly watchful eyes
of the criminal justice system for some time. Originally sentenced
in March 2003 to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to four
offences of robbery, he was sent to Aylesbury Young Offender Insti-
tution (YOI). The following year he was transferred to the Portland
YOI where he told a doctor that ‘he could kill’. His record in custody
was anything but peaceful. Between March 2003 and May 2006,
he had 41 adjudications including eight for violence, eight for drug
offences and 13 for breach of rules. He was regarded as constituting
a high risk of harm to the public and, unsurprisingly, his applic-
ation for parole in July 2006 was rejected. In May 2007 he was
1