A voice for Conner
By Nadine Marshall
Who are you?
We are the parents of CONNER MARSHALL 18 years of age, who was viciously attacked and murdered in an unprovoked attack in Porthcawl in March 2015. Deeply upsetting is the knowledge that Braddon was known by authorities in addition to being supervised by Wales CRC/Probation service under two separate orders for previous violence, alcohol and drug offences. This information was never disclosed to us his parents, before or during the court case.
Despite a guilty verdict and life sentence, with a minimum of twenty years to be served has been handed down to David Braddon, 27.The very real living nightmare is a daily battle that we didn't chose to be a part of. The loss of a child is unimaginable and unfair to all parents.
The devastation and result of a single heinous act has left a family bereft, in turmoil, and ruined. Our family has disintegrated beyond recognition. In a single act we have each been cheated of life, stability, memories and consistency. Our future is uncertain and unpredictable due the huge impact on our financial, emotional, physical health and well being.
What and why are you raising legal funds?
It is our hope to raise sufficient funds to enable 'A voice for Conner', by securing specific action against the Wales CRC/Probation service. This can only be done with the help of a specialist barrister and solicitor to provide advice and advocacy to pursue potential court action.
We want documents and evidence to be examined in order that steps can be taken to prevent other families being denied the truth and access to all information recorded.
Requests for legal aid have been declined on the basis that we as a family do not meet the eligibility criteria set out by the board governed by the Ministry of Justice.
Too many families have been let down and are still without truthful explanations and information relating to the death of a loved one. Despite families raising questions, the current procedures are unreliable and inconsistent.
We as parents have always insisted and made the very clear point that we would wish to have access to all known information in order to understand how a known criminal with several convictions and allegations with increasing drug and violence use could ever be deemed as ''Low risk'' and be able to non conform or not follow any directions laid down by a court .
After continual refusals from all agencies, we created an online public petition for access to the SFO. Successfully gaining almost 3,000 signatures in a matter of days and as a result of many hours and months of discussions and meetings with various agencies we have now gained access to the Serious Further Offence Report, which contains detailed information of the trail of events relating to the alleged support of Braddon by probation services in the weeks and months prior to the murder of our son. Contents of the full report are inexcusable and deeply upsetting. Failure of internal procedures are deemed acceptable and unforeseeable.
To date no other family in the UK has ever secured access to this document. Instead families are not told of any such report, or offered a summary report with the explanation that the document contents are for internal learning opportunities and not be released to families. Currently families are still being refused and denied access to either report. Detailed information surrounding the death of their loved one is withheld or refused.
This fact alone in our opinion is both unjust and unfair.
Worryingly, for our family the original summary report bears little resemblance to the full SFO, many details are redacted or omitted from the summary. The contents of this full report is totally unacceptable and deeply offensive and concerning. Several areas of deficiency and weakness are highlighted.
What's next in the legal process?
We are now seeking accountability, recompense and reassurances of practice overhaul and change, for maximum learning, and future prevention. Multiple agencies were supposedly supervising Braddon, yet this is despite many areas of supervision being missed, absent or non existent.
Radio and television programmes are due to be aired within the coming weeks, giving further details of our continuing campaign to secure ''A voice for Conner''
It is our view that there were circumstances and events which should have put the professionals on alert and would have led to Conner still being alive today if things had been managed appropriately with sufficient information sharing.
Discussions' with senior executives at NOMS/Wales CRC, in addition to numerous meetings with various MOJ official's have been unsuccessful in obtaining accountability or clarity. Rather department passing blame and responsibility to other departments or providers.
Meanwhile - BBC website:-
ReplyDeleteJustice Secretary Liz Truss is due to hold urgent talks with leaders of the Prison Officers Association as concerns grow about safety in jails. The union had planned meetings outside each jail on Tuesday, to highlight fears over increasing violence and suicides in English and Welsh prisons.
The move could have been seen as an unofficial walkout by the union, which is banned from staging strikes. It was called off after branch meetings to talk about matters were authorised. The POA had also said that officers would impose their own working practices, allowing only small numbers of prisoners out of cells at a time. However, after discussions with Michael Spurr, head of the National Offender Management Service, the union backed down and agreed to hold its meetings in private. Mr Spurr promised there would be "urgent" talks about health and safety and recruitment problems.
He said Ms Truss was happy to meet union leaders, ahead of a major announcement about her plans for prison reform on Thursday. On Tuesday, she told the Commons that there was a "serious issue with violence and levels of suicide" and stressed that addressing the situation was her top priority.
Only goes to show (1) Spurr's utter contempt for the concerns raised by probation staff & (2) POA have been gagged by yet another Spurr "promise" - anything to prevent the truth about the dire state of our prison system being exposed.
DeleteI doubt much will happen as clearly the Tories consider prisoners to be completely expendable and so if some of them die so what? The safety of prisoner officers is also clearly not a concern of either NOMS or the MoJ so if some of them get killed by rampaging prisoners well that's just a job hazard and the reason why they get paid the big bucks (sarcasm)
DeleteSome good stats in this article, and it's the first time I've seen a mention of how the 12mth and under group, a huge part of TR, are impacting on the prison crisis.
Deletehttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/23537
'Getafix'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37842500
Delete'A voice for Connor'. I wish the family success in their fight and will donate to this cause-we all should. And let's be clear about who 'Wales CRC ' are. This is CRC contracted out to Working Links who in turn were bought by another company called Aurelius! The run all CRC's in Wales and South West. BGSW CRC,Devon and Cornwall. A very large area! Despite this appalling situation they are right now ignoring union advice and making sweeping cuts to 40% of staff across the board, experienced managers, po's and pso's. losing our most experienced staff will only increase risk of further SFO's. We need to retain experienced staff but WL prefer staff who tow the line, can be manipulated, put up and shut up and this is dangerous for the public.
ReplyDeleteI agree but am concerned that the case holder will be centred on rather than the crc
DeleteA nugget from Hansard, HoC 2007, which has relevance to today's topic as it considers some of the historical debate leading to the dissolution of probation & offers numbers for PO staff at that time.
ReplyDelete"3. Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD): How many vacant positions there are for probation officers. [114677]
15 Jan 2007 : Column 548
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Gerry Sutcliffe): Figures for 31 March show that there were a total of 8262.5 full-time equivalent probation officers in post in England and Wales. On the same date, there were 227.7 full-time equivalent vacancies that were actively being recruited to, which accounted for 2.68 per cent. of the total posts available at that time.
Tim Farron: I thank the Minister for his reply. Recently, I met probation officers in south Cumbria, who expressed deep concern about the Home Secretary’s attitude towards the probation service. Given the Minister’s reply, does he accept that the Home Secretary should stop undermining the probation service with ill judged rhetoric in inappropriate places and poorly thought out legislation, and instead support the probation service by acknowledging that it has met the overwhelming majority of its performance targets this year, unlike his Department?
Mr. Sutcliffe: If anyone is undermining the probation service it is the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues. The Home Secretary has said on numerous occasions that the probation service is working hard and well, and that the public need to understand exactly what it does. The hon. Gentleman referred to the Offender Management Bill, which is in Committee and tries to enhance the role of the probation service and probation officers. The Government are confident that they want to promote a successful probation service, not undermine it like the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues are doing.
David Taylor (North-West Leicestershire) (Lab/Co-op): I know from his statements in the Chamber and conversations I have had with him elsewhere in the House that the Minister is an enthusiastic proponent of contestability. In future, when the probation work undertaken by the probation service doubles, then doubles again, because the private and voluntary sectors will be involved, does he accept that the quality of probation officers recruited to fill the vacancies to which the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) referred is likely to decline, because private sector organisations, but not voluntary sector ones, are likely to provide services down to price, not up to standard?"
So, over 8000 qualified PO staff in post in 2007. That is, staff who had taken two years or more to study & complete specific university-based training and gain relevant professional qualifications.
DeleteWhat does the picture look like now?
'The quality of probation officers will decline'?! Why would this be the case if po's have relevant degree, training and qualification? Does he mean 'quality of pso's?'please can they note there is a difference!
ReplyDeleteWL's staff who are having far-reaching involvement in transformation wouldn't be able to tell the difference between PO/PSO duties in any case.
DeleteLook we know they're dumbing down probation officers. The training is now slimmed down to about 16 months or less and there's no degree or guarantee of a job at the end of it. The CRC is filled with agency temps and the NPS is replacing qualified staff with unqualified PSO's who are either former admin staff or anyone off the street that applied. Everyone does the same work and professional status/qualification means nothing any more.
DeleteThe NPS encouraged its admin staff to apply for the PSO jobs because nobody else was applying. The funny thing is that the NPS was designed for the "high risk, MAPPA and dangerous offenders". What a croc of shite because now this work is to be done be untrained admin staff and the qualified probation officers will be transferred elsewhere or made redundant.
DeleteI am sure that I am right in remembering that in the one of the first Home Office inspections after the split (possibly here in Dorset or did I read it elsewhere?) Inspectors queried why PSO' s had been sifted into the NPS when, according to the forward model, there was no role for them as all only cases coming into the NPS were those deemed high risk.
DeleteDeb
Clinks AGM today Bob Neill HOC Justice Cttee chair a main speaker - it might be worth trying to discover what was said and by whom
ReplyDelete'SFO 5' where are the rest?
ReplyDeleteI currently have an SFO as does my colleague on the same team - NPS. I welcome the review. I have 45 cases with more coming in all the time I am almost 130% in the red WLMT and 3 parole hearings this month. I feel confident that I did everything possible in the case including arguing to keep it a MAPPA case and high risk. Unfortunately, I can't say the same amount of time is going to all cases it feels like a game of roulette.
ReplyDeleteYou need focus on managing your cases and less so on your perceived workload. You're no different to anyone. That's the best advice I can give as a manager new to probation
DeleteThat's not advice. It's a sop; something yielded to placate or soothe. AS a very experienced Manager, I chose to leave because the plan was to deliver a service that was tokenistic and superficial. The staff recognise this, the managers recognise this. There is nothing left to do but fail. Quarts and pint pots, I am afraid. Workload prioritisation only works when not everything is a priority. When everything is a priority, you simply have too much to do!
DeleteSFO's will very soon be a public document! Cold comfort to Connor's family!
ReplyDeleteCan people please show some respect for the family and the memory of the young man in question by spelling his name correctly, ffs!
DeleteProbation responsible for a rise in antisocial behaviour?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/probation-move-is-blamed-for-crime-rise-in-brampton-1-8215433
"Getafix'
No surprise there! Nobody wants a probation office near them, let alone a badly managed probation office.
DeleteThat package area is in a right mess.
Delete"The Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland Community Rehabilitation Company is working with the Reducing Reoffending Partnership to provide supervision and a range of interventions to enable offenders to successfully rehabilitate." The Reducing Reoffending Partnership (RRP) comprises of Ingeus, a major provider of people-centre services, CGL, the largest substance misuse provider in the UK and St Giles Trust, a leading criminal justice charity.
DeleteChesterfield MP Toby Perkins will meet with probation chiefs to discuss anti-social behaviour on and around Chatsworth Road. Mr Perkins has arranged the meeting after receiving reports from residents and business owners about people drinking alcohol or appearing to be intoxicated in the street.
DeleteThe reports come following the news that the probation service had moved from its old Brimington offices to Barker Lane, just off Chatsworth Road, Brampton. Last week the Derbyshire Times revealed how Sofia Latif-Ward, of Harleys Interiors, found syringes in an alleyway at the shop’s rear and was getting tired of seeing drunks hanging around on side streets. Since then more businesses owners and residents have come forward to highlight the problem. One resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “I moved here just over a year ago from a very bad area. “I am extremely annoyed to find the things I moved here to avoid, such as alcoholics in the street and drug users committing petty crime. “It bothers that no residents or local businesses were told probation would be locating here. Surely residents should be informed so they can increase their home security, should they feel it necessary.”
One business owner told the Derbyshire Times: “I have seen used needles lying around and I often see a man and woman go past the shop and you can see that they are drunk.” Another said: “They seem to be in their own little world really but the thing which annoys me is a few of them have dogs and they mess everywhere. They tend to congregate outside the Red Lion pub.”
DT Facebook followers shared their views. Danny White said: “The probation centre has caused the increase in anti social behaviour because all the scum bags now come into Brampton.” Robin Outram added: “They have been dealing, drinking and fighting all along Chatsworth Road.”
A spokesman for Mr Perkins said he would be meeting with residents and the probation service’s regional director and the owners of Raincliffe House, where the service is now housed, next week. A spokesman for the rehabilitation company said they would await the outcome of the meeting with Mr Perkins before commenting.
Do the crc's have a legal duty to consult with public when they re-locate?
ReplyDeleteNothing like a bit of bad publicity ie. Prisons news, to get the government to wake up. So prison officers have been cut by 10, 000 and meeting with Truss yesterday results in agreement to recruit 2, 000 back! Hmmmm! Impressed by the prison union leader on bbc news this morning. Sticking up for his members. Hopefully more will follow than the paltry 2,000 who will hopefully be frontline staff on the wings and not jobs for civil servants sat at desks!! Crc/nps need similar outspoken union leaders to get up on the soap-box!
ReplyDeleteToo late for that napo voted for what it deserves.
DeleteAny news on the napo/acas dispute with working links? Last i heard paul hindson was having meetings with them? Meanwhile staff are waiting to hear if they have been awarded the 'prize' of 'voluntary severance' and the remainers getting into brace position!
ReplyDeleteSFO's will very soon be a public document! Cold comfort to Connor's family!
ReplyDeleteI am meeting the Marshall family on Monday and Radio 5 live are diomng a piece with myself and Nadine on Sunday between 11.30 and noon. Harry F
ReplyDelete