MoJ In Damage Limitation Mode

Even before the BBC Panorama programme airs tonight, there are clear signs that the MoJ is seriously rattled and engaged in a 'damage limitation' exercise. This from the Guardian published earlier this morning:-

Ministry of Justice apologises to mother in child murder case

The Ministry of Justice has apologised to the mother of a five-year-old boy who was murdered after probation services failed to warn her that her partner had a string of convictions for violent offences against women and children. After the death of her British-born son, Liliya Breha was warned she could be deported because she no longer has a family tie to the UK.

Alex Malcolm was beaten to death by Breha’s former partner Marvyn Iheanacho after the boy lost one of his trainers in a park in November 2016. After Iheanacho was found guilty of murder, Breha, 30, was horrified to hear that he had a string of previous convictions for violent offences against women and children. “It took them 15 minutes to read out all his previous offences. My mouth literally dropped open and I felt so sick,” said Breha.

A MoJ spokesman said: “We apologise sincerely to Alex’s mother, Liliya Breha, for the unacceptable failings that have been identified. As a direct result of the initial review, we have suspended two members of staff who were involved in the supervision of Iheanacho. Additionally, we have put in place strict procedures, both within NPS [National Probation Service] London and nationally, to help prevent a tragic case like this from happening again.”

According to the terms of Iheanacho’s licence, he was not supposed to have unsupervised access to children under 16 and probation officers were supposed to monitor any new relationships with women. Two of the officers involved in the case, an offender manager and the head of a local team, have been suspended pending an internal disciplinary investigation.

Iheanacho’s previous offences included beating a former girlfriend with a belt. The 39-year-old broke the jaw of another partner and tried to strangle her 13-year-old son. Until the day he attacked Alex, Breha had no idea her partner was violent.

It was only then that she discovered that the probation service, which was supposed to be monitoring Iheanacho, a high-risk offender with a history of violence dating back to 1994, should have warned her about him but had failed to do so.

Iheanacho sometimes even used Breha’s phone to call his probation officer and Breha had spoken to the officer herself – but she had never been given a warning about how dangerous he was. While Breha knew that Iheanacho had recently come out of prison, she was unaware of the terms of his licence relating to children and new relationships with women.

“If anyone had told me about Marvyn’s violent history I would have run a mile from him and would never have allowed him to be anywhere near my child,” said Breha. As well as trying to cope with the loss of her son and the disclosures about the serious failings of the probation service, Breha has been dealt a further blow after finding out she may no longer be able to remain in the UK.

She is on a path to settlement with the Home Office based on having a British child, but has received legal advice that she may no longer have the right to reside in the UK when she updates her immigration status next June, because she no longer has that child. Breha has lived in the UK for 10 years, first arriving on an exchange programme at 20 while a student at National University of Water Management and Nature Resources Use in Ukraine.

She said: “This country is my home now, the country where my son was born and where he is buried.” When the Home Office was asked what happens to the immigration status of people like Breha if their child dies, a spokeswoman declined to comment. She said: “All visa applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the immigration rules. We do not routinely comment on individual cases.”

It is understood that an internal investigation into the failings of the probation service has highlighted that not enough was done to tackle Iheanacho’s irregular attendance at probation appointments, that there was a lack of planning for his release from prison in 2016 and that there was a failure to liaise between probation and Breha’s local social services about the domestic violence risk. Probation also failed to enforce the licence conditions that he should not have unsupervised access to children under 16 and that any new relationship with a woman should be monitored.

Breha said she first met Iheanacho when he was in prison. “A neighbour suggested I write to him,” she said. “I wasn’t looking for a relationship but when I met him he was super-shy and super-polite. He seemed really nice and I felt sorry for him. I didn’t know what he had been in prison for, he just told me he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. I thought, ‘well, anyone can make a mistake’.

“When he came out of prison he got a job as a roof installer and was working really hard, he didn’t go out much, he wasn’t involved in drugs and at weekends he would play football or go to the gym. He seemed really normal and he was able to present himself in a charming way although now I know he’s a selfish, manipulative liar.”

BBC1’s Panorama programme highlights this case on Wednesday evening, along with others and investigates wider failings in the probation service. “The probation service failed me and failed my child. Alex didn’t deserve that,” said Breha. She is certain that had she received warnings about Iheanacho’s violent history, her son would still be alive today. “Instead,” she said, “I’ve joined the worst possible club for the rest of my life.”

“Alex was a genuinely perfect child and we had never spent a single day apart. He always played nicely and never gave me any trouble. He was polite and always said thank you. But now everything’s been taken away from me.”

After Iheanacho had beaten Alex severely in the park he brought him home unconscious and told various lies about what had happened to him. Alex was given emergency treatment but died two days later.

“I sat by his hospital bedside singing Ukrainian songs to him. When the doctors said they couldn’t do anything more for him I literally dropped to the floor,” said Breha. “How could Marvyn have done this to a little boy who had no chance to defend himself against this big guy? Each day it gets harder and harder and I miss him more. The worst thing is to wake up every morning knowing that your son is dead.”