Third SFO

Yes, a third SFO and we await the Review, which will surely be published. As always, we must think of the victims, their families and the officers involved and hope all are well-supported. This is most certainly not a good time for probation, but we must all endeavour to make sure that the systemic and structural issues, as well as political decisions, are all brought out into the open, examined and explained so that lessons really can be learned. 

Last night's Ch4News top story about pressure to alter risk levels for spurious reasons such as resource allocation is a case in point. The probation service must now be allowed to speak up for itself and not be forced to remain silent under HMPPS/MoJ imposed administrative silence. This from the BBC website:-   

Lee Peacock sentenced to life over Westminster double murder

A "jealous" killer has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his girlfriend and an associate weeks after being released from jail. Lee Peacock, 50, attacked his partner Sharon Pickles, 46, and Clinton Ashmore, 59, in Westminster over two days in August 2021. An Old Bailey jury found him guilty of the two murders on Tuesday. Jailing him for a minimum of 39 years, Judge Mr Justice Murray said Peacock would likely die in prison.

The self-confessed burglar, who had been released from prison on 4 June 2021, refused to attend his sentencing hearing. The jury previously heard Peacock, who denied the two murders, had gone out to "punish" Ms Pickles and Mr Ashmore.

On the evening of 19 August 2021, Peacock's father alerted police that his son had visited him and confessed to being a killer. Officers went to Ms Pickles' home in Marylebone and found her body wrapped up and hidden under a bed, with a signed confession nearby. Later that day, Peacock was captured on CCTV walking with Mr Ashmore towards his Westminster flat, then leaving alone 15 minutes later. Two hours later, Mr Ashmore was discovered dead by friends. Both victims died from similar knife wounds to the neck.

'Fit of rage'

The judge concluded that while the killing of Ms Pickles was not premeditated, there was "a significant level of premeditation and planning" in the murder of Mr Ashmore. Addressing a court room packed with grieving relatives, Mr Justice Murray said the defendant had "lashed out at Sharon in a fit of rage, jealous of her sexual relationship with another man", while a bedridden man she cared for slept in another room. In his remarks addressed to Peacock, he said the minimum term meant "that even if you live a long life, there is a strong possibility that you will die in prison even before you are eligible for consideration for release by the Parole Board".

Before the killings, Peacock had been supervised by the London Community Rehabilitation Company before being transferred to the London branch of the Probation Service when the system was nationalised on 26 June 2021. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said it was not appropriate to comment on the findings of a review into how Peacock was able to commit serious crimes while on probation until they have been shared with the victims' families. An MoJ spokesman said: "This was a horrific crime and our sympathies are with the families of Sharon Pickles and Clinton Ashmore. Serious further offences are rare but we are investing £155m more every year into the Probation Service and recruited thousands of extra staff to improve the supervision of offenders and, keep the public safe."