So who is Peter Williams? The Daily Mail's worst nightmare and a truly difficult case for anyone charged with supervising him. He was first cautioned at the age of 10 for theft, received his first court order at 13, and further orders for handling stolen goods and theft at 15. At this age his father died, and with no home or family influence his offending rapidly escalated. He received three detention and training orders, each time reoffending shortly after release.
On 10 September 2003, aged 17, he was released on licence from a detention and training order and subjected to an intensive supervision and surveillance programme (ISSP) and curfew. He breached the curfew and removed his electronic tag. On 30 September he was involved in an armed robbery in Nottingham during which jeweller Marian Bates was killed.
So the youth offending team fouled up? That's what this report from the HM Inspectorate of Probation, instigated by the Youth Justice Board, was designed to find out. It found areas of concern in the youth offending team's processes and with the practice of Premier, the company monitoring the curfew. But it notes the weaknesses identified were not unique to Nottingham and progress has been made. A forthcoming youth justice bill is expected to contain plans for expansion of community sentencing and to introduce an intensive supervision and surveillance order (YPN, 31 August-6 September, p2).
What did go wrong? In one sense you could say everything. Earlier reports on Williams while in custody describe him as withdrawn, disengaged, incapable of following the most basic rules and lacking social skills. The orders he was given required a far higher degree of co-operation than he was able or willing to offer. But several specific issues are raised. The monitoring of Williams' licence conditions was not assiduous enough and breach proceedings should have been instigated earlier. The national targets set for enforcement of breach proceedings still allow an average of 35 days, so Williams was highly unlikely to have been in custody on 30 September. His case manager had no qualifications in youth work or social work and had been expected to pick up knowledge through job shadowing. The line manager was qualified but had little experience.
What about the role of Premier, the tag monitoring company? During September 2003 there were six breaches of the curfew that it seems should have been reported to the youth offending team but weren't. Premier disputes this interpretation of its contract and the report calls for clarification.
What's the Youth Justice Board doing? New guidance for ISSP managers has been issued and includes sections on compliance and enforcement and a large-scale training programme on management of risk. It is also working with a Home Office team to clarify the protocols on electronic monitoring.
FACT BOX
- The probation inspectorate's report calls for youth offending team (YOT) management boards to ensure suitable housing provision is available for homeless young people who are being electronically monitored
- Management processes within YOTs should continue to be tightened up, including regular, effective supervision and better organisation of case files. National standards must be enforced
- Inquiry into the supervision of Peter Williams by Nottingham City Youth Offending Team is available under publications in the HM Inspectorate of Probation section of www.homeoffice.gov.uk.
