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SWIA publishes report on James Campbell case
18/04/2005
An investigation by the Social Work Inspection Agency
into North Lanarkshire Council's handling of the James
Campbell case has found weaknesses among all the agencies
involved and at all stages during the offender's time in
prison and on release.
The investigation - ordered by Justice Minister Cathy
Jamieson - followed public concerns relating to Campbell
who in September 2004 pled guilty to abducting and
attempting to rape a two year-old while on extended licence
for a previous serious sexual assault.
The SWIA examined his access to rehabilitation in
prison, preparation for release, accommodation on release
and the level of supervision and support after release. The
inspectors also looked at what broader lessons there are to
be learned locally and nationally from this case.
The report, published today, found that:
- While the risk posed by Campbell could not be
completely eliminated, overall there was a systemic
breakdown between the police, social work and SPS in
managing the risk he posed.
- The council failed to give sufficient priority to
this case, did not appoint a social worker at the start
of his prison term, pre-release work to identify
suitable accommodation was unsuccessful and emergency
accommodation had to be found, and did not ensure
Campbell fulfilled one of his key release conditions -
undertaking addiction treatment.
- The Scottish Prison Service did not provide
Campbell with access to rehabilitation during his
original sentence, the prison's social work unit took
one month instead of two days to interview him after he
arrived there and took six months to appoint a new
prison social worker after his original one left.
- The local police did not consult social work
colleagues when they undertook their risk assessment -
despite the Sex Offender Act guidance stating that for
medium to high risk offenders, officers should work
with social work services and other agencies to
consider how best to manage the risk.
Angus Skinner, Scotland's outgoing Chief Inspector of
Social Work Services, said:
"Managing the risks posed by sex offenders is a complex
process. While the risk can never be completely eliminated,
it is the job of SPS, local authority social work services,
police and other agencies to do everything possible to
assess those risks and work together to take the best
possible steps to protect the public.
"This investigation looked at the role of all the local
agencies involved in the James Campbell case and highlights
the importance of ensuring that all these organisations -
individually and collectively - provide a high standard of
service, and one which gives the public the protection they
need and expect.
"There are vital lessons which must be learned by the
North Lanarkshire council, SPS and Strathclyde Police. The
Social Work Inspection Agency will therefore carry out a
follow-up inspection of the council and its partners later
in the year to ensure that the recommendations in today's
report are implemented in full.
"As part of its rigorous, rolling inspection of criminal
justice social services across Scotland, the Agency will
also be checking to ensure that in line with Ministerial
intentions, agencies elsewhere in Scotland have carefully
considered the recommendations in today's report. And that
they have used the lessons from this case to improve their
local management of sex offenders, to reduce the risk of
similar events happening elsewhere."
Key recommendations in today's report include:
- Social work services in the prison and community
should ensure prisoners subject to extended sentence
receive no less than the minimum standard of service,
as set out in Executive guidance.
- All agencies should give high-risk offenders the
highest priority for service provision.
- Local authorities should ensure that social work
and housing staff work together to identify
accommodation for sex offenders. This should happen
within the wider context of risk management and involve
the police and other agencies when appropriate.
- The Executive should work with housing agencies to
develop a national strategy on the housing of sex
offenders, in line with the report from the Expert
Panel on Sex Offenders.
- Social work services and the police should ensure
there is effective collaboration in carrying out risk
assessment and risk management duties, and all those
involved in assessing sex offenders should use
internationally-recognised risk assessment tools and
train their staff to use them.
- The Scottish Prison Service should ensure that
short-term prisoners who are sex offenders receive
assessment and treatment appropriate to their
needs.
- The Executive should work with all agencies
involved in the management of sex offenders to produce
a national protocol for sex offender management.
The Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson announced on October
21, 2004 that she had asked the Social Work Services
Inspectorate (now replaced by the Social Work Inspection
Agency) to investigate North Lanarkshire Council's handling
of the James Campbell case.
A month earlier, this offender had pled guilty to
abducting and attempting to rape a two year-old while on
extended licence for a previous, serious sexual
assault.
The investigation examined all aspects of the handling
of Mr Campbell's case, including: preparation for release
arrangements, accommodation, level of supervision and
support, and whether there were broader lessons to be
learned from the case.
SWIA, which formally took over responsibility for
inspecting council social work services at the beginning of
this month, already has plans as part of its rolling
programme to inspect North and South Lanarkshire's criminal
justice social work grouping over September and October.
During that inspection, to be led by the head of the new
Agency, Alexis Jay, SWIA will carefully audit the
performance of the authorities in applying the lessons from
today's report.
Cathy Jamieson has today sent a copy of the SWIA report
to all local authority chief executives, the chief
executive of the SPS, and chief constables. This is
accompanied by a letter from the Minister asking them to
audit all their existing sex offender cases in light of the
report's recommendations. Further details are available in
a separate news release, issued today by the Scottish
Executive.