This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Review of handling of Fife murder case
12/12/2005
An independent review of Fife Constabulary and Fife Council's report on Colyn Evans has found that while it would have been impossible to predict that his behaviour would escalate to murder, there were 'considerable shortcomings' in their handling of this case.
Colyn Evans was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2005 for the murder of Karen Dewar, a 16 year-old living in the same neighbourhood as him. On the day of his sentencing, Fife Constabulary and Fife Council published a joint report on the management of the case.
The Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA) and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) carried out a review of this joint report on Evans and conclude that it did not cover all the issues, including details of his time at Geilsland School, and how and why his local authority supervision was ended.
The Fife report also failed to explain why police did not undertake two risk assessments, why some key information about Evans' activities was not recorded on the sex offenders' database, and why more information was not included from the Children's Reporter.
Today's report follows a request by Scottish Ministers in June 2005 to scrutinise the original Fife report, identify issues which required further examination and work with the council and police to address these, and update the Fife report accordingly.
Inspectors have also set out a series of local and national issues that must be addressed to improve the way such cases are managed in the future.
In a joint statement, SWIA Chief Inspector, Alexis Jay, and HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Andrew Brown, said:
"Throughout the review process, we have been mindful of the devastating impact of this case on Karen Dewar's family. Sadly, it will be of little comfort to them that, even given Evans' past history of offending, it would have been impossible to predict the tragic events that led to Karen's murder.
"It is important both for their sake - and for the sake of communities across Scotland that everything possible is done, locally and nationally, to better manage the risk posed by such individuals and increase protection of the public.
"Managing sex offenders is not a straightforward process, and managing the risks posed by young sex offenders brings even further complications. Nevertheless, there are key aspects relating to Fife Constabulary and Fife Council's handling of this case, which require attention.
"Inappropriate responses to referrals, inadequacies in supervision and case management, failure to use all the available information to assess risk and to share assessments, and the absence of shared decision making for managing Evans are issues which must be addressed locally.
"On a national level, this case has also highlighted a number of broader issues relating to the management of young people displaying sexually aggressive and problematic behaviour which need to be taken forward to improve protection for the public."
Key issues for Fife identified in today's report include:
- The Council should review policy and practice relating to young people with sexually aggressive or problematic behaviour. Risk management plans must be developed in all cases where there are concerns about risk of harm to others
- The Council should review the training needs of staff working with such young people. It should also continue to review its supervision and recording policies to ensure case records reflect important decisions that are discussed and agreed with supervisors
- Fife Constabulary should ensure that all decision making procedures and processes are documented, and continue to review the way in which it manages non-registered sex offenders
- Fife Constabulary should continue to address the data management issues highlighted by SWIA and HMIC
- Both organisations should continue to progress work to identify current areas of best practice in relation to joint cases, and produce an action plan to ensure such practices are used in all appropriate circumstances
Issues for services providers nationally, and the Executive include:
- Work on ensuring that the new Violent and Sex Offenders Register (ViSOR) links effectively with other police databases, together with ongoing work to ensure other relevant agencies can access these police system, should be progressed
- National consideration should be given to reviewing the processes currently in place between the Care Commission and those purchasing services, to ensure there are clear lines of responsibility and accountability for sharing information about the quality of arrangements at residential schools
- The Executive should urgently consider action to provide public agencies with a framework to assess adolescent sexual offenders which can be used consistently throughout the country
- Discussions should take place at a national level, drawing on this case, with a view to developing a national strategy for meeting the needs of young people displaying sexually problematic or aggressive behaviour. Specialist programmes for such young people should also be subject to robust external quality control
- The Executive should review current guidance on the management of non-registered sex offenders to provide greater clarity and consistency across Scotland. It should also work with ACPOS to agree a definition of a non-registered sex offender
- An inter-agency unit should be created to make the necessary changes happen. It would develop training and create and disseminate the necessary protocols and procedures to improve practice across Scotland
In the course of their work, SWIA inspectors examined all the social work case records and reports relating to Colyn Evans which were part of the initial review carried out by the Council, and had discussions with senior members of staff involved in the review process. HMIC examined the relevant police records and reports, and also all the related police data systems.
SWIA and HMIC will review Fife Council and Constabulary's progress on addressing the issues highlighted in today's report.