To be outraged at this? RE: Convicted rapist in prison has gone missing in Manchester

[Feminazi]

www.itv.com/news/update/2016-09-24/police-searching-for-absconded-rapist-in-manchester/

Sending to all in Manchester tonight.

I am appalled at this. The police have said that this man is dangerous and that the public should not approach him. Why the fuck wasn't he kept in prison then?

[MrsTerryPratchett]

There are many very good reasons for having people released on licence. It encourages good behaviour inside, it means people can be monitored when they leave, it means they are 'someone's problem' on the outside, it means that in some cases they can easily be recalled to prison when they do something less than a totally free person (drinking, accessing porn etc.).

Unless you are going to lock people up for life (actually their whole life) releasing people early on licence actually makes sense.

The Courts don't sentence sex offenders to enough time and they have hellishly poor conviction and massive recidivism rates, which makes them really dangerous.

[NapQueen]

Personally I feel rapists murderers and paedophile all deserve life imprisonment but I suppose this isn't the place for that.

[Feminazi]

TerryPratchett

Yes, you're right. There is an argument for some prisoners to be allowed this.

However, this specific man has been labelled as a 'danger to the public', so should not have been let out. He should have been in a psychiatric ward.

[HerFaceIsAMapOfTheWorld]

wow he got 4 years for rape, what a disgrace.

[WheelofPan]

We don't know how long this man got ( he could have been on remand for a while) and the 'hostel' in Bury is a Home Office Approved Premise which specialises in taking people on release who are high risk.
There could be many reasons for his absconding.

[WheelofPan]

well he can't be in a psychiatric ward as he wasn't assessed as being mentally ill, we presume?

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Whether sex offenders 'deserve' life... They might deserve it. And if they got longer sentences it would certianly protect women and children. But again, in RL what actually happens when you mandate very long sentences for crimes you make juries less likely to convict. Particularly in our world where women aren't believed, people think women lie and it's "his word against hers".

Our entire culture has to change. That includes much higher conviction rates.

[x2boys]

I,m from Burymy family lives there and I only live up the road in bolton.

[x2boys]

Why exactly should he be in a psychiatric ward if he was seriously mentally unwell at the time of his crime he would have been assessed and probably gone to either one of the country's high security hospitals or more likely a medium secure unit but presumably he's served his sentence so why do you think he needs to be on a mental health ward I, m an RMN and I worked on acute mental health wards for years they are not the place for dangerous criminals.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I know it's worrying but the chances are there are many many dangerous rapists between Bury and Bolton. There are far more sex offenders, most of whom will never see the inside of a Court, than people realize.

[x2boys]

Oh I know it's a worry that someone like that is wandering the streets anywhere.

[Twogoats]

So being a danger to the public is not a mental health issue? Is it 'normal'?

[BillSykesDog]

Well obviously whoever assessed this man as safe for release got it very much fucking wrong.

What are you suggesting TerryPratchett? Because some sex offenders don't get caught we should just give up on any sort of management of them? Or that it means we shouldn't scrutinise the way the criminal justice system operates when it screws up? Which it clearly has done in this case?

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Yeah Bill, that clearly what I'm suggesting

[BlancheBlue]

Sorry OP but this looks like the usual hysterical postings made facebook groups about "dangers". Sending ffs

[x2boys]

Not necessarily no some people are just evil having mental health issues don't turn people into rapists obviously crimes are committed by people with mental illness,s but being a rapist is not a sign somebody is mentally unwell.

[WheelofPan]

He don't know too much about the detail of this man, from the reporting, but there could be many reasons for his absconding from an AP which doesn't necessarily mean he is at a heightened risk for it.

[Spiderpigspiderpig]

I doubt he's still in Manchester

[Twogoats]

Why wasn't he tagged though?

[WheelofPan]

He was at an AP, which has a curfew and signing in times. Hence no tag. Also we don't operate GPS location tags in the UK, currently.

[GuiltyPleasure]

He got an 8 year determinate sentence, which means he serves 4 years in custody & 4 years on licence. This is how all determinate sentences work. The prison service, by law, can't keep someone in custody after the half way point. Only indeterminate sentenced prisoners have to go through the parole process, so they won't be released until assessed as being of a manageable level of risk in the community. However, because he's breached his licence, when he's caught he will undoubtedly go back to prison for the remainder of his licence & may get an extra sentence for the abscond. The fact he needed to be released to an AP shows he's still considered a high risk of harm by prison & probation, so he hasn't been released without assessment, but unfortunately there isn't the facility at the moment for GPS tagging & a release plan to an AP, no doubt with as many stringent licence conditions as possible was the best that could be done. I work as a probation officer in a prison & it's an impossible job in cases like these, but worse for my community colleagues, including those who work in APs, who are limited in what they can do because of the constraints of current laws. Unless someone hasn't alerted the police as soon as he's missed a signing in time, or knowingly allowed him to breach a licence condition then no one has screwed up. Sometimes it's the system that's flawed & it's too easy to blame the people working in it.

[Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost]

4 fucking years for rape. That's disgusting. What an insult to the poor women. Who he forced himself on. And indeed to her family.
They're saying he's dangerous. Don't approach him. Well why the fuck has been allowed to waltz around the streets. Am I missing something
Rape is as bad as murder, well they kill a persons spirit don't they. You'd never ever be the same after again after such an ordeal.
If it were up to. Life would carry 300 year sentence without parole along with painful castration.

[MerryDickCrack]

Guiltypleasure is right. He has to be released at the 4 year mark, that's the way the law works, even if he's considered dangerous still. The probation service then has to try to manage the risk as best they can with the resources available. Licence conditions can be stringent, he can be required to live in an approved premises, sign in at various times in the day, be drug and alcohol tested, participate in offending behaviour work, but he cannot be contained in one place 24/7 because that's not how the law works with determinate sentences. He's released on licence because he has to be, not because someone has decided he should. The system is
so misunderstood.

[FruitCider]

However, this specific man has been labelled as a 'danger to the public', so should not have been let out. He should have been in a psychiatric ward.

Being violent doesn't = mentally ill. What a stigmatising comment. FFS.