to believe that this man should not be allowed to live at Student Halls?

[Sep200024]

At Cardiff University, one of the largest Halls of Residence, housing mostly first year students, is called Talybont.

At Talybont this year, a man (Sean Hughes) who has recently been released from prison for strangling a woman, has been given a live-in safeguarding role at the Halls.

His crime was to attack and strangle a young woman, and he is currently out on license after being released from prison in May of this year.

His role at the university is to live in the Halls of Residence as a ‘life assistant’, where his role is to “support vulnerable students and manage crisis situations”.

AIBU to think that this should not be allowed? How on earth have the application and vetting procedures at Cardiff University allowed this to happen?

Newspaper article here

I thought these positions were usually highly competitive as they offered reduced living costs. They were when I was in uni.
So I find it really hard to believe he was the best person for the job.

This is sarcasm right?!

History of violent crime precludes you from all sorts of work with vulnerable populations.

In this case you're in loco parentis - dealing with drunk/intoxicated young people, mental health crises, sexual assault, as well as just going round and chatting with students in their bedrooms to see how things are going.

Ugh.

Maybe lannistunut you could advise us which universities have single sex changing, showers, toilets sleeping accommodation? Which universities allow their women students to meet without separately without the presence of men if they wish and where young women can attend and hear a full variety of ideas and speakers including feminists like Helen Joyce, Kathleen Stock, Julie Bindel VAWG groups, feminist organisations like Nia and FILIA? Thanks ever so much.

We'll wait.....

Few points on DBS checks.

The standard and enhanced DBS checks are for regulated activity ONLY and being a live-in mentor, adviser or similar for over 18 students does not fall into that category. No employer can disregard that and run higher level checks when the position does not require it.

HOWEVER, they could have run a basic DBS check which shows unspent convictions only. A conviction which resulted in a prison sentence of up to 6 months is "spent" after the conviction is served, plus 2 years. Longer sentences take longer to be spent, if you're sentenced to 4 years or more, it's never spent. So a basic DBS check would have revealed his record. As would simply googling his name. Or any other basic pre-employment checks - why is there a gap on your CV between May 2021 and May 2022, Mr Hughes? "Because I was in prison for strangulation". 🙄

So we either have the situation that Cardiff Uni is utterly inept in its background checking, or they knew and didn't care.

Not everybody coming into contact with young adults needs a dbs. If a student gets a part time job working in a pub or cafe or the local co-op would you also expect them to dbs all their staff?

A pastoral or support role, such as is described in the case of this man, should absolutely always require a dbs though.

I've worked as a lecturer and no, they don't DBS check.

I'll stop posting I promise but this has just triggered a wave of memories from my time doing this work, each one I'm shuddering at the idea of a man with a history of VAWG being involved.

Call to speak about someone's drunk flatmate who is being sick, me and my (male) colleague knock on the door. She's pretty hammered, very upset, when we start talking she immediately takes off her top and shows us her breast - it's red and swollen. She'd moved from abroad to be here, couldn't get hold of her mum due to time difference, and they'd recently had a relative pass away from breast cancer.

We stayed with her until she sobered up, sorted her out with a GP appt, went with her to the follow up clinic, but can you imagine if someone untrustworthy had been there.

He obviously didn’t pass a DBS as Cardiff Uni seem to know he’s a criminal.
What next, paedophiles released to work in schools and nurseries? This country defies belief.

So while he shouldn’t be in this role, and should not be living in student halls of residence, he should still be allowed to be a student at the University.

The only university he should be allowed to study with should be the Open University. He has access to all student areas if he is a student of a physical university.

Women are nothing any more.

@Untitledsquatboulder yes, I know and I agree with you that this role should be subject to a dbs check even if it’s not required to. universities should be going above and beyond. What I’m saying is that they’re not. Not just for this role but also for lecturers who provide a lot of pastoral support.

To be clear - you had one person -man or women- on duty (me and my colleague just happened to have been hanging out that night together). If a student specifically wanted to speak to so one of the same sex we'd sort that out, but obviously in cases like this she wasn't sober enough to be embarassed, and was incredibly vulnerable.

Good point.

Halls are a rip off
this is disgusting
how can it be oversight?

Fucking hell

Dd was there last year and had an assigned life assistant type person, female though, to support her - age us defined as vulnerable. Her assistant did have a dbs because I asked for details.

Convictions do not prevent a dbs necessarily, all depends on situation. On the face of it this sounds horrendous but I have no first hand knowledge.

I agree - it is a good clarification of why his sentence was so short.

I believe that even "consensual" strangulation resulting in death or injury has been made a crime now because so many women were dying in what their killers claimed was "consensual" rough sex, and blokes were literally getting away with murder. After all, the only person who could refute their claim was dead.

This is insane. Particularly if he disclosed his conviction. Of course he should be allowed to study, but to be given a safeguarding role in the student residences? Absolutely not.

I think that is too extreme. University doesn’t need same safety level as a childrens school. You can come into contact with convicted criminals of far worse crimes just going to Starbucks or Sainsburys, or riding a bus or train. There’s no real case to bar a convict from common student areas at a University.

100% agree.

And are all the students in that hall definitely over 18? Many go to uni at 17.

Btw exh works at a university (different one) and has an enhanced dbs

He disclosed his conviction (if he did) and Cardiff university said strangled a woman? hey, great, you know what, you're just what we need. How about we make you the point of contact for the students. Plenty of young women there. Can't see a problem at all.

Yes, it was sarcasm.

"You put your hands around her throat and you strangled her. She was extremely frightened and thought that a very serious event was about to take place. That, in part, was due to what you had said shortly before putting your hands around her throat."
**
The prosecution had said the attack involved an injury to the victim's eye and bruising to her neck.

I can't get over the audacity of the fella applying for it in the first place.

How on earth did he explain his conviction away in the interview to the point the hiring team thought he was the best fit?

lannistunut Really? If you knew the treatment received at the university were I worked to the women, BAME people and manual workers you wouldn't be saying that. Oh yes, they made a big song and dance about being equal rights champions. It was just lip service that's all. I and others reported many incidents, they were of course understanding appalled to my face and covertly pushed me and others like me out for our trouble. Unfortunately the worst protagonists wife was in charge of the then HR at the time.