Serial sex offenders and failure to protect women - Scotland

[ArabellaScott]

This case is hugely upsetting, so avoid unless you are feeling robust.

This man raped and murdered a woman in Glasgow.

www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/convicted-sex-offender-early-release-33484145

It now transpires he had a long string of previous offences of violence against women, and sexual offences. A review has revealed serious failures:

'At the time of Esther’s murder, Graham was being monitored by the authorities following early release from a seven and a half year jail term for raping a retired nurse in 2013.
Graham, who had 23 previous convictions and had changed his surname to Evans just months before murdering the retired librarian, had been jailed at HMP Glenochil prior to being granted early release.'

'The report states that in July 2020, a social worker had contacted the Psychological Trauma Service in respect of managing Graham’s “presentation and behaviour”.
The social worker had noted that police had previously reported what was described as bizarre behaviour and she was concerned about his weight and “possible issues around his sexual identity”.'

The article also notes that doctors had recommended he be referred to the Sandyford clinic for confusion over his 'sexual identity'.

Being a rapist and violent misogynist is not 'sexual identity'. What happened here?

What monstrous situation has been created?

RIP, Esther, I'm so sorry, and my heart aches for you.

It’s unbelievable that he was not monitored properly

then another headline about a guy who raped and murdered a man out on bail and breached his bail conditions stalking a young woman

that poor lady Esther

Virtually every line of that article is a red flag about male violence, gender insanity or the incompetence/indifference of the authorities when it comes to women's safety.

I think this is the first line

A convicted sex offender who murdered a pensioner after being released early from prison wanted to change his gender just months before the killing.

That poor woman.

I'm very concerned that 'changing gender' used to be recognised as a potential paraphilia, but is now treated as 'marginalised and vulnerable' and therefore protected.

Did this man's desire to 'change gender' impact on his treatment by police, HCPs?

As ever, vulnerable does not mean harmless. Many issues are a sign of vulnerability WHILE ALSO being a sign that the person may present risks to others.

Truly shocking because of how preventable Esther's rape and murder was.

When will the right people begin to show any caution when it comes to these vulnerable (and definitely NOT harmless) criminals.

I've never forgotten the case of Theodore Johnson. These are 3 separate, separated by time with sentences in-between (for avoidance of doubt).

Theodore Johnson, 64, beat and throttled ex-girlfriend Angela Best after she met another man.
He already had two manslaughter convictions. He pushed his wife off a ninth-floor balcony in 1981 and strangled a former partner in 1993.
…
In 1981, Johnson was jailed for three years after killing his wife, Yvonne Johnson.
He hit her over the head with a vase during a row before pushing her off the balcony of their home in a Wolverhampton tower block.
…
He was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter by provocation.
The judge described Johnson as a "battered husband" who had suffered violence at the hands of his wife.
In 1993, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, on the grounds of diminished responsibility, after attacking former partner Yvonne Bennett.
He had met her in Wolverhampton after his release from prison for killing Mrs Johnson.
…
She had sought police help to get him to leave their Finsbury Park home in the days before her death.
He strangled her with a belt as their two-year-old daughter slept.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42583114

Dear christ.

I know hindsight is a wonderful thing but - three times? What the ever loving fuck?

Unfortunately, we can expect more of these early releases as the Gov has cut the time to be served to only 40% of the sentence!

Fucking insanity. This should only apply to nonviolent, and non sex offenders,

FFS. They just don't take crimes against women seriously. Those poor women.

They just aren't being jailed and constantly released on bail, over and over. I get exasperated when I see the same men being bailed and say to colleagues 'what do they have to do to be jailed'. I know there's a crisis with prison space but it's beyond a joke now.

So upsetting, rest in peace Esther, and Angela, Yvonne and Yvonne.

Years ago, I remember reading about Johnson and other men with comparable records of release, harm to women, a short sentence or short period in hospital followed by release on a rinse and repeat cycle. Or, even worse, repeated reports, even arrests, but abandoned prosecutions or poorly conducted investigations such that there is no conviction or record.

I get the potential for abuse which is why we have due process. At the moment, I'm overwhelmed by the inaction about the abuse and harm to women and girls.

I would very much like a detailed review of the recidivism or rinse and repeat rate for people who harm women. Especially for those who are repeatedly given community sentences or aren't convicted (sympathetic magistrates etc. who lend greater weight to the impact on the life of the defendant, not that of the victim/s). It might help me to put matters into perspective if I had some numbers although I find harm to people a difficult risk-benefit balance.

Perhaps the Gov's new initiative on equating MVAWG with terrorism will draw some insights?

I was trying to find a link to the case review, and in the meantime wanted to add this about Esther:

'Susanne Miller, chief officer of Glasgow HSCP, said officials had, unusually, been keeping in close contact with community members and Ms Brown's friends and were meeting with them before the publication of the report to discuss its findings.
Ms Miller said: "We express our condolences to Esther's friends and family in the summary to the report itself because that is something we want absolutely to acknowledge.
"We have stayed in touch in particular with the local community throughout this significant case review and have a meeting with a small number of representatives of the local community to offer them the opportunity [to view the report].
"We very much acknowledge the importance of the local community to Esther and of Esther to the local community.
"We took a decision among the chief officers to consider the local community as Esther's family.
"It is unusual but we took that decision with all the chief officers and we had stayed in correspondence with the local community throughout the significant case review process."
Ms Brown was a founding member of the Woodlands Community Garden, sat on the board of trustees of the Woodlands Community Trust and also helped run the community cafe.
Last year a carved memorial stone in the form of a birdbath was unveiled in her memory in Woodlands Community Garden as the centerpiece of a rockery and wildlife area to mark Ms Brown's love of nature. '

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23438585.jason-graham-review-murder-glasgows-esther-brown/

Finally found the Significant Case Review. It is not made easy to find.

MAPPA sounds like a good idea in principle, but it seems to have failed badly here.

'MAPPA is a set of statutory partnership arrangements, delivered under National Guidance (2023). The fundamental purpose of MAPPA is public protection and managing the risk of serious harm. MAPPA is not a statutory body in itself but is a statutory framework through which the Responsible Authorities discharge their statutory responsibilities and protect the public. The responsible authorities outlined within the National Guidance (2023) are: Glasgow City Council, Police Scotland (G Division), Scottish Prison Service, and Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS in respect of Restricted Patients only. It also provides for agencies who have a duty to co-operate (DTC) with the Responsible Authorities in relation to the management of individuals, which include: Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS for category 1 and 2 offenders, Department of Work and Pensions, Social Security Scotland, Registered Social Landlords, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration, any person/organisation providing services to or on behalf of a responsible authority. '

https://glasgowcity.hscp.scot/mappa

The Significant Case Review is listed as a download on that page, although names are redacted so it shows as 'Person H'.

StickItInTheFamilyAlbum · Yesterday 17:47

I've never forgotten the case of Theodore Johnson. These are 3 separate, separated by time with sentences in-between (for avoidance of doubt).

And at the same time, battered women, who killed their male partners, were found guilty of murder and jailed for life. It's a horrible double standard.

The change to 40% doesn’t apply to sex offences, serious violent offences and some others. Those remain at 50% or 67% which is existing policy.

From the Record article in the OP:

'In November new figures revealed that record numbers of predators are carrying out serious crimes while under police supervision.
An unprecedented 139 registered sex offenders (RSOs) were convicted again in 2022/23 - a surge of 31 per cent on the previous year'