10/05/2006

Murderer 'too dangerous' to be released

A sex attacker who murdered a woman nine months after being released on license was "too dangerous to be released in the first place", a report has claimed.

Anthony Rice, 48, strangled and stabbed forty-year-old Naomi Bryant at her home in Winchester last August.

Rice was released in November 2004 after serving a 16-year-sentence for rape and indecent assault.

He murdered Ms Bryant just days after they met. He had been staying at a charity-run hostel near Winchester at the time of the murder.

The report by the chief inspector of probation, Andrew Bridges, said that there had been "substantial deficiencies" in the way he was supervised.

Mr Bridges said that prisons and the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements - a panel which is designed to protect the public from dangerous offenders - had been side-tracked by considering Rice's human rights above their duty to the public.

In 2001, the Parole Board allowed Rice to be moved to an open prison, a decision which Mr Bridges said created a "momentum towards release".

He also said that the Board had received "over optimistic" reports of his progress under treatment and did not have a full picture of Rice's previous crimes.

The report made a series of recommendations, which included the National Offender Management Service giving "special consideration" on how to provide effective start-to-end offender management and independent assessments of any treatment received by prisoners.

The report also recommended that priority be given to public protection when prisoners are moved to open prisons and that there should be a "top priority focus" on public protection when managing a high risk offender, although proper attention should also be given to their human rights.

Home Secretary John Reid said that the government would consider Mr Bridges' report carefully and would make improvements "through legislation if necessary."

Today's report follows a previous report by Mr Bridges which looked into the murder of London financier John Monckton, who was stabbed to death during a burglary at his family home in Chelsea, west London, in November 2004.

His killer, Damien Hanson, had been on probation at the time of the murder.

Other recent murders committed by offenders on probation include that of 16-year-old Mary Ann Leneghan, teacher Robert Symons and Nottingham jeweller Marion Bates.

(KMcA)

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