Dangerous Sex Offender absconds
Discussion
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire...
Why would someone described as “… a dangerous sex offender and while he presents a particular danger to women and young children, I believe he can cause real harm to anyone he comes across.” be in an open prison where he can wander off? And by doing so trigger obvious concerns about what he may do?
Why would someone described as “… a dangerous sex offender and while he presents a particular danger to women and young children, I believe he can cause real harm to anyone he comes across.” be in an open prison where he can wander off? And by doing so trigger obvious concerns about what he may do?
One would have assumed (perhaps naively) to be eligible for keeping in an open prison that he would have been assessed as being no longer dangerous. As such, why would him absconding be such a concern.
Not that I believe that anyone with crimes such as his could be rehabilitated in any case.
Not that I believe that anyone with crimes such as his could be rehabilitated in any case.
The_Nugget said:
One would have assumed (perhaps naively) to be eligible for keeping in an open prison that he would have been assessed as being no longer dangerous. As such, why would him absconding be such a concern.
Not that I believe that anyone with crimes such as his could be rehabilitated in any case.
Yes, quite. The defendant or convicted criminal answers with the right responses and body language to the right questions when talking about matters with a court worker writing a pre-sentence report for the sentencing judge or a phycologist writing a prison recommendation report etc., and that vastly goes in their favour for gaining freedoms sooner in the future, getting their security reassessed at intervals throughout their sentence etc. and ultimately ending up in a lower category prison.Not that I believe that anyone with crimes such as his could be rehabilitated in any case.
Unless specified by the judge or because it's an extremely serious case, they can often be released early for good behaviour and other mitigating circumstances, where they will then be in the hands of the hugely overworked and underfunded (and privately outsourced) probation service which will involve a weekly, then monthly, phone call or physical meeting to simply ask how the subject is feeling, what they've been up to in the last week etc. You can see how easy it is for a clear-thinking and calm individual to hoodwink or charm the various probation officers and police officers they meet throughout the sentencing process, and then the offender management workers in the prisons.
Lenient initial sentences is probably a debate for another day and I don't think is the issue here, it's more of a case of the individual being very wrongly assessed by his offender management workers throughout his prison time, leading to far more freedoms than he should have been allowed.
Edited by FatboyKim on Monday 14th February 16:17
Driver101 said:
...he was out of jail on licence when he committed the last attacks.
Exactly. Hoodwinking and duping the various MOSOVO police officers and prison offender management workers he would have been in contact with whilst jaunting around outside the open prison.Category D / 'open' prisons really are the last step in an offender being fully released, whether on licence or not. The prisoner (in the loosest possible sense of the word!) gets such freedoms as a key to their own cell door, being able to lock it for privacy, coming and going from their home address as they please (with a restriction on the number of nights they can spend away from the prison per month), being able to have a fulltime paying job outside of the prison network, accessing the internet, mobile phone etc.
In the extremely rare case of a cat D prisoner fully absconding, it gets immediate maximum publicity nationwide because of the fact the individual was probably serving time for a serious assault, rape, sometimes even murder. As ridiculous and illogical as they seem, there is solid data of much lower reoffending rates when an individual has been through a cat D prison at the end of their sentence to slowly transitions them back into the 'real world' rather than literally stepping out of a cat A/B/C prison with their belongings in a clear bag and effectively being told 'thank you and goodbye', then being under probation care.
Edited by FatboyKim on Monday 14th February 16:31
stitched said:
He is serving a life sentence for attempted rape and indecent assault.
Odd.
also broke in through a cat flap so not a real physical problem IMHO.
That last sentence is a bit odd. If he walked past you in the street you wouldn’t recognise him, if he decided to stab you (he seems to like knives) whilst walking past you then he would be a significant physical threat. Unless you’re some sort of highly trained special forces type who is on constant alert for danger then everyone and anyone is a threat to you if they want to be. Odd.
also broke in through a cat flap so not a real physical problem IMHO.
No idea why he was that far down the release route with his history.
Willhire89 said:
It is twenty two years since he was sentenced - he's not 'whole life' so I guess at some point he has to be prepared to be released on licence once more.
There seems to be a bit of a disconnect between the prisoners described as suitable for an Open Prison and the way he’s been described by the police who are looking for him. 
'Det Ch Supt Andy Cox, from Lincolnshire Police, said officers were "working tirelessly" to locate Robson and said he could be "anywhere in the country".
He said: "Robson is a dangerous sex offender and while he presents a particular danger to women and young children, I believe he can cause real harm to anyone he comes across." '
Not a dangerous sex offender or capable of causing real harm to anyone he comes across prior to this week when he could leave the open prison as he pleases to roam around Boston then?
He said: "Robson is a dangerous sex offender and while he presents a particular danger to women and young children, I believe he can cause real harm to anyone he comes across." '
Not a dangerous sex offender or capable of causing real harm to anyone he comes across prior to this week when he could leave the open prison as he pleases to roam around Boston then?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire...
“ A sex offender who has absconded from an open prison had been refused parole five times, it has emerged...
In February 2021, a board ruled Robson should be rejected for parole, but recommended to the Justice Secretary that he was "suitable for a move to open conditions to test whether he would eventually be safe for release".
The board said it was a "recommendation only" and that the "Secretary of State for Justice considers the advice before making the final decision on whether a prisoner is suitable for open conditions".
On Monday, Labour's Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed said he had written to the Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab seeking reassurances over public safety following Robson's escape.
Mr Reed said he had sought clarification from Mr Raab over "why such a dangerous criminal was deemed fit to be in an open prison where he could abscond".
I see the blame game has begun!
It is difficult though. Open prison may play a role in integrating someone who is ready for Parole back into society. But IMO it shouldn’t be a test bed to see what happens.
It’s an interesting issue though. I can’t imagine anyone who could commit these sorts of offences ever not being a danger to the public.
We need an island for them with big walls and leave them to it with like minded individuals!
“ A sex offender who has absconded from an open prison had been refused parole five times, it has emerged...
In February 2021, a board ruled Robson should be rejected for parole, but recommended to the Justice Secretary that he was "suitable for a move to open conditions to test whether he would eventually be safe for release".
The board said it was a "recommendation only" and that the "Secretary of State for Justice considers the advice before making the final decision on whether a prisoner is suitable for open conditions".
On Monday, Labour's Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed said he had written to the Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab seeking reassurances over public safety following Robson's escape.
Mr Reed said he had sought clarification from Mr Raab over "why such a dangerous criminal was deemed fit to be in an open prison where he could abscond".
I see the blame game has begun!
It is difficult though. Open prison may play a role in integrating someone who is ready for Parole back into society. But IMO it shouldn’t be a test bed to see what happens.
It’s an interesting issue though. I can’t imagine anyone who could commit these sorts of offences ever not being a danger to the public.
We need an island for them with big walls and leave them to it with like minded individuals!
The_Nugget said:
...We need an island for them with big walls and leave them to it with like minded individuals!
Airdrop them here https://northsentinelisland.com/
The_Nugget said:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire...
“ A sex offender who has absconded from an open prison had been refused parole five times, it has emerged...
In February 2021, a board ruled Robson should be rejected for parole, but recommended to the Justice Secretary that he was "suitable for a move to open conditions to test whether he would eventually be safe for release".
The board said it was a "recommendation only" and that the "Secretary of State for Justice considers the advice before making the final decision on whether a prisoner is suitable for open conditions".
On Monday, Labour's Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed said he had written to the Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab seeking reassurances over public safety following Robson's escape.
Mr Reed said he had sought clarification from Mr Raab over "why such a dangerous criminal was deemed fit to be in an open prison where he could abscond".
I see the blame game has begun!
It is difficult though. Open prison may play a role in integrating someone who is ready for Parole back into society. But IMO it shouldn’t be a test bed to see what happens.
It’s an interesting issue though. I can’t imagine anyone who could commit these sorts of offences ever not being a danger to the public.
We need an island for them with big walls and leave them to it with like minded individuals!
Well, quite. Going against the recommendation of the multiple professionals which make up a parole panel would have been seen as affront to the knowledge and expertise of the panel. I'm not exactly a fan of Dominic Raab, but I don't see how he could be held responsible in this situation. Maybe we should be looking at the parole board and parole panels who make these decisions first.“ A sex offender who has absconded from an open prison had been refused parole five times, it has emerged...
In February 2021, a board ruled Robson should be rejected for parole, but recommended to the Justice Secretary that he was "suitable for a move to open conditions to test whether he would eventually be safe for release".
The board said it was a "recommendation only" and that the "Secretary of State for Justice considers the advice before making the final decision on whether a prisoner is suitable for open conditions".
On Monday, Labour's Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed said he had written to the Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab seeking reassurances over public safety following Robson's escape.
Mr Reed said he had sought clarification from Mr Raab over "why such a dangerous criminal was deemed fit to be in an open prison where he could abscond".
I see the blame game has begun!
It is difficult though. Open prison may play a role in integrating someone who is ready for Parole back into society. But IMO it shouldn’t be a test bed to see what happens.
It’s an interesting issue though. I can’t imagine anyone who could commit these sorts of offences ever not being a danger to the public.
We need an island for them with big walls and leave them to it with like minded individuals!
I think an island could work well, especially after one of their victims has been let loose on them with a pair of garden shears first...
Found and arrested in Skegness this morning, so he didn't get particularly far in four days. Straight back to the category A lifestyle for this one, where he belongs.
Thankfully, this is an extremely rare occurrence, and I still maintain that category D / 'open' prisons are effective at gradually transitioning a past offender into the community at the end of their sentence
Thankfully, this is an extremely rare occurrence, and I still maintain that category D / 'open' prisons are effective at gradually transitioning a past offender into the community at the end of their sentence
As above, just been on the lunchtime news. Pictures show he shaved off his rather distinctive beard which did change his appearance enough to make him 'familiar looking' but not instantly recognizable. Would have had you thinking, 'Don't I know you from somewhere?' Sneaky little t
t
Hopefully back in a proper nick for the rest of his life!
tHopefully back in a proper nick for the rest of his life!
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