A report, just published by the NHS, is a stark 171-page indictment of our protective services. The investigation details the shocking failures of every agency either side of the prison walls to safely manage Zephaniah McLeod, a plainly very dangerous and mentally unwell man with a long criminal history, who was released from prison without any restrictions or supervision.
In September 2020, less than six months after being let out, McLeod went on a late-night killing spree with a knife in Birmingham city centre. He murdered one young man and maimed eight others, before being arrested by armed police. As with the recent eerily familiar atrocity in Nottingham, his victims were selected at random and totally innocent. He is now detained indefinitely in a high security hospital with a minimum prison sentence of 21 years.
All the agencies around the table decided in effect that this overwhelmingly dangerous mentally ill man was just too difficult to bother with
Who do you think should decide if dangerous offenders are risky? Most ordinary people would hope and expect that prison and probation services work together to decide if someone needs supervision after they are released.
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