An inquest into the deaths of four people in Killamarsh, Derbyshire, heard chances were missed to stop killer Damien Bendall.
A series of "very stark" failures by the Probation Service contributed to the murders of a mother and three children, a coroner has concluded.
The inquests into the four deaths, which concluded on Monday, heard multiple reports over two weeks of how Bendall was managed by overworked, stressed and inexperienced probation officers, with the service facing “significant” challenges at the time. The Probation Service accepted 51 separate failings at the inquests, held at Chesterfield Coroner’s Court, in which it accepted a catalogue of missed opportunities and lack of scrutiny concerning Bendall’s supervision going back several years.
Bendall’s history of serious and violent offences dating back to 2004 and of allegations of domestic abuse against a former partner and inappropriate contact with a young girl in care were missed, due to a “failure to demonstrate sufficient professional curiosity”, Mr Nieto said.“If it had been, it appears to me inconceivable that Damien Bendall would not have been considered to be high risk to children.
But these comments were not fed back to the Probation Service, even though they “should very clearly have been”, Mr Nieto said. Systemic issues were raised around supervision, auditing, training staff and other issues, and Mr Nieto said it remained unclear to him how an offender’s high-risk status is “prominently displayed” on their record.
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