Police and social services mishandled the case of a 17-year-old boy with a history of sexual deviance who went on to murder a teenager, a review has said.
Colyn Evans was sentenced to life imprisonment in June after admitting murdering Karen Dewar in Tayport, Fife, in January.
The Social Work Inspection Agency and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary review concluded the murder “could not have reasonably been predicted”.
But they pointed to a number of failings in the way Fife Council and police dealt with Evans – who had been accused of 14 sexual offences – before he committed the crime.
The inspectorates criticised a previous internal review of the case for not explaining why police had failed to carry out two risk assessments after his release from residential care in April 2004.
They also said it had failed to explain why key data about his behaviour had not been recorded on the police’s sex offenders database and why more information was not included from the children’s reporter.
The report said Evans needed help from his care placement at Geilsland School but it was not forthcoming. And it questioned a children’s panel’s decision to release him back into his parents’ care.
In a joint statement, Fife Council’s chief executive, Douglas Sinclair, and Fife Constabulary’s chief constable, Peter Wilson, said: “It is essential that we learn from our mistakes and take every step to improve the management of this highly complex area in the future where we possibly can.”
As well as a number of recommendations for both agencies, the report called for the development of a national strategy for meeting the needs of young people with sexually problematic behaviour and greater scrutiny of care placements by councils.
The Scottish executive said it would set up an expert group to look at developing the strategy.
Report from http://www.swia.gov.uk/swia/files/j6874.pdf
Agencies slammed over teenage killer
December 14, 2005 in Youth justice
More from Community Care
Related articles:
Featured jobs
Workforce Insights
- Working with perpetrators of domestic abuse: training social workers to have challenging conversations
- Extending support: the importance of reflective supervision beyond the ASYE
- ‘It’s hopeful work’: social work in an adults’ mental health team
- Podcast: supporting adults with learning disabilities and autism post-pandemic
- ‘There aren’t many roles where you get to take a child on holiday’: the benefits of residential care work
- Workforce Insights – showcasing a selection of the sector’s top recruiters
Community Care Inform
Latest stories
Finley Boden: professionals should have protected baby murdered by his parents, review finds
Regulator calls for consistency of support for NQSWs as DfE develops children’s early career framework
Leadership training programme launched for PSWs, AMHP leads and principal OTs in adults’ services
Kent ‘extremely close to capacity’ to care for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children
Comments are closed.