Joshua Jacques: ‘Serious failings’ by probation service before quadruple murderer went on stabbing rampage, finds watchdog

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Missed alternatives to arrest a quadruple assassin earlier than he went on a drug-fuelled stabbing rampage are among the many “critical failings” discovered by a watchdog in his supervision.

Risky hashish abuser Joshua Jacques, 29, was on probation when he attacked Samantha Drummonds and her household with a knife of their residence in Bermondsey, south London, early on 25 April 2022, leaving a “massacre” in his wake.

The Metropolitan Police discovered the our bodies of Ms Drummonds, 27, her mom Tanysha Ofori-Akuffo, 45, grandmother Dolet Hill, 64, and Ms Hill’s accomplice Denton Burke, 58, after being alerted to a disturbance by a neighbour on Delaford Highway.

Chief inspector of probation Martin Jones, who carried out an impartial evaluate into Jacques’ supervision by the Probation Service, stated on Thursday: “There have been critical failings within the supervision of Joshua Jacques. Regardless of issues about repeated non-compliance along with his licence circumstances, enforcement apply was inconsistent and alternatives to recall Jacques to custody have been missed.”

Throughout his trial, the Outdated Bailey heard that Jacques took 3g of skunk hashish a day and refused to think about slicing down, saying he would keep it up smoking marijuana “even when it killed” him.

The sentencing decide discovered that Jacques’ offending had been contributed to by hashish abuse and that he was “properly conscious” of the affect of it on his psychological well being.

Jacques had been launched on licence on 11 November 2021, following a 51-month custodial sentence in 2019 for drug-related offences.

“No such intervention was organised by the Probation Service and our inspection discovered no proof of a referral to a medicine company.”

Mr Jones additionally stated that Jacques was incorrectly allotted to a newly certified probation officer, and that administration oversight of the case was “inadequate”.

Jacques was additionally assessed as posing a “excessive threat” of significant hurt to the general public earlier than being launched from custody, he stated, however his threat to former companions or probation workers was “underestimated”.

He stated: “No threat evaluation was accomplished for Jacques following his launch which resulted in no threat administration plan or sentence plan in the neighborhood being accomplished.”

Jacques himself had reported that “random aggression” may very well be a symptom of declining psychological well being, Mr Jones stated. “In February 2022, Jacques disclosed to probation courtroom workers that he was experiencing a decline in his psychological well being; nonetheless, no motion was taken.

“Inspectors discovered throughout this evaluate that probation workers felt ill-equipped to grasp and reply to psychological well being issues, with restricted coaching and help being accessible to them.”

Mr Jones stated that the case was “symptomatic” of points noticed throughout the Probation Service in recent times.

“A reliance on an inexperienced cohort of probation workers, a scarcity of help for psychological well being and substance misuse points alongside inadequate administration oversight are issues which have been highlighted repeatedly,” he stated.

“On account of this evaluate, eight suggestions have been made to HMPPS (HM Jail and Probation Service). They’ve accepted all these suggestions and responded with an motion plan for implementing them.”

On the Outdated Bailey on Friday, Mr Justice Bryan sentenced Jacques to life imprisonment, with a minimal time period of 45 years and 301 days, which takes under consideration time spent on remand.