MAPPA – As Much Use As A Chocolate Teapot…

Wonderful new ‘multi-agency partnership’ MAPPA, part of the new Ministry of Justice, isn’t doing what it was set up to do:

MAPPA is to now tighten up its policies having found "the response by the agencies operating under MAPPA in relation to managing the risk posed by Summers could have been more robust".

Hmmm, really? Let’s see:

The couple began a sexual relationship in late 2005, but by January 2006 Ms Edwards had ended their relationship.

She repeatedly told him it was over, but he began threatening her and was handed an injunction.

Fair enough, first offence after all.

Summers was then given a suspended sentence rather than jailed for flouting the order.

Gosh, no? No further punishment for flouting the order? How unusual…

He removed his electronic tag to get round restrictions which were meant to stop him visiting her home.

And the punishment for this…? Err, well, nothing. Which led to:

David Summers, 23, plagued Diane Edwards, 53, for weeks, before killing her at a house in Blyth, Northumberland, in October 2006.

He then had sex with her corpse, apparently…

The review published on Friday by MAPPA, the multi-agency management scheme for violent offenders, said Summers had no regard for the law.

The heroin addict had "ignored or actively breached all restrictions placed upon him which were designed to protect Diane Edwards", according to the report.

Well, of course he had no regard for the law! It wasn’t, after all, doing anything to stop him doing exactly as he wanted.

And when he breached all restrictions ‘designed to protect the victim’, nothing happened! So not really a surprise that he had no regard for the law. It’s a wonder anyone has any...

Dave Gardiner, the Northumbria MAPPA Strategic Management Board chairman, said: "Realistically, we can never completely eliminate risk and sometimes, sadly, this has tragic consequences.

"But there are many more individuals successfully managed through MAPPA who do not reoffend."

Ah, yes. The ‘Ok, we screwed up, but look at all the times we don’t screw up!’ excuse… I bet it doesn’t have ‘tragic consequences’ for anyone employed in the probation industry, though.

Still, MAPPA does have a gloriously politically-correct cluster of ‘victim leaflets’ in numerous available languages. Pity they might as well all say ‘You’re on your own….’