Police failed to warn residents a “sexual predator” was on the run from a mental Health unit.Well, if he wasn’t dangerous, why shou…
Oh:
Essex Police’s Det Chief Insp Darrin Tomkins had earlier branded John Oliver, 68, an “intelligent, devious, uncontrollable, absconding sexual predator” .Might he have been found quicker if the public were alerted?
Yet the force did not inform the public when he gave the slip to medical staff from Clare House, Bowers Gifford, on a supervised shopping trip to Basildon town centre.
He was on the run for eight days before being found in a hotel in Colchester.
Who knows? But it couldn’t hurt. And at least we'd have known exactly who was at large, and what he was capable of.
Yet it took an anonymous tip-off to our newsroom, two days after Oliver fled, to prompt police to confirm he was missing.So, when they were confronted with evidence that the escape was known by the media, they were put in a bit of a panic.
Many sphincters must have been puckering in Essex Police Farce…
Police spokeswoman Helen Cook, employed in Essex Police’s press office, then said they had no information to suggest Oliver was dangerous.Except they did, even if they hadn't informed the press office.
A letter about Oliver, written by Det Chief Insp Tomkins to the North Essex Mental Health Partnership in May – four months before he went missing from Clare House – said he was declared “dangerous” by police after being released from a mental health unit in January.You mean, the sort who might have been out and about in the Essex area when he absconded?
Mr Tomkins went on: “It is clear from the information disclosed by the mental health team on April 27, 2009, that Oliver is an intelligent, devious, uncontrollable, absconding sexual predator.
“Oliver has an inherent ability to seek out/identify vulnerable individuals.”
How did he get to be sent to a non-secure unit, anyway?
Well, certainly not because anyone paid any attention to DCI Tomkins, that’s for sure:
Mr Tomkins said Oliver was unsuitable for residential care – such as a unit like Clare House – because he continually preyed on vulnerable people.So hopefully, sphincters are puckering in the mental health services too, now this has all come to light…
But the senior officer also believed Oliver posed an even greater risk.
He continued: “The police suggest the concept of releasing him into the community exposes him to a far wider range and number of such individuals and that actually this is far more dangerous as it is completely without control.”
What do the police now have to say for themselves?
Supt Steve Worron, of Basildon police, defended the police by saying officers made “measured decisions” about what they tell the public.I think everyone will find your measurements wanting in this case…
Donna Veasey, Essex Police spokeswoman, said: “Publicising missing people is one tactic the police use in trying to trace them.There’s an element of ‘warning the public’ too, Donna. Did that not occur to you?
“There are many other inquiries which police conduct to look for someone who is missing.”
Heather Watts, spokeswoman for Essex Police, added: “Based on the information the press office was given at the time, we had no reason to suspect that John Oliver was dangerous.”Or ‘it’s not my fault, guv, I wasn’t given the right information’.
Nor were we, sweetie…
9 comments:
Public officials, shifting the blame like nobodies business since 1997.
Heather Watts, spokeswoman for Essex Police, added: “Based on the information the press office was given at the time, we had no reason to suspect that John Oliver was dangerous.”
That is a very clever statement. She made it sound like they were telling the truth and it only came to light AFTER they made the announcement. But read what she says:
"Based on the information the press office were given at the time"
Do you see what she did there? The police knew he was dangerous, but they have justified themselves by not giving this information to the press office and then defending themselves by saying the decision was based on what they gave to the press office!
Straight out of the New Labour playbook. Very devious indeed.
BTW, this is the State which wants 11 million people to prove that they aren't "filthy paedos", but which is perfectly willing to let actual dangerous paedophiles into the community without telling the public.
It's not about the children, people.
We're beyond the point of no return. The enemy has won. What they've won, exactly, I'm not sure, but I know I don't want to live there anymore. There is no sanction against this. Note: has anyone in authority suffered ill consequences from this episode?
Julia: if you want to flit the coop, now's the time. Property prices in my neck of the woods are very attractive.
I simply cannot allow you to impugn the efficiency of the Essex police service!
When I was caught by a GATSO camera travelling at 49 mph on a thinly trafficked 40 mph stretch of the M11, I was rigorously prosecuted to the full extent of the law!
PS: I'm Harriet Harman, you know where to find me...
"That is a very clever statement. She made it sound like they were telling the truth and it only came to light AFTER they made the announcement."
That's why they pay the big bucks for PR people, I guess...
"Julia: if you want to flit the coop, now's the time. Property prices in my neck of the woods are very attractive."
I can see why people are leaving these shores in droves. I really, really can...
"I simply cannot allow you to impugn the efficiency of the Essex police service!"
I've never seen the words 'efficiency' and 'Essex Police' together before! ;)
Could someone explain to me what is the point of the police?
They are clearly not interested in catching criminals, or safeguarding law and order, or preventing crime.
They are obviously interested in protecting criminals and earning a good screw.
But is that any reason for the public to support these worthless parasites?
Brian, follower of Deornoth
The police no longer give the public any information about criminals. Whenever a crime is commited, in the old days, the police would say, two white/black men age 25 etc, were being sought. Now nothing.
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