The Probation Service has apologised for “unacceptable failings” that led to a convicted double-killer being housed next door to an elderly woman who he went on to murder.
Lawrence Bierton was on a life licence for two murders committed in 1995 when he was moved into a property in Rayton Spur, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, in November 2020, next door to the home of 73-year-old Pauline Quinn.
Bierton, 63, went on to bludgeon Ms Quinn to death with a coffee table on November 9 2021, and was given a whole-life order on Wednesday – meaning he will never be released.
The judge, Mr Justice Pepperall, described the decision to move Bierton to Rayton Spur – a complex for elderly and vulnerable people – as a “significant mistake”, with a member of the Probation Service admitting that the decision was “incorrect”.
Following the sentencing, the service said one member of staff had received a formal warning over the case and that changes had been made regarding the management of serious offenders once they leave prison.
A spokesperson said: “We are sorry for the unacceptable failings in this case and our thoughts remain with the family of Pauline Quinn.
“We have taken action to ensure decisions on where serious offenders live once they leave prison can now be reviewed independently and we are injecting more than £155 million a year into the Probation Service to recruit thousands more staff to keep the public safe.”
A serious case review has already been completed into the handling of Bierton’s case, with a serious further offence review also undertaken.
While the findings of the reviews are to be shared with Ms Quinn’s family, the Probation Service confirmed on Wednesday that they will not be made publicly available.
The probation watchdog can carry out a separate independent review of such cases, but the body said this was not being conducted in this case because it had not been ordered by the Justice Secretary.
Bierton was given a life sentence in 1996 for the murders of two elderly sisters, 79-year-old Aileen Dudill and 73-year-old Elsie Gregory, at their home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in 1995.
He was first released in December 2017, but was recalled to prison in July 2018 due to behaviour concerns.
He was released again in May 2020, moving to Rayton Spur six months later, before an alcohol tag was removed in early 2021 after Bierton complained of swelling in his legs.
On the morning of Ms Quinn’s death, Bierton drank rum and vodka and took crack cocaine and Subutex, an opioid.
The Probation Service said following sentencing that Bierton’s alcohol tag was voluntary, but it had since changed licence rules so that prisoners could be compelled to wear a tag if a probation officer feels drinking would lead to reoffending.
As a result of Bierton’s case, independent senior managers now chair panels which risk assess the management of prisoners who receive life sentences.
It added that a formal review has been launched into how those on licence are placed in accommodation, which once complete would place clear requirements on probation staff when deciding where to accommodate offenders.
In his sentencing remarks on Wednesday at Nottingham Crown Court, Mr Justice Pepperall said: “That decision (to house Bierton at Rayton Spur) was flawed and you should not have been housed among elderly and vulnerable residents.
“Ms Quinn was entitled to expect better, and the system plainly failed her.”
Handing down the whole life order, the judge said the murder of “defenceless” Ms Quinn showed an “extraordinary level of violence” and was “as senseless as it was brutal”, adding that Bierton “must never again be given the opportunity to walk the streets”.
Before sentencing, the court heard from Saika Jabeen, head of the Nottinghamshire county probation delivery unit, who said that Bierton’s behaviour on his second release “appeared markedly improved”, but said there were also unsubstantiated links to “Mamba (a synthetic cannabinoid) use and possible benefit fraud”.
She said “it was not appropriate for him (Bierton) to have been approved housing” in the complex, adding that the decision was “incorrect” and that a second, serious further offence review was also ongoing.
She also said there was now “greater scrutiny” of accommodation decisions to ensure that decisions were “defensible”.
She added that senior managers would apologise to the family on behalf of the Probation Service for the “serious oversights” in the case.