Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the decision was taken to release Joseph McCann.

In accordance with the sentence of the Court, Joseph McCann was released on 15 February 2019, after he had completed half (less time spent on remand) of a three-year determinate sentence for burglary imposed on 25 January 2018. On release, he was supervised by the National Probation Service (NPS)

When charged with that offence and remanded into custody on 21 August 2017, he was being supervised on licence by the NPS as part of the sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) which he received on 26 September 2008. An offender on an IPP licence is not recalled automatically when he is charged with a further offence or offences. The probation officer will consider whether the alleged further offences, prior offending and the offender’s current behaviour show that his risk has escalated to the point where he needs to be recalled to protect the public. The decision on whether to recall an offender is to be based on a robust assessment of risk and to reflect the professional judgment of a trained probation officer.

The NPS has undertaken an urgent review to establish why Mr McCann was not recalled to custody, either when remanded into custody on 21 August 2017 or when he was sentenced on 25 January 2018 . Mr McCann has now been charged with a number of very serious offences committed on or after 21 April this year. This has triggered a mandatory serious further offence (SFO) review, under the Probation SFO Review Procedures. The SFO review will consider in greater depth than has thus far been possible, including by interviewing relevant members of staff, the question of whether Mr McCann should have been recalled to custody when charged with and subsequently convicted of the burglary offence. Typically, an SFO review is completed within three months of an offender being charged with an SFO.