Damien Bendall: Exposed – the missed chances to prevent ‘psychopathic’ criminal from killing four people
Probation officers made a series of failings before a “psychopathic” criminal murdered three children and his pregnant partner, a watchdog has said.
Damien Bendall killed his 35-year-old girlfriend Terri Harris, her 11-year-old daughter Lacey Bennett, her 13-year-old son John Paul Bennett, and Lacey’s 11-year-old friend Connie Gent in Killamarsh, Derbyshire, in September 2021.
They were attacked with a claw hammer, and Bendall also admitted raping Lacey.
He is now serving a whole-life order for the murders, but a review has found that the Probation Service’s handling of Bendall was of an “unacceptable standard” at every stage – and “critical opportunities” to correct errors were missed.
Chief inspector of probation Justin Russell said the Probation Service’s handling of Bendall, from court to within the community, “fell far below what was required” – and he was handled by “insufficiently qualified and experienced” officers.
Bendall was living under curfew with Ms Harris and her children, despite previous convictions for violent crime, and allegations of domestic abuse made by a former partner.
He was on probation serving a suspended prison sentence for arson – and gave Ms Harris’s address for his curfew order.
But the probation officers dealing with the case did not ask Ms Harris if she consented to him giving her address, nor did they visit the house to assess the levels of risk.
With a history of crime dating back to 2004, Bendall is first recorded as being supervised by probation in 2011 – more than a decade before the killings.
He had previous convictions for crimes including robbery, attempted robbery and grievous bodily harm – prompting Justice Secretary Dominic Raab to order a review.
Terri Harris. Pic: Derbyshire Constabulary
A litany of failings
Mr Russell’s report revealed a plethora of missed opportunities by probation officers, which led to “serious consequences”.
This includes how Bendall’s records showed allegations of domestic abuse made against him by an ex-partner – and that Wiltshire Police’s child sexual exploitation unit had contacted probation as they had evidence that he held a “sexual risk of harm to girls”.
According to the report, officers at the time were focused on Bendall’s violence behind bars and extreme right-wing views after he claimed that he was a high-ranking member of a white supremacist group.
As a result, the report said intelligence about the risk of “serious sexual harm” was “not explored or recorded sufficiently” to inform checks to help keep children safe.
Despite the killer admitting to using Class A drugs and alcohol – and “frequently” taking money from his family to fuel his addiction – this information was not escalated to a manager and the risk to partners and children continued to be assessed as low.
Decisions taken by officers were put down to their lack of experience. The report said officers “should not have been exposed to cases such as (Bendall’s) at this stage in their careers”.
Making 17 recommendations for improvement, Mr Russell said: “If Bendall had been assessed as presenting a higher risk of serious harm – which would have been appropriate – it is unlikely a curfew order would have been deemed suitable and he would have been assigned to more experienced and confident probation officers.”
He added that this case was the “most concerning” of his tenure – and the parents of Ms Harris and Connie Gent were “shocked” by the findings.
In a statement, prisons and probation minister Damian Hinds confirmed that disciplinary action has already been taken against two members of staff, and added: “The extra funding of £155m a year we have put into the Probation Service is being used to recruit thousands more frontline staff and to ensure domestic abuse and child safeguarding checks are always carried out before any offender is given a curfew.
“The Probation Service has also improved information sharing with police and councils, so no family is put at such significant risk again.”
UK
Specialist teams and online investigators deployed across England and Wales to tackle ‘national emergency’ of violence against women and girls
Specialist investigation teams for rape and sexual offences are to be created across England and Wales as the Home Secretary declares violence against women and girls a “national emergency”.
Shabana Mahmood said the dedicated units will be in place across every force by 2029 as part of Labour’s violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy due to be launched later this week.
The use of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs), which had been trialled in several areas, will also be rolled out across England and Wales. They are designed to target abusers by imposing curfews, electronic tags and exclusion zones.
The orders cover all forms of domestic abuse, including economic abuse, coercive and controlling behaviour, stalking and ‘honour’-based abuse. Breaching the terms can carry a prison term of up to 5 years.
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Govt ‘thinking again’ on abuse strategy
Nearly £2m will also be spent funding a network of officers to target offenders operating within the online space.
Teams will use covert and intelligence techniques to tackle violence against women and girls via apps and websites.
A similar undercover network funded by the Home Office to examine child sexual abuse has arrested over 1,700 perpetrators.
Abuse is ‘national emergency’
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said in a statement: “This government has declared violence against women and girls a national emergency.
“For too long, these crimes have been considered a fact of life. That’s not good enough. We will halve it in a decade.
“Today we announce a range of measures to bear down on abusers, stopping them in their tracks. Rapists, sex offenders and abusers will have nowhere to hide.”
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Angiolini Inquiry: Recommendations are ‘not difficult’
The target to halve violence against women and girls in a decade is a Labour manifesto pledge.
The government said the measures build on existing policy, including facial recognition technology to identify offenders, improving protections for stalking victims, making strangulation a criminal offence and establishing domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms.
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Labour has ‘failed women’
But the Conservatives said Labour had “failed women” and “broken its promises” by delaying the publication of the violence against women and girls strategy.
Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, said that Labour “shrinks from uncomfortable truths, voting against tougher sentences and presiding over falling sex-offender convictions. At every turn, Labour has failed women.”
There have been no migrant arrivals in small boats crossing the Channel for 28 days, according to Home Office figures.
The last recorded arrivals were on 14 November, making it the longest uninterrupted run since autumn 2018 after no reported arrivals on Friday.
However, a number of Border Force vessels were active in the English Channel on Saturday morning, indicating that there may be arrivals today.
So far, 39,292 people have crossed to the UK aboard small boats this year – already more than any other year except 2022.
The record that year was set at 45,774 arrivals.
It comes as the government has stepped up efforts in recent months to deter people from risking their lives crossing the Channel – but measures are not expected to have an impact until next year.
Debris of a small boat used by people thought to be migrants to cross the Channel lays amongst the sand dunes in Gravelines, France. Pic: PA
December is normally one of the quietest for Channel crossings, with a combination of poor visibility, low temperatures, less daylight and stormy weather making the perilous journey more difficult.
The most arrivals recorded in the month of December is 3,254, in 2024.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy met with ministers from other European countries this week as discussions over possible reform to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) continue.
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France agrees to start intercepting small boats
The issue of small boat arrivals – a very small percentage of overall UK immigration – has become a salient issue in British politics in recent years.
Last month, French maritime police announced they would soon be able to intercept boats in the English Channel.
The King has shared in a television address that, thanks to early diagnosis, his cancer treatment can be reduced in the new year.
In a televised address, Charles said his “good news” was “thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to doctors’ orders”.
“This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years,” he added.
“Testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the 50% of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives.”
The King announced in February 2024 that he had been diagnosed with cancer and was beginning treatment.
The monarch postponed all public-facing engagements, but continued with his duties as head of state behind palace walls, conducting audiences and Privy Council meetings.
He returned to public duties in April last year and visited University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in central London with the Queen and discussed his “shock” at being diagnosed when he spoke to a fellow cancer patient.
Sources suggested last December his treatment would continue in 2025 and was “moving in a positive direction”.
The King began returning to public duties in April last year. File pic: PA
The King has chosen not to reveal what kind of cancer he has been treated for. Palace sources have partly put that down to the fact that he doesn’t want one type of cancer to appear more significant or attract more attention than others.
In a statement after the speech aired, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “His Majesty has responded exceptionally well to treatment and his doctors advise that ongoing measures will now move into a precautionary phase.”
Sir Keir Starmer praised the video message as “a powerful message,” and said: “I know I speak for the entire country when I say how glad I am that his cancer treatment will be reduced in the new year.
“Early cancer screening saves lives.”
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Watch: King Charles gives update on treatment
Early detection can give ‘the precious gift of hope’
His message on Friday was broadcast at 8pm in support of Stand Up To Cancer, a joint campaign by Cancer Research UK and Channel 4.
In an appeal to people to get screened for the disease early, the King said: “I know from my own experience that a cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming.
“Yet I also know that early detection is the key that can transform treatment journeys, giving invaluable time to medical teams – and, to their patients, the precious gift of hope. These are gifts we can all help deliver.”
Charles noted that “at least nine million people in our country are not up to date with the cancer screenings available to them,” adding: “That is at least nine million opportunities for early diagnosis being missed.
“The statistics speak with stark clarity. To take just one example: When bowel cancer is caught at the earliest stage, around nine in ten people survive for at least five years.
“When diagnosed late, that falls to just one in ten. Early diagnosis quite simply saves lives.”
Minor inconvenience of screening ‘a small price to pay’
The King acknowledged that people often avoid screening “because they imagine it may be frightening, embarrassing or uncomfortable”. But, he added: “If and when they do finally take up their invitation, they are glad they took part.
“A few moments of minor inconvenience are a small price to pay for the reassurance that comes for most people when they are either told either they don’t need further tests, or, for some, are given the chance to enable early detection, with the life-saving intervention that can follow.”
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Giving his “most heartfelt thanks” to doctors, nurses, researchers and charity workers, the King added: “As I have observed before, the darkest moments of illness can be illuminated by the greatest compassion. But compassion must be paired with action.
“This December, as we gather to reflect on the year past, I pray that we can each pledge, as part of our resolutions for the year ahead, to play our part in helping to catch cancer early.
“Your life – or the life of someone you love – may depend upon it.”
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