Foster: Concerned over sex offenders

Call for New Curbs on Sex Offenders

Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, made his call following the case of Christopher Clark.

Clark was this week jailed for life for sexually assaulting a young teacher shortly after being released from a rape sentence.

After the case, senior probation officers revealed that they knew he would strike again when he was released from a 14-year term for rape.

But they were powerless to intervene despite their fears, and indeed he struck again within three months of his release.

Mr Foster said new mechanisms were needed to give advance warning of offenders who were likely to pose a risk on release and who were jailed before legislation introduced in the early 1990s to plug the loophole, and give the Probation Service the right to supervise them closely.

He pointed out that the 1991 Criminal Justice Act, which came into force in October 1992, allowed for offenders deemed still to be a risk on release to be placed under a supervision order which allowed the Probation Service to check up on their activities.

But Clark was originally imprisoned before the Act came into force, and was consequently not liable to the supervision order provisions.

Mr Foster said the new register of convicted sex offenders which was now being compiled would help but cautioned: "There are many people in prison who offended before, were imprisoned before October 1992, they are due for release in the near future, they may well come out, be deemed to be a risk to society and yet we can do absolutely nothing about it."

The register was "a step in the right direction", but the problem of the lack of supervision of offenders jailed before October 1992 and due to be released remained.

"We need to know if somebody's coming out that if they are likely to be a risk to society then we can take action," said Mr Foster.