Limits of probation
From Andrew Keyser
Sir: Rod Liddle just adds to confusion by jumping on a bandwagon (‘What is the Home Office for?’, 25 March). He compares the murders of John Monckton and Mary Ann Leneghan by mentioning the involvement of the probation service. But the cases differ. Monckton’s killer was released from prison on licence. There is a question over whether he should have been released. But, so far as I am aware, Leneghan’s killers were just on probation. This matters. Liddle says, ‘The truth is that if Damien Hanson and Jamaile Morally et al had still been in prison’, the victims would be alive. Why should Leneghan’s killers have been in prison? He does not explain. A further, and different, point is that the probation service cannot possibly supervise every activity of people on licence or on probation. In the case of probation at least, that is not the role of the probation service.
Andrew Keyser By email
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