Killamarsh: Women and children still at risk after murders, coroner says

Terri Harris (bottom left) and her children John Bennett (top left) and Lacey Bennett (bottom right) were found dead along with Lacey's friend Connie Gent (top right)

A coroner has warned "insufficient" checks by the probation service continue to put women and children at risk after a quadruple murder.

Terri Harris, 35, her children, John Paul, 13, and Lacey Bennett, 11, and Connie Gent, 11, were killed by Damien Bendall in Killamarsh in 2021.

Their inquests heard a series of "very stark" failures by the probation service contributed to the murders.

A report to prevent future deaths has highlighted concerns about the service.

These included the probation service's record keeping on offenders, its domestic abuse and child safeguarding checks and training of officers.

Police found Ms Harris and the three children dead at the house in Chandos Crescent

Senior coroner Peter Nieto said, in the report published on Wednesday, he remained unsure the probation service could clearly record information about dangerous offenders and that staff were adequately trained to deal with them.

He said: "Very concerning information regarding Damien Bendall was made known to the probation service [including violent assault and injury of a partner, and an incident of possible child sexual abuse].

"But [this] was not recorded clearly or prominently for subsequent probation service practitioners to read and evaluate in risk assessment and decision-making, and indeed was not read at key and critical points.

"The inquests identified that domestic abuse and child safeguarding checks were either insufficient or wholly lacking at various stages of Damien Bendall's offender management.

"The current evidence is that domestic abuse and child safeguarding checks remain generally insufficient or are not being done with consequent ongoing risks to children and women.

"Insufficient or absent probation service domestic abuse and child safeguarding checks has been a theme of HM Inspectorate of Probation reports and reviews for at least the last five years."

Bendall, who was given a whole life order last December for the murders, was managed by overworked and inexperienced probation officers, the coroner heard during the inquest.

'Severely strained'

He was serving a suspended sentence for arson at the time of the murders and was under a curfew at Ms Harris' home in Chandos Crescent, Killamarsh.

But the probation officer who recommended the curfew told the inquests she did not recall seeing previous assessments which categorised Bendall as high risk, contained allegations of domestic abuse from a former partner and raised concerns over his contact with a teenage girl.

Mr Nieto said staff had made individual errors and called the systems they used "confusing".

He added safeguarding systems were "severely strained" and questioned whether the probation service "is failing to grasp" the importance of accurately completing safeguarding checks.

Damien Bendall admitted four murders and the rape of 11-year-old Lacey

The report has been sent to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, and the chief probation officer, who have 56 days to respond.

It has also been addressed to Capita PLC and the Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

The inquest heard a member of Capita PLC staff failed to report a comment made by Bendall when they were fitting his electronic curfew tag that he would murder his partner and the children if the relationship "goes bad".

Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust had no record of Bendall missing at least four alcohol and drug misuse appointments prior to the murders, despite them being a condition of his suspended sentence.

'Unthinkable crimes'

A Capita spokesperson called the killings an "appalling tragedy" and said they "accept the comments made in this case should have been escalated in line with our existing policies and we have made immediate improvements to our training".

Lee Doyle, from Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, offered condolences on behalf of the trust and said it was "committed to working closely with partner agencies to learn and improve our services, in line with the Regulation 28 report".

A spokesperson for the probation service said: "These were unthinkable crimes and our thoughts remain with the families of Terri Harris, John Paul and Lacey Bennett and Connie Gent.

"We have taken action to address the unacceptable failings in this case, including mandating domestic abuse and child safeguarding checks, recruiting thousands more probation officers, and improving information sharing.

"We are also reviewing our next steps in light of the coroner's findings to ensure we are taking every action to keep the public safe."