David Braddon's killing of Conner Marshall 'not predictable'

David Braddon must serve a minimum of 20 years in prison

Probation workers could not have predicted a man under their supervision would go on to kill a teenager in a case of mistaken identity, a report has concluded.

Conner Marshall, 18, from Barry, died four days after he was attacked at a Porthcawl caravan park in March 2015.

David Braddon, 26, of Caerphilly, who was being monitored at the time, was jailed for life for his murder.

Mr Marshall's family claims he should have been more tightly supervised.

At the time of the killing, Braddon was being monitored by probation workers after he was convicted for drugs offences and assaulting a police officer.

A report by the National Offender Management Service found he had missed some follow-up appointments and there were times staff could have "monitored his community order more robustly".

But it concluded staff could not have known he would go on to commit such a violent act.

Conner Marshall was found in a life-threatening condition after being beaten with a pole at Trecco Bay caravan park

"Given the limitations of managing offenders subject to community orders, there was nothing the offender manager could have done which would have predicted or prevented the offence," the report said.

"It is clear from the review that no one could have foreseen that David Braddon would go on to commit such a devastating offence.

"When an offender is being supervised in the community, it is simply not possible to eliminate risk altogether," it concluded.

However, the review did make a number of recommendations including:

• improving the way pre-sentence reports are written up

• Wales Community Rehabilitation Company team managers should improve the way they supervise staff and risk management

• better communication probation workers to support consistent risk management

Mr Marshall's mother Nadine Marshall claims the attack might never have happened if Braddon had been more tightly monitored.

"David Braddon was a time bomb... He should have had tighter controls, better management," she said.

Mr Marshall's family have been given a summary of the report, but have collected a petition of more than 2,300 signatures calling for the full version to be made public.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said serious further offences were rare but each one is taken extremely seriously and investigated fully.

"Public protection is our priority and we continue carefully to consider the findings in this case," he added.

David Braddon must serve a minimum of 20 years in prison