Killamarsh murders: Review launched into how probation officers handled Damien Bendall's case

A review is being launched into how the case of a "monster" was handled by probation officers before he murdered four people.

Damien Bendall killed his pregnant partner and three children at a house in Killamarsh in September 2021.

The 32-year-old will spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty to murdering 11-year-old Lacey Bennett, her brother John Paul Bennett, 13, their mother Terri Harris, 35, and friend Connie Gent, 11. The 32-year-old also pleaded guilty to raping 11-year-old Lacey.

Now, deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has asked the Chief Inspector of Probation to investigate Bendall's court files as he was already in the probation system prior to the murders for arson, robbery, attempted robbery and grievous bodily harm convictions.

Bendall had been serving a 24-month suspended sentence for arson when he carried out the killings.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the probation officer who assessed his record for his sentencing in the arson case has since been sacked.

The probation officer was found guilty of gross misconduct after wrongly categorising Bendall as "medium risk" rather than "high risk", according to the newspaper.

A second probation officer has also separately been found guilty of misconduct for later allocating Bendall's case to a trainee.

Former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland, who left the post just three days before the Killamarsh killings, described the categorisation of Bendall as a medium-risk offender as "an appalling failure".

He said: "The ministry has to be as open and transparent as possible about why it happened, and most importantly to make sure the risk of that happening again is kept to a minimum, if not eliminated.

"Frankly, there should be processes in place that means various thresholds and tests would be met before that sort of fundamental mistake could be made."

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "These were appalling crimes and our thoughts remain with the victims' families.

"The Deputy Prime Minister asked the Chief Inspector of Probation to conduct a review of this case and we will respond further once this is published."

The Chief Inspector of Probation's review is likely to be released in the new year.

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