Lousia Ovington independent investigation report ... - NHS North East

Chapter 5 – Involvement with police and probation
Note: there are several references in this report to MAPPA (Multi Agency Public
Protection Arrangements). It is a matter of great significance that in the case of
Louisa Ovington, MAPPA was never invoked. The following, as an introduction to this
chapter, should serve as a necessarily brief outline of the MAPPA process.
MAPPA
CHAPTER 5 – INVOLVEMENT WITH POLICE AND PROBATION
The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 introduced a framework known
as Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), under which a duty was
placed on the police and probation services (collectively known as ‘The Responsible
Authority”) to work together to protect the public from convicted dangerous, violent
and sexual offenders living within the community.
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 extended the duty to the prison service, who then
became the Responsible Authority jointly with the police and probation services. In
addition to the duty on the Responsible Authority, this Act placed on various agencies
including local authority social care services, primary care trusts, other NHS trusts and
strategic health authorities a ‘Duty to Cooperate’ with the Responsible Authority.
The aim of MAPPA is to enable the identification of the relevant offender, to provide a
formal setting for the sharing of information, to undertake a rigorous risk assessment
and to formulate and put into effect a robust risk management plan.
The means by which these are achieved are, first, by establishing into which of three
categories the offender fits, then managing the offender according to certain criteria.
Rigorous risk assessment is a crucial part of the process - without accurate, up to date
risk assessment the management of that risk cannot be robust or effective.
There are three categories of offenders who may fit the criteria for MAPPA:
1. Registered sex offenders as defined in the Sexual Offences Act 2003;
2. Violent and other sex offenders who have received sentences of imprisonment of
more than one year;
3. Other offenders “who are considered by the Responsible Authority to pose a risk
of serious harm to the public” 84 who is a category 3 offender is a matter of quite
difficult judgement – the Guidance indicates that the person must have a
conviction for an offence which shows s/he is capable of causing serious harm to
the public and that the Responsible Authority must ‘reasonably consider’ that
84 MAPPA Guidance Probation 2003
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