A mum whose daughter was killed by a criminal who, she says, should have been behind bars claims there is ‘systemic indifference to road crime’ in a probation service which was recently rated ‘inadequate’.
In November 2022, Amy Cooper, of Whaplode Drove, died aged 20 after being knocked off her motorbike by driver Shane Kelk, who left her to die in the road.
At the time of the collision Kelk was banned from driving and still on licence after receiving a jail sentence of six years and nine months in 2017 for his involvement at an armed incident in Long Sutton.
He had 22 previous convictions for 52 offences including other convictions for driving with excess alcohol and while banned.
A heavily redacted Serious Further Offence (SFO) report commissioned by the probation office into the circumstances, says responsible officers knew Kelk was driving without a licence and he should have been recalled to prison, Amy’s mum Amanda says.
The family has been told they’re not allowed to share the report with others.
The service meant to be overseeing Kelk, East and West Lincolnshire Probation Delivery Unit, was last week subject to a damning report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate that ‘struck a chord’ with Amanda and her family.
It was rated ‘Inadequate’ in five out of seven areas, saying that not enough attention was paid to keeping people safe.
The report stated the risk of harm posed by people on probation was only properly analysed in one in four cases.
“Service delivery to keep people safe was also poor, with insufficient attention given to protecting actual and potential victims from the risk of potential harm posed by people on probation,” it said.
A delay in fitting electronic tags was so significant that the period that those convicted were meant to wear it had expired by the time a tag could be fitted.
It found that staff were engaged and motivated, but were overstretched covering the large, rural area.
“It completely bears out our experience of probation service failures leading to a disqualified driver on licence from a previous offence being able to drive with impunity and then go on to kill our daughter by driving dangerously,” said Amanda. “The report states that the risk of harm posed by people on probation was only properly analysed in 13 out of 50 cases.
“This is a totally unacceptable degree of failure and Amy paid the ultimate price for those failures.
“The Ministry of Justice has responded with promises of greater funding, and while that is welcome, it does not address the issue of a systemic indifference to road crime within the justice system.
“What is needed is a change of mindset to recognise the risk posed by dangerous drivers to the whole of society, and an acknowledgement of the fact that dangerous driving is as significant a crime as any other.
“This is a crime that robs innocent people of their lives and shatters the lives of their loved ones beyond repair.”
Amanda is also calling for the SFO system to be simplified for victims as it took weeks to comprehend the ‘dense and convoluted’ 72-page document.
“There are lots of references in the report over concern, quite rightly, about the potential for drug dealing and domestic abuse, but his driving illegally is brushed aside,” said Amanda, who has been working with the charity RoadPeace. “Our aim is change attitudes to road crime, if even the justice system doesn’t take it seriously, then there is no chance that drivers will.”
Amanda had hoped the SFO report would persuade Lincolnshire Coroners’ Court to reopen the inquest into Amy’s death, but it declined.
It would have the power to legally order changes be put in place within a set timescale.
East and West Lincolnshire Probation Service monitors 1,852 people, with 892 community and suspended sentence orders, 543 people on post-release licences, and 417 in prison, the HM Inspectorate report states.
Martin Jones, chief inspector of probation, said: “Despite a positive and supportive teamwork culture, we found regional and local governance arrangements to be driving staff and managers to prioritise performance targets over delivering a quality service.
“Unfortunately, the quality of work delivered to manage risk of harm was insufficient, which resulted in an overall rating of ‘Inadequate’.
“I hope that the findings of this will afford East and West Lincolnshire some much-needed regional and national support to overcome the challenges associated with the geography.
“Leaders also need to prioritise, ensuring their practitioners understand their responsibilities and ensure management oversight develops reflective practice and professional curiosity.”
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “The government inherited a criminal justice system in crisis, placing significant strain on the probation service.
“That is why we are boosting probation funding by 45 per cent, investing up to £700 million more a year by 2028, and are on track to recruit 2,300 more probation officers nationally by March next year.
“More staff using more tags will help ensure offenders receive robust supervision and keep the public safe.”
