‘See each stranger as possible sex attacker’
Nov 30 2007 by Paul James, The Journal
THE public protection boss who headed an inquiry into bath snatch rapist Peter Voisey is warning parents to regard all strangers as potential sex offenders.
Dave Gardiner, Northumbria Mappa Strategic Management Board chair, said it was up to the community to be vigilant after an inquiry ruled that Voisey’s attack could not have been prevented.
Mappa, the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements board, said the offence in North Tyneside at Christmas 2005 was a “random, opportunist attack” in an area not normally frequented by Voisey, from Blyth, Northumberland.
Mr Gardiner ruled out a law disclosing addresses of sex offenders, of whom there are about 900 in Northumbria Police area.
He said: “We all have to be vigilant, particularly parents. It’s very unsettling for everyone. Should we know where all the sex offenders are living? … I would say no.
“You should treat a stranger as a possible sex offender. Even where you know about the ones we know about, there could be ones we don’t know about in your street.
“If you’re going to let anybody take any responsibility for your children, I think parents have to be particularly vigilant. This is the counter argument to those who say we should publish sex offenders’ addresses. That might send sex offenders underground. That might make parents complacent. That doesn’t make you any safer.”
At the time of the attack, Voisey, 35, was under police supervision after a prison sentence for attacking a young girl at a leisure centre in Macclesfield, Cheshire, in 2001.
He kidnapped the six-year-old North Tyneside girl from her bath and raped her, for which he was given three life sentences at Newcastle Crown Court last December.
But Mr Gardiner said Voisey had been complying with the Sex Offenders Register and police were visiting him more frequently than regulations required. Once in 2002 when he failed to notify officers of a change of address, he was arrested and charged, which Mr Gardiner said showed supervision was working. He argued nothing could have been done to prevent the attack. He said: “The conclusion of this Serious Case Review shows that there were no measures Mappa authorities could have taken which might have prevented this offence.
“Mappa is about managing the risk of individuals who would in any case be in the community. Realistically, we can never completely eliminate risk and sometimes this has tragic consequences.”
Chairman of North-East Victims Association, David Hines, agreed with the Mappa findings, but backed the idea of making public the addresses of sex offenders through a Sarah’s Law, called for by the family of Sarah Payne, who was murdered by Roy Whiting.
He said: “I would like Sarah’s Law implemented in this country. We never give victims the chance to have their say and the vast majority of the public would like to see this implemented. Does Mr Gardiner not honestly not think parents are vigilant?
“We’re so over-protective of our kids compared to 20 or 30 years ago. Voisey was complying with the rules, but maybe his original sentence was wrong. That leniency allowed him back into the community.
“If there was a paedophile living in my street, I would want to know. That doesn’t mean I’m going to attack him.”
Supt Jim Napier, who led the police inquiry, said he was “satisfied that nothing in the way that he was managed by the agencies involved could have prevented him from committing the crimes he did.
“This emphasises how despicable the attack was – a random act which targeted a six-year-old girl who should have been safe in her own home, making it all the more difficult to both predict and investigate.”
Northumbria Police did not wish to comment on Mr Gardiner’s remarks.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
For the history of the Voisey story, click the links below
Kidnap girl describes terror ride
Man held over bath snatch sex assault
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Child plagued by memories of ordeal
PETER VOISEY denied the attack on the girl, but was found guilty by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court last December.
The court heard he had carried out the opportunist crime on the six-year-old just two days after Christmas 2005.
He was given three life sentences for abduction, rape and sexual assault and told he must serve at least 10 years.
The attack traumatised the child and she was plagued by memories of that evening, the jury heard.
Jailing Voisey, Judge David Hodson told him: “I am in no doubt whatsoever that you are a dangerous, predatory male who poses a serious risk.” The court heard Voisey had sneaked in through the back door of the girl’s home, put his gloved hand over her mouth and driven her away in his Vauxhall Astra.
He stopped twice to sexually assault the terrified youngster and then dumped her in a lane near her home, where she was heard sobbing by neighbours.
At the time, he was the subject of a Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement after serving a two-year jail sentence for indecently assaulting a vulnerable 12-year-old girl at a swimming pool in Cheshire in 2001.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Voisey known for years
THE full report on Peter Voisey was not released yesterday, but the conclusions were published.
They highlight ways Mappa procedures could have been improved, in particular on recording and sharing information. Chairman Dave Gardiner said they related to meetings between groups such as police, council and probation staff in the organisation’s early days.
He said there had been “inconsistency of attendance” from agencies while Voisey was under licensed supervision. Since last April, attendance has been monitored.
Several agencies held details on Voisey, going back many years, but there was no readily available summary. That will change next year as agencies gain access to the national database of
