Paedophile postcode lottery claims as sex fiends housed in poorest areas

Fury as sex offenders are dumped in our most deprived communities.

A housing chief has quit in protest at a policy that dumps dangerous sex offenders in the most deprived communities.

Outraged Michael Carberry says it is a scandal poor estates are being flooded with an unfair quota of sex offenders and has warned it is only a matter of time before a child is killed as a result of the policy.

He has walked out of his key role with a housing authority in disgust at what he sees as a terrible social injustice forced on Scotland’s schemes.

Other disgruntled colleagues look set to follow his lead and quit too.

In his hard-hitting resignation letter Mr Carberry accused the authorities of taking a “softly-softly” approach which is putting children at risk.

And he warns that a youngster could lose their life simply for growing up under the wrong postcode just as eight-year-old Mark Cummings was murdered by a sex offender in a Glasgow high-rise 10 years ago.

At present the Scottish Government’s strategy for housing sex offenders in the community urges social landlords to sign a deal which sees them swap information with police and social workers, so volatile criminals can be found a home without giving away their identity.

However fears are growing over the way it is implemented to the extent The Sunday Post understands scores of disgruntled housing chiefs are expected to join a rebellion against them.

And leading disquiet against the strategy is Mr Carberry.

He says: “Our tenants, our communities, are carrying an unreasonable risk. While professional officers develop a culture of ‘Defensible Decision Making’, one of our communities will suffer the same catastrophic event that affected Royston in 2004 [the Mark Cummings killing].

“A victim, or a victim’s family, will challenge the process that placed the offender in that community.

“The process is being extended to include accommodating violent and mentally ill offenders, as well as sex offenders. Trying to protect the interests of our communities with a softly, softly, diplomatic approach is not appropriate.”

He added: “Our concern is about dangerous offenders being placed into the poorest communities.

“It’s about the process being fundamentally flawed and unable to protect our tenants. It’s about our tenants living with that risk every day.

“And it’s about our officers, who have knowledge of these arrangements, carrying that with them every day.

“With every decision we should ask the question: What is in the best interests of the people who live in our communities?”

Mr Carberry has stood down from the board of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations (GWSF), an influential umbrella group which represents 69 social landlords with 60,000 tenants across the region.

Most of its members have signed up to a new information sharing protocol which means they will work more closely with police and social services to secretly accommodate sex offenders in the community.

But Mr Carberry’s Blochairn Housing Association and more than a dozen others have refused to co-operate and more resignations may now follow. A GWSF source revealed: “This row has been festering for some time. The fact is that disadvantaged areas are being used as a dumping ground for the worst type of offenders.

“Glasgow and the west of Scotland have a lot more of these neighbourhoods so it’s no surprise a rebellion’s kicked off here first, but you can imagine other housing associations in Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh asking the same questions and refusing to accept what they’re given.

“Nobody’s pretending there are easy answers but it’s time Scottish Government ministers confronted this problem instead of pretending it will go away. It won’t it will just come back to haunt us again and again.

“Why should a child from a poorer background be put at greater risk simply because of their postcode? And why should that child’s family be kept in the dark ?

“These are not values that the majority of Scots will recognise or accept.”

Last night, Mr Carberry’s stance won support from campaigner Margaret-Ann Cummings mother of murder victim Mark. She said: “The system didn’t protect my boy and it’s still failing now. It needs pulling apart and a fresh start made.

“The Government strategy says sex offenders should be housed in a way that will safeguard children.

“It says sex offenders should be prevented from creating networks, yet they house them in the same areas.

“Poor areas are the very worst places to put these people. There are more children and schools packed into small districts.

“In the holidays, there are kids playing out all the time because their parents don’t have the money to go away for breaks.

“And there are families moving in and out of the area all the time so youngsters aren’t as wary of strangers. Sex offenders are allowed to hide in plain sight.”

Mrs Cummings, 38, added: “Thank God Michael Carberry had the guts to speak out.”

Tory housing spokesman Alex Johnstone said it is clear “sex offenders have to be housed somewhere”, but he said “it’s concerning that someone so prominent has raised such serious fears about the process”.

He called on the Scottish Government to examine the scandal “as a matter of urgency”.

He said: “The situation appears to be that normal, law-abiding tenants are being placed side-by-side with dangerous individuals and that is an appalling situation.”

GWSF director David Bookbinder admits poor neighbourhoods are bearing the brunt.

He said: “I think that is true and there’s a simple reason for that when the authorities look to house sex offenders they reach a realisation there is more chance of doing deals with councils and housing associations than with private landlords.

“And council and social housing is predominantly situated in more deprived areas. Michael’s right. But the question is whether sex offenders should be housed in the community. If you don’t make other arrangements then this is the policy we have to live with. Nothing is risk-free. But if they are housed in a particular place then you know where they are and you’ve got half a chance.

“We have suggested to the Scottish Government that as yet there is not enough clear evidence of the benefits of sex offenders being housed in the community.

“The general view of ministers is that this is the best approach. Is that a source of frustration for us? Yes and we would welcome more evidence so the research picture becomes more convincing.”

Last night, Mr Carberry said: “I can confirm that I have resigned from the forum board, but I cannot comment further at this time.”

Last night the Scottish Government defended its position. “The Care Inspectorate and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland are working together to review how well the public is protected from RSOs,” their spokeswoman said.

“This forthcoming study during the summer of 2015 will provide a valuable opportunity to reassess where improvements in public protection can be made.”

The Facts: Framework to monitor offenders

Scotland had 4,032 Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs) at the last count in 2013, of which 3,335 were living in the community and 494 were subject to additional monitoring because of the extra risk they pose.

The police, council social workers and the prison service co-ordinate their efforts through a set of procedures called Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).

These rules, introduced in 2007, are supposed to ensure that officials are properly prepared and swap crucial information and intelligence so that RSOs are effectively monitored.

Part of MAPPA is the National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders (NASSO), which gives guidance on how to safely house sex offenders when they are released from jail while still keeping their identity a secret.

Under NASSO, so-called environmental scans are meant to pick up on any vulnerable people living nearby the target property along with local schools, play parks and other RSOs.

Council housing officers and housing associations are expected to sign an Information Sharing Protocol (ISP) which sets out how they will play their part in the process.

But critics claim that MAPPA is so complex and creates so many duties that it’s impossible for officials to perform them properly, so corners are cut and

potentially-lethal lower-level offenders go unmonitored.