Joseph McCann, 34, has been convicted of a horrific series of rapes and kidnappings against 11 women and children after being freed in error by authorities who failed to realise he should have remained in jail for a previous violent offence. The jury at the Old Bailey found him guilty on Friday of all 37 counts, and he could face a life sentence.
McCann raped eight victims, including an 11-year-old boy and a 71-year-old woman, during a two-week rampage earlier this year that stretched from London to Cheshire. The attacks began on 21 April in Watford when he snatched a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint, and escalated to include further abductions and assaults in east and north London.
Following the verdicts, there were immediate calls for an inquiry into how McCann was freed despite being subject to an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence for a 2008 burglary armed with a knife. Probation and parole experts said his mistaken release came against a background of austerity-driven cuts to the justice system.
The Ministry of Justice blamed the south-east and eastern division of the probation service for the error, noting that division has the highest workload in the service. An internal investigation led to one staff member being demoted. Jo Farrar, chief executive of HM Prisons and Probation Service, apologised for the failings.
Labour's policing spokeswoman, Louise Haigh, said a 'perfect storm' of cuts to the police, probation and judicial systems had led to McCann's release. The judge, Mr Justice Edis, said he was considering a life sentence and would seek an explanation of McCann's licence conditions at the time of the offences.
