A senior coroner has ruled that “very stark” failures by the Probation Service contributed to Damien Bendall murdering his partner and three children.
Damien Bendall, 33, from Swindon, is currently serving a whole-life order for murdering his pregnant partner, Terri Harris, her two children Paul and Lacey Bennett, and Lacey’s 11-year-old friend Connie Gent.
The murderer attacked his family with a claw hammer at their home in Derbyshire last year, and also raped his 11-year-old daughter as she lay dying.
The inquests into the four deaths have now concluded that while Bendall bore “primary responsibility” for the “brutal and savage” murders, there were “several very stark acts or omissions” by both the Probation Service and individuals.
At the time of the murders, Bendall was serving a suspended sentence with a curfew and alcohol treatment requirement following an arson committed in 2020 in Swindon.
He was deemed a low risk to partners and children in a pre-sentence report written by a probation officer, a report that senior coroner Mr Nieto described as “wholly inadequate and misleading” and part of a “profoundly and seriously flawed” report process.
Bendall’s history of serious and violent offences dates back to 2004, and includes allegations of domestic abuse against a former partner and inappropriate contact with a young girl in care.
These allegations were missed due to a “failure to demonstrate sufficient professional curiosity”, Mr Nieto said.
“That was an important piece of information to be prominently recorded in the probation report.
“If it had been, it appears to me inconceivable that Damien Bendall would not have been considered to be high risk to children.”
Further safeguarding checks were not completed, with no effort made to speak to Ms Harris and her children to assess whether a curfew at her property was suitable.
When he was fitted with an electronic tag for his curfew, Mr Bendall said: “If this relationship goes bad, I will murder my girlfriend and the children.”
However, these comments were not fed back to the Probation Service.
“In my judgment, there are several very stark omissions and also a very large number of individual acts or omissions that accumulatively contributed to the deaths,” said Mr Nieto.
The Probation Service accepted 51 separate failings during the course of the inquests at Chesterfield Coroner’s Court.
Reading a statement on behalf of Ms Harris’ parents, solicitor Farva Butt said: “The Probation Service failed to protect and keep our family safe. They are now gone. This must never happen again.
“We hope that no other family has to live through the trauma that we have to every day.”
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