Sarah's Law is backed by frightened families
IT TOOK Louise Grant just two hours to collect 100 signatures on a petition to stop David Pochwyt moving back into the house next door.
It shows the strength of feeling in Meir about people who commit sex offences – but the issue is much wider than the case involving David Pochwyt.
There are 694 sex offenders living in Staffordshire, 233 of them in Stoke-on-Trent, according to figures released last October. There are 639 sex offenders living in Cheshire, 25 more than in 2008.
It was announced this month that Sarah's Law, which gives parents the right to know the identity of serious sex offenders living in their community, will be rolled out nationally from August.
Sarah's Law was a campaign started in July 2000 after the murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne. Paedophile Roy Whiting, pictured below, was later sentenced to life for Sarah's abduction and murder.
Stoke-on-Trent South MP Rob Flello is waiting to see the results of the Sarah's Law roll-out. He said: "As a father myself I have every sympathy for the concerns of these parents. But at the same time we do not want to see vigilantes, because elsewhere the wrong people have been targeted by them."
Meir residents say they would like Sarah's Law introduced. Father-of-two Gary Walker, aged 44, of Leacroft Road, said: "Parents should be able to find out if there is a convicted sex offender living on their street. It's about making sure children are kept safe."
Thomas Barker, aged 70, of Mollison Road, said: "Nobody wants a sex offender living near them. When they are released they should be housed in areas with fewer children."
Brian Jones, chairman of Wood Farm Residents' Association in Meir, fears a riot if Pochwyt returns. He said: "With the many events we arrange for children, it would be unthinkable to have paedophiles living in our midst. This man should be moved out of the county completely"
But the system the Government has in place to manage sex offenders also has to help rehabilitate them. MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) assesses and manages the risk posed by offenders. Before offenders are released, MAPPA talks to victims to ensure their safety and discuss concerns.
Barbara Jones, head of Stoke-on-Trent Probation Delivery Unit, said: "There is a public protection plan in place and victim liaison services to reassure the community, but we also need to take into account the rehabilitation of offenders, and this includes things like how they will be supervised and where they will be housed."
Comment: Page 10
10 Comments
by KJB286
Tuesday, March 20 2012, 5:49PM
“I know David and i Know his son, this is because i used to date his some, for over 6 months. this was back in 2008, Davids son shane went to prison shortly before David, charged with rape. I am sickened that i knew both of these men and had been alone with them, at the tender age of 14 and not realised what they were both capable off. it makes me feel sick. i hate the both of them and they should rot in hell.”
by 10vivtean
Saturday, October 29 2011, 9:09AM
“as a parent i want to know so i can warn my children to take care when near where they live,and i and all i have spoken to would be vigilant concerning these people
' 'who see no harm in what they do'' as they like to tell us
ask any child if they think this is true or any parent
all you do good,ers wonder how you would feel if it happened to your child”
by Rustinho, Silverdale
Monday, March 22 2010, 9:23PM
“Rob Taylor, Blurton - you contradict yourself so well in your argument for the death penalty. The justice system is a human system. It will have errors as you rightly point out. Attempting to correct a miscarriage of justice after a death sentence has been carried out is every bit as impossible as "un-raping" a child.
Your solution is a non-solution. A failure before it is even tried, even by your own ill thought out argument.
The vast majority of child abuse is perpetrated by either a member of the family or a trusted friend of the family.
Rather than face up to this disturbing possibility, people look to scapegoat an easy target instead of facing up to a more likely source of danger to a child.”
by Matt, Tunstall
Monday, March 22 2010, 3:39PM
“Maybe Rob, but I think chemical or physical castration might first be employed before we go that far.
Psychology doesn't seem to work as the fundamental make up of a person is beyond repair.”
by Rob Taylor, Blurton, Stoke-on-Trent
Monday, March 22 2010, 2:41PM
“So here we are again. Yet another paedophile being released and put back into the community. A family orientated community. A community with small children and fearful parents.
But it¿s ok because the Government has soothed our fears and despairs with its ¿Public Protection Plan¿ and ¿Victim Liaison Service¿. Well, thanks for that Mr. Brown et al. So what went wrong with your PPP and VLS when our friend¿s daughter (aged 7 at the time) was abducted by a known (to the authorities not the public) paedophile ? Oh yes, that¿s right. He didn¿t report in for 7 or 8 months and eventually got ¿lost¿ in the system.
I know I will upset people with my next statement but it¿s the only one that makes sense. REINSTATEMENT OF CAPTIAL PUNISHMENT. But what is that I hear ? Cries of ¿barbaric and uncivilised¿ ?
Let¿s just look at it ok. What kind of ¿civilised¿ social system allows a convicted sex offender to be housed in a family area ? With all due respect to Mr. Barker who commented in the pages of The Sentinel, if you were living in an area with very few or no young families, would YOU be happy that a convicted sex offender was living in YOUR vicinity ? If you move them on to another area, another county, you are just putting someone else¿s children at risk. How can that be fair or right ?
The system is there to protect us. Wrong, the system is there to protect THEM. The system is flawed. It can never be watertight. There is no such thing as a foolproof system. If it is designed and run by humans it will have errors !!
One simple idea. One simple answer. EXECUTION. It¿s not that difficult a concept to grasp.......
¿Oh we simply couldn¿t do that. It just not British.¿”
by trudi, originally from meir
Monday, March 22 2010, 12:14PM
“he won't be the first one to live in meir police warned parents around one primary school that a sex offender was living close by the school in a top floor flat the guy lasted all of 2 days before he was moved. one solution don't let them out.”
by a parent, near Meir.
Monday, March 22 2010, 11:47AM
“Great. Release them from prison, release their names to us and then let the community sort em out.
Job done!!”
by Patrick Carr, Manchester
Monday, March 22 2010, 10:58AM
“they should not be any were there r children put them like on the moors to fend 4 themselfs years ago there was 1 in chesterton but left when we carved BEAST in his forehead and broke a few bones in his body 4 messing with my mates young 1”
by Anon, Tunstall
Monday, March 22 2010, 10:55AM
“Good job it wasn't Tunstall, they would have made him a councillor!”
by fred smythe, trentham
Monday, March 22 2010, 9:58AM
“a convicted sex offender living in the meir?...i rate his chance of survival at 0.0%.....if hes lucky....”