Probation workers involved with a man who went on to murder three children and his pregnant girlfriend have described being “overwhelmed” by their workload.
An inquest opened on Monday into the deaths of Terri Harris, 35, and her children John Paul Bennett, 13, and Lacey Bennett, 11, and Lacey’s friend Connie Gent, 11.
They were all murdered by Damien Bendall, 33, who is serving whole-life sentences after he admitted last year to killing them in a series of “brutal, vicious and cruel attacks”. He also pleaded guilty to raping Lacey.
The victims’ bodies were discovered at the family home in Killamarsh, Derbyshire, on 19 September last year, where Bendall was staying at the time.
A review of how probation staff supervised Bendall in January found that there were several failings. The chief inspector of probation, Justin Russell, said the assessment and supervision of Bendall was of an “unacceptable standard” at every stage and “critical opportunities” to correct errors were missed.
Inquests into all four deaths began at Chesterfield coroner’s court on Monday and will explore how Bendall, who had a history of serious and violent offences dating back to 2004, was classed as posing a low risk of serious harm to partners and children.
The inquest heard evidence from two probation officers who worked at Swindon probation office, near where Bendall lived before he moved in with Harris.
They said their heavy workload left them feeling stressed.
Matt Read, a probation officer who worked at the Swindon office between May 2016 and April 2017, said he moved to the branch to help because it had staffing and recruitment issues.
Read told the inquest how an former partner of Bendall had made allegations of domestic abuse against him, but this could not be recorded in the offender assessment system because it is a document seen by the offender and thus could put the woman at risk. That meant the potential risk of domestic violence was not passed on to other probation officers who took on Bendall’s case.
Another probation officer, Rebecca Thomas, said she was not aware that a former partner had made allegations of domestic abuse and therefore she assessed him as being at a medium risk of violence in relationships and a low risk to children.
Thomas told the inquest she took over Bendall’s case from a probation officer who had gone on long-term sick leave. She said that at one point while working at the Swindon office she was working at 170% capacity.
She said: “It felt overwhelming at times in Swindon. I had case loads in two offices. I was very stretched for roughly a month because I wanted to do a good handover for my colleagues.
“[During] my time in the Swindon office, the case loads were very high. It affected my stress levels.”
When Thomas took over the management of Bendall’s case, he was in prison for assaulting a prison officer. She said he was assessed as a risk to prison staff because of the attack and a risk to the public because of an armed robbery he had previously carried out.
Thomas told the inquest “in an ideal world” she would have had time to look over two years’ worth of assessments on Bendall, but she could not because of her workload.
The inquest, expected to last two weeks, continues.
• In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org. The NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International
