Leah Croucher

Regional Probation Director
South Central
Abbey Gardens
4 Abbey Street
Reading, RG1 3BA

E 

T 

Mr. Tom Osborne 
Senior Coroner for Milton Keynes 

07 Oct 2024

Dear Mr. Osborne, 

Inquest into the death of Leah Shannon Croucher 

Thank you for your Regulation 28 Report, issued following the Inquest into the death of Leah Croucher 
and addressed to the Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation. I am the Regional Probation 
Director for South Central Probation and am replying on behalf of the Minister.  

I know that you will share a copy of this response with the family, and I would first like to express my 
sincere condolences for their loss.  

You have raised the following area of concern to which I respond as follows: -   

“There should be a fundamental review of the process for monitoring sex offenders in the community 
and the sharing of information between all agencies particularly the police and probation service to 
ensure that a similar death can be prevented”.  

This recommendation was directed to the Minister of State for Prisons and Probation. That said, given 
the focus of the inquest, my response will address local probation practice in the management of 
people convicted of sex offences and in working with the local police force, Thames Valley Police. I 
will also set out how the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) Strategic 
Management Board (SMB) will be involved to ensure this is a multi-agency response.     

It has been 5 years since Leah Croucher was unlawfully killed in 2019, and the Probation Service has 
undergone significant national changes during this time. This has included the unification of the 

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 Probation Service, when the former Community Rehabilitation Companies were dissolved in 2021, 
and attendant changes to organisational structure, policy and practice.  Since then, the Probation 
Service has taken steps to strengthen our management of those who have committed sexual 
offences. We have streamlined risk assessments for such offenders and introduced a new national 
learning programme for all experienced probation officers to improve their knowledge and skills in this 
vital area of public protection work. We have also introduced new policy frameworks covering the 
preparation of pre-sentence reports, requirements to undertake home visits and expectations when it 
comes to cases managed at level 1 under MAPPA (
 was managed at MAPPA level 1 at 
the time Leah Croucher was killed).  I now quote from the MAPPA Level 1 Policy Framework where it 
states that ‘(I)t is essential that information sharing takes place’. The Policy Framework further 
stipulates that the Probation Service actively seek out any new information which may affect risk 
assessment and management and invite the Police to take part in reviews where the inclusion of their 
expertise would be of benefit (as it would have been in this case). 

I am also aware that the Home Office commissioned an independent review into the police-led 
management of registered sex offenders in the community which was published in April 2023.  While 
the focus on the review was as the title suggests on policing, the report recognises it would be 
impossible to undertake the review looking solely at the policing aspect of what is chiefly a multi-
agency process. The new Government will consider its response to the recommendations in due 
course. 

I now turn to what the Thames Valley MAPPA SMB will do to review the arrangements for managing 
sexual offenders in the Thames Valley MAPPA Area. 

In terms of the process for monitoring sex offenders in Thames Valley, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 
("CJA 2003") provides for the establishment of MAPPA in each of the 42 criminal justice areas in 
England and Wales. These are designed to protect the public, including previous victims of crime, 
from serious harm by sexual and violent offenders. The MAPPA Responsible Authority (RA) consists 
of the Police, Probation Service, and Prison Service acting jointly in each area. It is fundamental to the 
operation of MAPPA and must make arrangements for assessing and managing the risks posed by 
MAPPA eligible offenders in its area and monitoring the effectiveness of its arrangements.  The role 
and functions of the RA are exercised through the SMB.  The Chair of the SMB has accepted that the 
Board should oversee a piece of work to review the effectiveness of the multi-agency processes for 
monitoring sex offenders and for information exchange between police and probation. This will build 
on the extensive learning which came from the MAPPA Serious Case Review (SCR) and associated 
action plan, which is due to be implemented in full by August 2025. 

Within the Probation Service, we will focus our review on information sharing practice at the pre-
sentence report stage and throughout the management of an order or licence, building on the actions 
set out in the internal Serious Further Offence (SFO) review. The Pathfinder to Improved Pre-
Sentence Advice (PIPA) project is piloting in the South Central Probation Region. This project aims to 
improve the quality of Pre-Sentence advice to the Judiciary. This includes reviewing cases further in 
advance of upcoming hearings.  This gives staff more time to gather information from other agencies 
and consider the implications for risk and the suitability of various sentencing options. We will 
specifically consider how this is supporting the preparation of reports on registered sex offenders in 
light of this case.  We will also build on the actions set out in the internal Serious Further Offence 
(SFO) review to focus on information sharing.  We will conclude the review by 31st March 2025. 

We will work with the national Assessment and Management of Sexual Offending (AMSO) Team 
within HMPPS to share the findings from our review, to support any learning on a national basis, 
disseminating any outcomes or proposed practice changes which arise from it. This will include 
continued improvement of the effective and efficient delivery of ViSOR as the primary means of multi-
agency information sharing in the region. National projects are ensuring that all areas are working to 
establish the use of ViSOR as a business-as-usual system in sentence management. Over the last 3 
years these projects have seen a steady rise in the number of HMPPS staff with access to ViSOR, 
rising from less than 300 to more than 3500. These numbers continue to increase by approximately 

2 

 300 a month and the intention is that more than 12,000 HMPPS members of staff will have access to 
ViSOR by the time it is replaced by a more dynamic and agile system (MAPPS) in 2026. In South 
Central ViSOR usage has been increased steadily and now 35% of in scope staff have access to the 
database. We will continue to provide capacity to train 40 staff a month and pending vetting being 
timely will deliver full access in a year. 

Thank you for bringing this matter of concern to my attention.  Please be assured that learning from 
the circumstances of this tragic death has been shared more widely with colleagues and will continue 
to inform improvements across all the Probation Regions.     

Yours sincerely  

Regional Probation Director 

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