So, a normal working day as a Court PO and I am on duty to complete on the day reports for any of our people on probation. I receive a call from the Court Duty Officer to say a report is needed for someone who has been found in possession of a bladed article.
I am presented with a young Black male who was found with a knife down the front of his trousers. During interview he informed me he had found the knife. One of my early questions was why four Black males were stopped and searched by Police, although statistical data tells us that black males are more likely to be stopped and searched when compared with white males.
My analysis of him was that he had recently finished his degree and came from a good family background, dad was a doctor and mother was a teacher. His parents had no idea of his hearing. My assessment was I did not believe he had found the knife and he was foolish carrying a weapon, but having no pre-convictions I was hopeful he may receive a Suspended Sentence Order with requirements of Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and Unpaid Work.
The report was completed and provided to the Magistrates for sentence. I was on Teams with the Court Duty Officer and asked her to keep me updated once he had been dealt with. I was told he had been sent to prison for 20 weeks. I was shocked and went downstairs to the Court. His legal representative, Crown Prosecution Service, Legal Advisor, Court Duty Officer and I were all horrified with the outcome.
I came back upstairs and mentioned this to my Senior Probation Officer and another Black colleague and the response I received from my colleague was: “Was he Black?”
A few days later as on duty for completing RSR/CAS. I completed an assessment for an individual who had three pages of pre-convictions was found to be brandishing a bladed article in public and threatening members of the public, sentenced without a report and was given 60 hours Unpaid Work, and yes, he was a White male.
On another occasion five people were arrested and found with a gun in a car. There were four Black males and one White male. The White male was driving, it was his car and the gun was under his seat. Reports were requested for an assessment of “Dangerousness.” I interviewed a Black male over video-link, apparently a request for him and another person had been missed, three others had been sentenced to an extended determinate sentence.
Upon questioning I asked him, why was a report not requested for him and his other co-defendant. He did not know the reason why, but we continued with the interview. Further details revealed his co-defendant at his last appearance in Crown Court was sentenced without a report to a standard determinate sentence.
My suspicion then became what colour was the standard determinate prisoner, and yes, he was White. Silence fell between me and the defendant and if you have ever suffered racism, that one look between us said it all.
I read the Judges’ comments on his White co-defendant and the Judge stated “Because you look different from the others …… I will sentence you to a standard 8-year determinate sentence.” I then felt I needed to prepare the person I was interviewing, another Black male within the Criminal Justice System. I informed him you do know that you are likely to receive an extended sentence, which he was prepared for, and he was sentenced to a 12-year extended determinate sentence.
I was told by a Court Duty Officer (CDO) when presented with breaches by a particular member of staff they found frequently if a defendant was from a Black and Asian Minority Ethnic group the proposal was always revoke and resentence, incarcerating more Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people. If the defendant was White it was to add additional Unpaid Work hours. To the point, this CDO would read the proposal from this Officer first and guess if this was a Black or White defendant. Unfortunately, he was right and could guess the defendant’s ethnicity before reading the report.
Why does this resonate with me because I identify myself as a Black and Asian Minority Ethnic female, and even living in a city which is known for being multicultural, sadly this practice continues. As a PO of over 20 years’ experience, I have seen injustice throughout the Courts, Judiciary, and our Service and we have no place to be able to challenge these actions. These injustices have remained with me for years and the failure we have as a service is there was/is no mechanism to report this anywhere other than the outcome on Delius.
As part of Napo’ campaign to make a fairer and more inclusive Probation service for both Staff and Service Users, we would like to invite members to write in to Napo and share your experiences and examples of when you have witnessed similar disproportionality for marginalised groups. We can then collate these and use the information to improve the outcomes for all. Please write in to Ranjit Singh Napo Assistant General Secretary at rsingh@napo.org.uk
