Basildon bail hostel is staying put

Councillors will be told calls to the Ministry of Justice to relocate the hostel, in Felmores, Basildon, have fallen on deaf ears.

The National Probation Service has ruled out five alternative sites across Essex.

Robin Brennan, assistant director of the service’s south east and eastern division, told officers all the sites were unsuitable without saying why – and although the building does not meet Government requirements, there is no funding available to improve it, let alone move it.

Despite the news, opposition councillors want the campaign to continue.

Bring back the noose: Kerry Smith

Kerry Smith, Basildon Ukip group leader, said: “If it was petty criminals who have seen the error of their ways I could understand it, but there are too many violent offenders and sex attackers in there – it is a recipe for disaster.

“If it were up to me I would flatten it and bring back the noose for sex offenders.”

He urged residents not to give up and bombard the borough’s MPs with letters calling on the ministry to reconsider.

Michael Jennings, 46, from Felmores, said: “I feel let down by the council.

“There must be more they can do or will it take for another kid to be attacked before they finally close it.”

A report ahead of the council overview and scrutiny committee, which will discuss the campaign, said: “The Felmores approved premises does not provide excellent quality hostel accommodation and is not fully adapted for disabled use.

“However, it appears unlikely, given overall Government financial constraints, funding will be made available in the foreseeable future for any improvements, or indeed relocation.”

Ukip councillor Imelda Clancy, who lives close to the hostel on the neighbouring Chalvedon estate, said: “It is right next to a children’s park.

“I don’t know why it was ever put there. Ukip will keep pushing until we get the right decision.”

Plans to move the hostel to a former car park off Roundacre, Basildon, were ruled out by the council earlier this year.

Never say never: kevin Blake

Kevin Blake, Tory deputy council leader, added: “It is disappointing, but you can never say never. When I return from holiday, we will be looking at what else we can do to try to get it moved.”

The Ministry of Justice says Felmores bail hostel is in an “appropriate” location.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We believe Felmores approved premises is in a suitable location.

“All approved premises are a safe way to hold certain offenders who have had to be released from prison on completion of the custodial element of their sentences.

“They have fully-trained staff on-site 24 hours a day, as well as CCTV. Offenders who live in approved premises are subject to strict licence conditions and room searches, are carefully supervised by staff and must follow a structured regime, which includes an overnight curfew.

“Such strict supervision, which includes joint work with the police to closely monitor these individuals, would be much more difficult to achieve if those offenders had to be dispersed into alternative accommodation elsewhere in the community.”

Rapist: Rory Griffin

Inmate: Dean Freeman

THE campaign began after hostel inmate Dean Freeman, a convicted child abductor who was 24 at the time, sexually assaulted a seven-yearold boy in a toilet in McDonald’s, in Basildon town centre, in April 2011 while he was living at the hostel and free to come and go.

It was five years after another inmate, Rory Griffin, raped a woman in May 2006 in Northlands Park, opposite the hostel.

The council report played down the risk of the hostel, containing no details of Griffin’s attack, which was just yards from the facility.

The report was a year out on the date of Freeman’s crime, saying it was two years ago.

The report said: “Although no incidents have occurred within the immediate locality of Felmores, an incident involving a Felmores resident did take place in Basildon Town Centre approximately two years ago.”