A killer went untagged for months after he was released from prison, an undercover investigation has found.
Channel 4’s Dispatches sent two undercover reporters to work at Serco where they uncovered problems with its prison tagging service, which had already failed to tag potentially hundreds of offenders following the government’s early release scheme.
Some 1,700 prisoners in England and Wales were released early from their sentences in September last year as part of the government’s plan to tackle overcrowding.
But one undercover reporter discovered Serco, a government outsourcer which took over the Ministry of Justice’s tagging contract in 2023, had left a convicted killer untagged for two months – among other issues.
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John Potter killed a man in a drink-fuelled attack and had a string of other convictions on his record when he was sentenced.
But following his release from prison, Potter told Serco that his legs were too swollen to have an alcohol monitoring tag fitted.
Dispatches found that even two months after he was released, Potter had failed to provide paperwork to back up his claim.
In the programme, Serco sent Channel 4 reporter Lucy Richards and a colleague to see Potter to assess if he was “suitable to have a tag”.
When they called at his home, Potter was not there. But even if he was at home, the colleague admits on camera, Serco cannot force Potter to have a tag.
The Ministry of Justice said the delay by Serco in attempting to tag Potter was “unacceptable”. It said he is now under increased supervision and has been moved to some accommodation where he is now closely monitored.
Ms Richards was also sent to the home of a convicted paedophile to check his tagging equipment.
The notes on Serco’s computer system said: “If there’s any contact with children, social services will need to be informed immediately – sexual offender.”
The paedophile had a curfew and should have been at home, but when Ms Richards arrived, there was no sign of him. Ms Richards later found out that Serco made a mistake and sent them to the wrong house.
Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde called the revelations “a total disgrace”.
He added: “This is a systemic problem. The public need to have confidence in our criminal justice system for it to work. And how on earth can we expect people to have that confidence when rookie errors like this are being made left, right and centre?”
Serco’s chief executive Anthony Kirby told Dispatches: “We inherited a significant backlog of untagged prisoners, record numbers of people being monitored in the community and the introduction of two prisoner early release schemes… with limited notice.
“We are tagging a record number of people and by the end of last year our performance had improved, and it was publicly recognised to be at an acceptable level.
“Serco has always been open and transparent with the Ministry of Justice and the Cabinet Office regarding our performance. We will not compromise on those standards and our values.”
The Ministry of Justice said the whereabouts of the paedophile had been monitored since he was first tagged and that he did not breach his curfew or exclusion zone.
In a statement, the government department said: “Tagging is an important and effective way to monitor and punish offenders. There are currently record numbers of offenders wearing tags as part of our commitment to cut crime and make streets safer. However, it is clear that Serco’s performance has been unacceptable.
“Ministers have met with its senior leaders to demand immediate action to improve standards. We will hold Serco to account, with further financial penalties imposed should our expectations not be met.”
‘Undercover: The Great Tagging Scandal’ for Dispatches is available to watch and stream on Channel 4 at 9pm on Monday.
