Metro – 51 deadly errors

Metro says 51 failures by probation staff contributed to a man murdering his partner and three children with a hammer.

It says “stressed and inexperienced” staff missed multiple chances to intervene and do safeguarding checks.

The paper says Damian Bendall killed Terri Harris, 35, her children Lacey, 11, and John Paul, 13, and Lacey’s friend, Connie Gent, 11, at Ms Harris’s home in September 2021. It says no safeguarding checks were carried out before Bendall was placed under curfew at the house despite the fact he had a “history of serious and violent” offences.