Damien Bendall: Killamarsh child killer was reportedly rated 'medium risk' by probation service before murders

The Killamarsh man who murdered three children and his partner was reportedly rated ‘medium risk’ by the probation service before he carried out the killings.
Alastair Ulke
By Alastair Ulke
Published 23rd Dec 2022, 10:26 BST
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The Daily Mirror has reported how a probation officer has since been sacked for catergorising Damien Bendall as “medium risk” before he killed his four victims with a claw hammer in September last year.

The Ministry of Justice has reportedly requested a formal review into how Bendall’s case was handled by probation officers, who were convinced by the violent 32-year-old cocaine addict – who had previous convictions for armed robbery and arson – that he had given up his drug habits. He had been serving a 24-month suspended sentence for arson when he carried out the killings.

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Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has asked the Chief Inspector of Probation to investigate Bendall's court files after the ex-con was sentenced to a whole-life order for the murders on Wednesday at Derby Crown Court.

Damien Bendall was reportedly rated as 'medium risk' by the probation while serving a suspended 24-month prison sentence for arson. He went on to murder three children and his pregnant partner. Courtesy of SWNS and artist Elizabeth Cook.Damien Bendall was reportedly rated as 'medium risk' by the probation while serving a suspended 24-month prison sentence for arson. He went on to murder three children and his pregnant partner. Courtesy of SWNS and artist Elizabeth Cook.
Damien Bendall was reportedly rated as 'medium risk' by the probation while serving a suspended 24-month prison sentence for arson. He went on to murder three children and his pregnant partner. Courtesy of SWNS and artist Elizabeth Cook.

And, according to the Daily Telegraph, the probation officer who assessed his record for his sentencing in the arson case has since been sacked. The probation officer was found to have acted with gross misconduct after erroneously categorising Bendall as "medium risk" rather than "high risk", according to the newspaper. A second probation officer has also separately been found guilty of misconduct for later allocating Bendall's case to a trainee.

In September 2021, Bendall murdered his pregnant partner Terri Harris, her children John Paul Bennett and Lacey Bennett and Lacey’s friend, Connie Gent, in an incident at their shared home on Chandos Crescent, in Killamarsh. He also pleaded guilty to raping 11-year-old Lacey, and then left the house after the killings with a plan to sell John’s Xbox for drug money.

When officers first arrived on the scene, he told police: “I bet you don’t get four murders in Killamarsh, do you?”

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A spokesperson for the MoJ said: "These were appalling crimes and our thoughts remain with the victims' families.

"The Deputy Prime Minister asked the Chief Inspector of Probation to conduct a review of this case and we will respond further once this is published."