Derbyshire offender 'getting into hot water with Probation Service because nobody will pick up phone', court hears

Offenders who are serving community sentences are being breached and brought to court because they can’t get through to the Probation Service to change appointments if they need to, a court heard.
By Andy Done-Johnson
Published 26th Feb 2020, 15:30 BST
Updated 3rd Mar 2020, 15:23 BST
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Kelly Gregory, 35, of no fixed address, told the bench that she had breached her community order on two occasions because she had tried to contact Probation to change appointment times and nobody had picked up the phone.

She added that a friend of hers had similar problems, and spent three days calling the service on her breaks from work without anyone picking the phone up.

“It just rings and rings and nobody answers,” she said.

A court was told that Derbyshire's Probation Service aren't answering phones when offenders need to change appointment timesA court was told that Derbyshire's Probation Service aren't answering phones when offenders need to change appointment times
A court was told that Derbyshire's Probation Service aren't answering phones when offenders need to change appointment times
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The court was told that the Probation appointment service had been centralised to new offices in Derby.

Chesterfield Magistrates ordered the Probation Service to note the issues raised and to resolve the “communications difficulties they were having.

Mitigating for Gregory, Annis Rowland said: “She has been having a difficult year. Her partner, who she relies on, was sent to custody and is still there. She has 17-year-old twins and a 12-year-old. Her landlord wanted to carry out extensive renovations on the house she was living in, and she has been made homeless.”

The court was told that Gregory was staying with a friend in Clay Cross, while her children were staying with her mother.

Magistrates added six rehabilitation activity days to her existing community order, which was imposed last year, but awarded no Probation Service costs due to her current financial situation.