No wrong directions

I mused over who might feature in my post when I worked as a probation officer in London.

Dell (not his real name) approached me in the corridor of the probation office looking for directions. Setting aside my usual caution, I pointed to the door of a colleague.

When he started going in the wrong direction, I challenged him about the etiquette of staying in the waiting area. He was looking for Mr Guilfoyle, he stated, as a pre-sentence report had been requested from the Crown Court.

Somewhat bemused by this turn of events, we commenced the interview. Dell had been found guilty of several offences of distraction burglary (commercial premises) and his persuasive charm seemed well-crafted. While he had worked hard to secure employment, he had found it difficult to sustain it. Periods of chaotic disengagement from family and friends appeared to propel him into bouts of offending.

The items he stole all seemed to be unsaleable, which prompted the feeling that something else lay behind his offending. His versatility in executing his low-value thefts also pointed towards someone unsure if he wanted to embark on a career as a serial offender, or to hold down a regular job.

As his employment references were exemplary, the judge seemed both perplexed at Dell’s ingenuity and disturbed by his bouts of dishonesty.

“I am just about persuaded to follow Mr Guilfoyle’s proposal that a community order be imposed with a condition that you attend sessions with the ETE (Employment, Training and Education) advisor,” he said. “But be under no illusion that any repeat of these offences will most likely mean loss of liberty”.

At our first post-court appointment I referred Dell to a colleague who was tireless in making efforts to ensure requisite training opportunities were afforded to those without such skills. But I detected a reluctance on Dell’s part to engage with the partnership worker.

“I have all the skills I possess, so can you put me forward for a job”, he said, his salary expectations being somewhat off-the-scale. While sensing this part of his persona most represented his ambitions, I persuaded him to meet with the advisor and see how things went. One positive outcome was a request for a dyslexia assessment, on the basis of the confused interpersonal communication that seemed to arise from the interview.

A single man, Dell disclosed his keen desire to settle down once he found stable employment. He bemoaned the fact that he had been forced, due to financial pressures, to move into a “s***** neighbourhood”, and feared support would dwindle if he was associated with many of those he had grown up with. “I now have the added stigma of being an ex-offender”, he often lamented.

In some ways his articulate awareness and keen insight into his offending offered what appeared a clearer pathway to remaining offence-free. Such noble aims often ran up against the hard grain of reality and Dell’s reporting deteriorated.

One day, I received a call from a colleague at the local magistrates court, informing me that Dell was in custody on the overnight list for one offence of distraction burglary. At the hearing the case was remitted to the Crown Court, as the presiding judge had specifically reserved to himself any further offences while Dell was under supervision.

I made the decision to attend the sentencing hearing and a visibly distraught Dell appeared in custody nodding to acknowledge my presence.

The judge directed some pointed questions towards me when it was known I was in attendance. He was a stickler for enforcing timely breach action, but retained a fair-minded rehabilitative outlook.

“I am very disappointed to see you before the court today,” he said, “but not surprised. Mr Guilfoyle has spoken well of your endeavours to seek employment and remain out of trouble. His reports in the past seem to follow a similar pattern.”

“I too believe in rehabilitation, but also in protecting the public from acquisitive offending. The article you stole was of low value, but you entered the premises with an intent to steal”.

“I am however on Mr Guilfoyle’s side that you have potential, which is being misdirected. Use it. As this is the final opportunity you will have to prove yourself. The employment market appears positive at the moment”.

The earlier order was revoked and a Suspended Sentence imposed, with quarterly updates on Dell’s response to supervision to be sent to the court.

After the hearing, a mightily relieved Dell turned to me and said, rather poetically, “I am committed to being true to myself, I will go straight”.

“No wrong directions”, I quipped, “and come and see me when you’re required to”.

Mike Guilfoyle was a probation officer and regular columnist and a great friend of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. He died on 19 November 2023 after a long battle with cancer. This is the last article that Mike wrote for us.

Read the tributes to Mike, that we published on 30 November 2023.