Joseph McCann

Criminal history before April 2019 Beginning around 1996, McCann first came into contact with the police at the age of 11. threatening elderly neighbours and intimidating young children attending a homework club. Following complaints from neighbours, the council filmed the brothers vandalising property, damaging cars and throwing bricks at people. With neighbours and the council gathering evidence against the boys, in 1998 the council evicted the family from their home. A local police officer told The Guardian that "there was a perception that they [the McCanns] were untouchable. The three boys caused an enormous amount of problems for local people and committed a range of anti-social behaviour". The police continued to gather evidence from neighbours and, in 1999, McCann and his brothers were subject to one of the United Kingdom's first anti-social behaviour orders (ASBO). They were banned from "entering the Beswick area [,] ... using or engaging in any abusive, insulting, offensive, threatening or intimidating language or behaviour in the City of Manchester [,] ... threatening or engaging in violence or damage against people or property in the City ... and encouraging others [to do the same]". The boys were photographed smirking and swearing at journalists after leaving court. which also rejected the appeal. In 2002, the House of Lords heard the case, which rested on whether an ASBO constituted civil or criminal proceedings under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This distinction mattered because hearsay was inadmissible in criminal proceedings; ASBOs had been established to be civil injunctions with criminal penalties, which (as civil proceedings) allowed the hearsay of intimidated people to be admissible rather than demand that they appear as witnesses. If the House of Lords had ruled them to be criminal proceedings, then the ASBO would be "unworkable". In R (McCann & others) v Crown Court at Manchester and another ( UKHL 39), it was ruled that the proceedings were civil and the McCanns' case was therefore dismissed.

2008 indefinite sentence After the 1999 ASBO, the McCann family moved away from Manchester. As The Daily Telegraph remarked, the ASBO came as a relief to residents of Beswick but "failed to solve the problem" of the McCanns' offending. where the brothers continued to commit crimes, including car theft and damage to property. McCann's IPP was a form of indefinite sentence which meant that his release would only occur after the minimum term and once the Parole Board for England and Wales became satisfied that he would no longer pose a risk to the public; if he were released, it would be on a ten-year licence and if he were convicted of further offences during that period, he would be recalled to prison on his IPP sentence.

While serving his sentence, McCann was assessed by his offender manager as "posing a high risk of serious harm to the public and known adults", as well as a "medium risk" to children, prison staff and prisoners. In 2009, prison staff intercepted letters suggesting that he "posed a risk of sexual harm". He carried out rehabilitation courses and risk-reduction courses

2017 release and re-sentencing On his release from prison, McCann was assigned to spend twelve weeks at an Approved Premises in East Anglia. At the end of that period, he went to live with family in Buckinghamshire which was approved as a temporary arrangement. However, in late July and early August 2017 he visited Manchester and began moving between other family addresses in Hertfordshire; as a result of this, his offender manager was unable to make contact with him.

Sexual offences and manhunt, April–May 2019 On 21 April 2019, McCann abducted and raped a 21-year-old woman in Watford, Hertfordshire. The abduction took place at 3:30 am, when she was walking home from a night out; McCann forced her into his car at knife-point. He then took her to a house, raped her and released her that morning. Hertfordshire Police identified McCann that day and added him to the national police computer. Three days later, he was given 33 life sentences, and ordered to serve a minimum of 30 years before he can be considered for parole. On 11 December 2020, this minimum was raised to 40 years by the Court of Appeal.

Aftermath and commentary

Probation services After McCann's trial, BBC News stated that the National Probation Service (NPS) had "not followed the correct procedures" when he was sentenced in 2017; he should have been recalled on his IPP sentence.

The SFO report revealed that McCann's case had been managed by 10 offender managers between September 2008 and his release in February 2019. In 2018, staff turnover was high, caseloads rose and the office relied on temporary workers who were inexperienced with high-risk offenders. The quick handovers between managers meant that "pertinent risk concerns were lost"; In December 2019, The Guardian had suggested that austerity policies and budget cuts had reduced the NPS's capacity to deal with McCann's case and "that this failure may be evidence of the impact of austerity on the criminal justice system". McCann's sentencing and these concerns arose several days after the 2019 London Bridge attack, which also prompted political debate about the nature of prison sentences for serious offending in the lead up to the United Kingdom's general election that was held on 12 December.