TEN convicted sex offenders - all classed as posing a serious risk of carrying out a further sexual or violent offence - were being monitored under new multi-agency public protection arrangements in Londonderry, a new report has revealed.
But a spokesperson for the Strategic Management Board, which oversees public protection arrangements, said the figure represents just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the amount of sex offenders living in the North West.
"The public protection pro
cess mainly operates in relation to those who have been convicted. In a situation where only around two out of every 10 sexual offences get reported in the first place, it is clear that the actual number of persons in the community who have committed sexual offences will be a lot higher than the figures for those who have been risk assessed through the public protection arrangements which operate in Northern Ireland," said Nick Carson.
The new figures are outlined in a report covering the first six months - October 2008 to March 2009 - of new public protection arrangements in Northern Ireland and cover the mount of offenders being monitored at March 31, 2009.
The statistics showed this was the highest amount of convicted offenders outside Belfast.
The ten convicted sexual and violent offenders living in Londonderry were risk-assessed as "presenting clear evidence that they could cause serious harm in the community, through carry out a further contact sexual or violent offence."
"The figure of 10 refers to those people who have been convicted of sexual (and violent offences against children and vulnerable adults) offences and have been risk-assessed as presenting clear evidence that they could cause serious harm in the community, through carrying out a further contact sexual/violent offence," confirmed Mr Carson.
"Such persons require full multi-agency risk management and therefore a higher resource input to manage their assessed risk," he added.
Figures recently obtained by the local District Policing Partnership (DPP) showed that there were 50 registered sex offenders in Londonderry. This was also the second highest concentration in Northern Ireland.
Mr Carson explained that forty of these convicted offenders had been assessed as presenting little evidence that they could be a danger to the public..
"The difference in the figures, i.e. 50 versus 10 represents the number of people who have been risk assessed as presenting little evidence that they could cause serious harm in the community through carrying out a further contact sexual and violent offence.
"These people are risk-managed on a single-agency basis, usually by the police but also, on occasions, by probation if they are subject to a probation court order whilst in the community," stated Mr Carson.
In nearby Limavady and Strabane the total number of offenders in the community whose risk was managed under the multi-agency public protection arrangements was three and two respectively.
