Legal News
Councils housing violent and sexual ex-offenders at hotels and guesthouses “without warning proprietors” (16 June 2015)
Date: 16/06/2015
The landlady of a bed and breakfast has told the BBC that her local council’s policy of housing violent or sexual ex-offenders there is putting her and her guests at risk.
The Sirhowy Arms B&B at Argoed in Caerphilly is where 22-year-old Carys Yemm was killed in November 2014 by homeless prison leaver, Matthew Williams, 34, who also died after being tasered by police officers.
Caerphilly Council told the BBC progamme Week In Week Out that it considers risk assessments before sending ex-offenders to temporary accommodation.
However, previous guests at the Argoed B&B include ten violent or sexual offenders left homeless after leaving prison.
Councils in Wales and the rest of the UK send prisoners to hotels and guesthouses when nowhere else is available, including accommodating prisoners at Premier Inns and Travelodges, where families or single women might be staying.
Campaign group Voices From Care is calling for an urgent review of Caerphilly Council’s policy on housing ex-offenders in hotels and guesthouses and the case involving the death of Carys Yemm – as well as a wider investigation by the Welsh government into the reasons why many young adults and care leavers are accommodated at B&Bs.
The proprietor of the Sirhowy Arms B&B, Mandy Miles, said that according to her records, Caerphilly Council had sent several serious ex-offenders to the guesthouse without warning her or the wider community of the potential risks.
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