THERE WERE “serious failings” in the probation supervision of a man who went on to kill three generations of a family, a watchdog has found.

Joshua Jacques, 29,  of Minard Road, Lewisham, was jailed for a minimum of 46 years at the Old Bailey last week, after killing Samantha Drummonds and three of her relatives in April 2022.

He had been released from prison just five months before the brutal murders.

Jacque’s partner 27-year-old Samantha Drummonds; her mother Tanysha Ofori-Akuffo, 45, and her grandmother Dolet Hill, 64, were violently killed by Jacques at their home in Bermondsey, as was Dolet’s partner Denton Burke, aged 58.

He claimed it was a ‘sacrifice for the greater good’.

Jacques was released on licence on 11 November 2021, for drug offences.

An independent review into how the Probation Service managed Jacques, found “there were serious failings” in his supervision.

Chief Inspector of Probation Martin Jones, who conducted the review said the service did not organise a drug abuse intervention for Jacques, even though it was a requirement of his release.

“Despite concerns about repeated non-compliance with his licence conditions, enforcement practice was inconsistent and opportunities to recall Jacques to custody were missed,” he said.

The review found also Jacques regularly used cannabis while on probation and was allocated a newly-qualified probation officer.

Despite being assessed as posing a “high risk” of serious harm to the public he was still released from custody.

But his risk to former partners or probation staff was “underestimated”.

Jones added: “No risk assessment was completed for Jacques following his release which resulted in no risk management plan or sentence plan in the community being completed.”

During the trial, the jury had heard Jacques had doubled his consumption of skunk cannabis just days before the killings.

Despite Jacque’s claims that he was not guilty of murder, he was convicted of four counts of murder by a jury at the Old Bailey.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 46 years in prison.

‘Loved by so many’

Detective Sergeant Damon Carr, a specially trained officer who supported the victims’ families, said: “It is abundantly clear that Samantha, Tanysha, Dolet and Denton were loved so much by so many, and their murders have caused crushing sadness.

“Of course, we cannot make their loved ones’ pain go away, but we hope this result will give them a tiny bit of solace as they continue to live with their loss.”

In the early hours of 25 April 2022, a neighbour called 999 after hearing a disturbance at Dolet and Denton’s home on Delaford Road.

Samantha and her mother Tanysha were also staying at the property at the time.

Officers attended and after getting no response, forced entry into the house. The body of Denton Burke was found at the bottom of the stairs.

The bodies of Samantha, Tanysha and Dolet were all found in the kitchen. All of the victims had been stabbed multiple times.

CCTV

Jacques was found upstairs in the bathroom, arrested and taken into custody.

While under arrest, he made comments including that he ‘had to sacrifice for the greater good’. Although Jacques admitted killing the four victims, he said he had blacked out and that he was suffering from a mental health condition which led to the deaths.

Hours of CCTV seizure and viewing recreated the movements of Jacques in the afternoon and evening before the offence. They showed that his behaviour appeared quite normal.

At an early stage, Jacques admitted his involvement in the deaths but claimed the partial defence of manslaughter by diminished responsibility as he was suffering from a mental health condition that substantially impaired his ability to form a rational judgement and exercise self-control.

However, the prosecution expert reached the conclusion that Jacques had a history of cannabis misuse which caused him to enter a transient psychotic state.

Evidence

Jacques knew the effects that cannabis had on his mental health and had been told to stop taking it, but he refused to do so and used cannabis shortly before the murder.

Forensic psychiatric evidence was produced in court and physical evidence further linked Jacques to the scene, including his fingerprints in blood, as well as the recovery of the kitchen knife used to carry out the killings.

When all of the evidence was heard by the jury, their verdict was that Jacques was guilty of murder.

Detective Chief Inspector Linda Bradley said: “Jacques brutally murdered four completely innocent people, and destroyed the lives of those left behind.

“The families have shown immense strength and dignity throughout the lengthy trial, and I know they are still trying to come to terms with Jacques’ cruel actions.

“I can say, hand on heart, this is one of the most shocking cases our team has worked on, and we worked tirelessly to prove that Jacques was guilty of murder rather than manslaughter. We are pleased and relieved that the jury accepted this argument.”