THE Ministry of Justice has said it will launch a rare review into the case of jailed riverside sex attacker Anthony Roberts.
As we previously reported the 56-year-old, of Green Hill, has been jailed for life for a barbaric assault on a 71-year-old woman.
The shocking attack took place at 1.30am on Sunday, May 7 in Kleve Walk, Worcester and left the victim in a critical condition.
She bravely told Worcester Crown Court at the sentencing hearing on Tuesday, (October 10): "The injuries he inflicted are life-changing but I refuse to let him impact me any more than absolutely necessary."
The Honourable Mrs Justice Naomi Ellenbogen sentenced Roberts for life with a minimum term of 19 years and three months, and warned there was "no guarantee" he would be released after that minimum term "or any time afterwards".
It emerged during the hearing that Roberts had been released five months earlier from a life sentence for attempting to murder a 16-year-old girl with a knife and wounding a woman aged 19 in an underpass in Rubery in 1990.
Mrs Justice Ellenbogen said she had read six parole assessment reports written in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
READ MORE: Man jailed for life for ferocious and barbaric riverside attack on elderly woman
READ MORE: Police call riverside sex attack 'shocking'
The final report in May 2021, the judge said, found that Roberts – who absconded from prison in 2019 – posed a risk of harm specific to females aged 16-30 and of “serious injury and potential death of any female victim”.
“She (the report’s author) assessed the risk as imminent and high,” the judge added.
Ordering that her sentencing remarks be sent to the Secretary of State for Justice, the chair of the Parole Board and the Lord Chancellor, the judge told Roberts: “The circumstances in which you were released will be for others to examine."
In a statement released after the hearing on Tuesday, (October 10), a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, which covers the Prison and Probation Service, said: “This was a despicable crime and our heartfelt sympathies are with the victim and their family.
“A Serious Further Offence review is underway to establish the full facts of the case and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
The reviews are described as rare and involve a review of probation practices in the case.
West Mercia Police's Detective Chief Inspector Gareth Lougher said: “This was an incredibly violent attack on an innocent woman, which shocked the local community to the core.
"I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the team involved in bringing Roberts to justice. He was located and arrested extremely quickly and charged within 24 hours of the attack.
“I hope this case shows that we take violence incredibly seriously and won’t hesitate to take action against perpetrators.”
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