Tagged - but free to kill: As report reveals nearly 6 in 10 tagged criminals break their curfew, one victim pays a horrifying price

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The 15-year-old killer of Steven Grisales had ripped off his tag just days before stabbing him through the heart in Edmonton, North London
The boy, whose identity cannot be revealed for legal reasons, had repeatedly flouted his tagging order but wasn't recalled to court
Probation inspectors' report reveals there are gaping holes in the tagging system which falls 'far short of what people have a right to expect'

By Rebecca Camber for the Daily Mail and Jack Doyle for the Daily Mail

Published: 18:01 EST, 13 June 2012 | Updated: 01:42 EST, 14 June 2012

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Murdered: Steven Grisales, 21, was stabbed through the heart by a 15-year-old boy who had ripped off his tag just days earlier

The full extent of how thugs on electronic tags routinely breach their curfews to commit more crimes is exposed today.

A damning report reveals that nearly 60 per cent of offenders, supposedly confined to their homes, are free to walk the streets with impunity.

Yesterday the human cost of the system’s failure was laid bare when a 15-year-old who repeatedly flouted his tagging order was jailed for killing an innocent student.

The boy is said to have ripped off his tag just days before stabbing Steven Grisales, 21, who had told him off for throwing a conker.

But the council charged with monitoring the curfew didn’t bother to recall him to court because the breach happened on the eve of the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Last night, the parents of the murdered scholarship student spoke of their horror that the 15-year-old had broken his curfew so many times but nothing was done.

His mother Jasmid said: ‘They can do anything that they want because the law won’t do anything. The police do their job – they take them in – but they just have to let them go.’

Their anger came as a damning report by probation inspectors revealed gaping holes in the curfew regime, which allow offenders to roam the streets freely for hours at a time and not face further punishment.

The chief inspector of probation, Liz Calderbank, said the rules ‘fall far short of what people have a right to expect’.

She added: ‘In our view you do not change the behaviour of those who offend by giving them the impression that they are subject to stringent requirements only for them to find out they are not. If you are trying to change people’s behaviour you need to be setting clear and simple boundaries.’

Inspectors found a fifth of offenders placed on tags broke the rules but were let off with a warning, while a further 37 per cent committed a major breach and were hauled back before the courts.

The report, published today, will raise major concerns about Justice Secretary Ken Clarke’s plans for a huge expansion of the number of tagged offenders. Probation officers predict the number could rise from 80,000 last year to 180,000.

Scene of the crime: College Close, Edmonton, North London, where Mr Grisales was killed after remonstrating with youngsters who pelted him with stones

Mr Grisales was knifed in the heart by a member of a North London street gang who had a long record of violent robberies and burglaries.

Just a month before the murder, the teenager was handed a youth rehabilitation order. Despite flagging his curfew conditions 20 times, he was not locked up.

On August 26, he returned home four hours after the end of his 9pm curfew. Nothing was done and on August 31 he attacked Mr Grisales in the street.

‘Ten and a half years for taking away our son, taking away his future, all of his plans. Everything was taken away from him – ten and a half years is a very short sentence’

Andres Grisales, the victim's father

Yesterday, after the killer was jailed at the Old Bailey for ten and a half years, Mr Grisales’s father Andres said: ‘Ten and a half years for taking away our son, taking away his future, all of his plans. Everything was taken away from him – ten and a half years is a very short sentence.’

On the killer, who cannot be named because of a court order, he said: ‘It was amazing to learn how many offences he had committed before this – violent offences, robberies. He broke his curfew so many times and nothing was done.’

Mr Grisales’s killer was a member of the Northumberland Park Killers. The Old Bailey heard that the teenage gangster has convictions dating back to the age of 12 for robbery and violence but on each occasion he escaped with a community punishment.

On July 28, 2011, he was ordered to wear an electronic tag, given a curfew and sentenced to a 12-month youth rehabilitation order for burgling a house.

According to police, he broke his curfew conditions more than 20 times, although Enfield Council, which was supposed to be monitoring him, says there were only three violations.

The council said that because the breach fell on a Bank Holiday, there was insufficient time to bring him before the courts before the murder on August 31.

Flawed system: An electronic tag strapped to the ankle of a youngster in London. A report by probation inspectors revealed gaping holes in the curfew regime, allowing offenders to roam the streets freely for hours at a time

Flawed system: An electronic tag strapped to the ankle of a youngster. A report by probation inspectors revealed gaping holes in the curfew regime, allowing offenders to roam the streets freely for hours at a time

Prosecutors told the court the killer removed his tag on August 29, although this was disputed by the defence.

Two days later, Mr Grisales was pelted with conkers at a train station in Edmonton, North London. When he confronted his attackers he was set upon. Terrified, he tried to defend himself with a skateboard.

But the 15-year-old pulled out a kitchen knife and plunged it into his heart. Mr Grisales died in hospital the next day.

Critics say tagging is wrongly used as a cheap alternative to prison. Harry Fletcher, assistant general-secretary of probation union Napo, said: ‘The time is right for a thorough review of the effectiveness and efficiency of tagging to establish its impact, or not, on reoffending before the Government embarks on any massive roll-out.’

Justice minister Crispin Blunt said the Government wanted to ensure tags were used ‘as effectively as possible’.

He added: ‘The call for a smarter, more integrated approach is very much in line with the Government’s initiatives in reducing reoffending and protecting the public.’