The probation service has promised lessons have been learned after it emerged serial killer Joanna Dennehy was being supervised when she murdered three men.

Dennehy, 33, from Peterborough, is serving a whole-life sentence for the killings and for stabbing two other men over a 10-day period in March 2013.

A restricted report seen by BBC East has highlighted deficiencies by the probation service in monitoring Dennehy, who was described as having a “sadistic lust for blood”.

The report, completed in March 2014, describes how she had been given a 12-month community order for assault and owning a dangerous dog in 2012.

Dennehy, who had served time in prison for theft and drug offences, was supervised by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough probation service but missed appointments, the BBC said.

A “more experienced offender manager” should have been appointed to deal with the complex nature of the case, the report adds.

A Probation Service spokesperson said: “Our sympathies are with the families of the victims following these abhorrent crimes.





“Public protection is our priority and in the very rare case of serious further offending a review is carried out to identify any areas for improvement.



“Recommendations from this review were taken on board at the time and action was taken to improve the management of cases going forward.”

The appraisal of Dennehy was that she had the “potential to cause serious harm” but was unlikely to do so “unless there was a significant change in circumstances”. It added that there were missed opportunities as probation workers had no contact with Dennehy while in prison.

It recommends probation services carry out greater risk of harm analysis of cases and additional training for probation officers. The Ministry of Justice is expected to comment on behalf of the probation service.

Dennehy murdered Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, Kevin Lee, 48, and John Chapman, 56. She stabbed her victims, who she knew, through the heart and dumped their bodies in remote ditches around Peterborough.

She then went on the run with her accomplices, before randomly selecting and stabbing two dog walkers in Hereford.

Mr Justice Spencer, sentencing, described Dennehy as “a cruel, calculating, selfish and manipulative serial killer”. He added that she had told a psychiatrist: “I killed to see how I would feel, to see if I was as cold as I thought I was, then it got moreish.”

Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, outlined how Dennehy, who abused drugs and alcohol, was admitted to a psychiatric unit at Peterborough city hospital on 18-21 February. She was diagnosed with a personality disorder, psychopathic, antisocial and emotional instability disorders and an obsessive compulsive disorder.

When she was jailed in 2014, Dennehy became the first woman sentenced to serve a whole-life sentence.

Dennehy recently hit the headlines again after lodging a high court claim for damages, saying her incarceration in segregation at HMP Bronzefield, near Ashford in Surrey, breached her human rights.