Under 50 per cent of sex offenders getting psychological treatment

More paedophiles are housed in Magilligan than anywhere else in the Northern Ireland prison system and although treatment is available some are not smart enough to avail of it and others don't believe they need treatment.

Jails chief Robin Masefield told the Stormont Justice Committee: "At Magilligan, it is the rolling sex offender treatment programme (SOTP), which enables people who arrive at different times to join it, for nine or 12 months, for example, and still benefit.

"Do we have as many people undergoing those programmes as we would like? For several reasons, the answer is no. One reason, which we have gone on the record about, is that we struggle to get hold of sufficient forensic psychologists, whose contribution makes them

extremely valued members of the Prison Service.

"Simply put, there are not enough of them right across these isles to provide the service for the Prison Service and other organisations such as the Probation Board and, increasingly, health-in-the-community. Demand is exceeding supply."

Addressing a query from DUP Committee member Jonathan Bell, Mr Masefield said many sex offenders are in denial and this equally contributed to less than 50 per cent accessing treatment schemes.

"I do not claim to be a great expert on the subject, but there are big issues about deniers. As Mr Bell will know, significant numbers of sex offenders remain in denial.

"They may be in denial of the main offence and sometimes they can engage on a subsidiary element of that offence, which enables one to get them into a programme.

"However, if they are in ultimate denial, it is very difficult and is an issue about which we are in touch with our counterparts in England and Wales.

"A denier's programme that was tried is being revisited because it achieved limited success. Therefore, when we can, we would potentially do one-to-one counselling if a programme is not available," he explained.

NIPS Director of Programme and Development Max Murray said fewer than half of paedophiles and rapists are on SOTP.

"It is certainly not 50 per cent. A sex offender treatment programme, for example, requires people to have a certain level of cognitive ability in literacy and numeracy," he told the Committee.

"Many people are ruled out because they do not have sufficient ability to work in a group session. Interventions are delivered to those people on a one-to-one basis, so it is not just about programmes. In the absence of qualified forensic psychologists, we have recruited psychologist."

Asked to estimate how many are access treatment in the jails Mr Murray said: "It is a pure guess, but I would put the figure at 20 per cent to 30 per cent. People are not involved for all sorts of reasons, including denial and not pushing to participate in a cognitive-based programme."