THE family of murdered Barry teenager Conner Marshall have launched a campaign to raise money for their planned legal action against the Welsh probation service.

The Marshall family want to fund legal experts to assist them in taking on the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) in what they hope will lead to an overhaul of the way the service operates and the way the families of victims of serious crimes are treated.

Mrs Marshall and her family embarked on a fight earlier this year to obtain documents relating to the rehabilitation of David Braddon, the man who killed 18-year-old Conner in a case of mistaken identity in Porthcawl in March 2015.

After the Ministry of Justice finally yielded and gave Mrs Marshall access to the documents, the Marshall family were horrified to discover that Braddon - who was jailed for life for Conner's murder - was not only being supervised under two separate orders for violence and drug offences at the time of the attack but had failed to attend several probation meetings.

Mrs Marshall believes that had he been monitored more closely and brought to task for breaching court orders, he would not have been in Porthcawl on the night her son was killed.

The family now need to raise £5000 by November 2 for their ‘A Voice for Conner’ appeal.

Mrs Marshall said: “It is our hope to raise sufficient funds to enable 'A Voice for Conner ' by securing specific action against the Wales CRC/ Probation service.

“Too many families have been let down and are still without truthful explanations and information relating to the death of a loved one. Despite families raising questions, the current procedures are unreliable and inconsistent.

“We are now seeking accountability, recompense and reassurances of practice overhaul and change, for maximum learning, and future prevention."

Mrs Marshall believes that the Wales CRC could have prevented Conner's death by operating more efficiently and criticised their lack of transparency.

She said: “There were circumstances and events which should have put the professionals on alert and would have led to Conner still being alive today if things had been managed appropriately with sufficient information sharing.

"We’ve really had to fight hard to get access to the serious further offence report. It contains all the details of the offences and the supposed supervision by the probation service. "Before (Braddon) attacked Conner there were community orders. He missed six out of eight appointments so that would have automatically started breach proceedings. It is totally unacceptable."

A Wales CRC spokesman said that Conner's death was not "predictable or preventable".

He said: “Our deepest sympathies are with Conner’s family following this abhorrent crime. Serious further offences are rare but each one is taken extremely seriously and investigated fully.

“All decisions were made and supervised by fully-qualified and experienced probation workers.

"Public protection is our top priority and it is our job to help move people away from crime, and we strive continuously to improve the quality of the services that we provide. However, not all individuals desist from further offences. The person responsible for this crime is now convicted and serving his sentence. The management of the case has not been linked to the crime committed – the serious further offence report found that Conner’s death was not predictable or preventable.

“After thoroughly reviewing the case, we have strengthened our partnership working between offender managers and intervention providers, ensuring enhanced joint working between agencies to support consistent risk management.”

To support visit https://www.crowdjustice.co.uk/case/a-voice-for-conner/