My father, John Roberts, who has died aged 74, worked in the probation service for most of his career and committed much of his life to the protection of people suffering from domestic violence.
Born in Eastleigh, Hampshire, he was the son of Eric, an insurance salesman, and Ivy (nee Cocks), a homemaker. He grew up in Birchington-on-Sea, Kent, with his sisters, Erica and Norma, and attended Chatham House grammar school in Ramsgate.
After leaving school John joined the army and served in Fontainebleau, near Paris. He then had a successful early career as a jobbing actor before joining the Probation Service in 1970, eventually rising to serve as chair of the National Association of Probation Officers between 1988 and 1991. Throughout his 30-year career he was able to give his anti-establishment leanings an outlet: colleagues remarked on his near-glee at challenging people in positions of power and asking the difficult questions few others would dare to.
As a practitioner he believed in respecting and valuing those who had offended, while disapproving of and confronting their behaviour. In particular, his efforts in Inner London, Gloucester and Berkshire did much to steer the service’s clients towards more productive, less damaging futures.
Late into his career John pioneered new approaches to supporting women, children and families suffering from domestic violence, establishing programmes that focused on changing the behaviour of those who abused their partners. He was part of a team that developed innovative and, at the time controversial, ways to promote and deliver programmes that began in Watford, Bracknell and Maidenhead, and were eventually rolled out across many parts of the country. This work made a significant contribution to the national focus that domestic violence has today, and was featured in the 2005 BBC documentary Battered and Bruised.
Throughout his life John believed fervently that those who were powerless or vulnerable should be championed, and he felt compelled to act and speak up on their behalf. A dyed-in-the-wool socialist, committed trade unionist and lifelong Labour supporter, he joined campaigns to end apartheid in South Africa, to bring about nuclear disarmament, to save the NHS, and, more recently, to battle for equal pension rights for Gurkhas.
John was married twice, first to Sandra (nee Griffin), with whom he had a son and two daughters, and secondly to Karen (nee Alwin), with whom he had another daughter. Both marriages ended in divorce.
A frequent theatregoer and avid Birmingham City supporter, John was also an inveterate traveller, trekking the Himalayas and going on safari in Kenya.
He is survived by his four children, Emma, Beth, Georgia and me, and his four grandchildren, Joby, Lyla, Tommy and Ruby.
