£1.5M Babes Murder Blunder (13.12.87)

The People, 13th December 1987

“In 1990 he was convicted of the attempted murder, kidnap and indecent assault of a girl from Whitehawk, Brighton, at Devil’s Dyke. In court in 1990 police said they felt Bishop, then 33 and from Brighton, had been wrongly acquitted of the Wild Park murders. Now the families of the strangled girls hope to present a petition to the Home Secretary calling for Bishop never to be released.” The Argus 05.09.13

“The child sex attacker who was the prime suspect in the notorious ‘Babes in the Wood’ murders in 1986 could soon walk free from jail. Tragic Nicola Fellows, 10, and Karen Hadaway, nine, went missing 28 years ago today and their bodies were later found in a park in Brighton, East Sussex. Russell Bishop, then 19, was found not guilty of the killings a year later but was jailed for life for the attempted murder and rape of another young girl in 1991.” Daily Mail 10.10.14

Nicked! A Cop In Child Porno Hush-Up (18.09.83)

News of the World, 18th September 1983

Scandal Of Top Cop And Rent Boys (11.05.86)

News of the World, 11th May 1986

Although the police operation isn’t named in this article, I’ve filed it under Operation Circus as it involves child prostitution in Piccadilly Circus, and falls within the date range 1985-1987. However, the article refers to ” major probe into a police homosexual ring”, so this may have been a separate police investigation.

I don’t know the exact date Operation Circus started, but I believe the first trial was that of Ronald Cooper, the boss of Leeways children’s home, who was convicted in June 1985. According to The Times, the file on Operation Circus was closed on 17th February 1987. It said that a total of 15 men had been tried at the Central Criminal Court during the investigation.

I have so far only been able to find information on 5 of those men. Ronald Cooper (June 1985), Andrew Prichodsky (January 1986), Malcolm Raywood (January 1986), Abraham Jacob (May 1986), and Samuel Bolger (February 1987). I would be grateful for any information on the remaining 10 men.

 

 

Hampshire chief constable Andy Marsh accused over investigation into Stanbridge Earls School (09.04.14)

Southern Daily Echo, 9th April 2014

Chief constable Andy Marsh

THE Daily Echo can today reveal the full explosive details of an investigation into Hampshire’s top police officer.

The chief constable of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, Andy Marsh, is facing a police probe from a separate force into claims he ordered a whitewash over the failure of police investigations into shocking sex abuse allegations at a Hampshire special school.

He is also accused of breaching confidentiality and contempt of court in connection with the same inquiry.

The complaints centre on Hampshire police’s investigation into allegations that a girl was raped and other pupils were sexually abused at the former Stanbridge Earls School near Romsey, which closed last year.

The full extent of the inquiry into Mr Marsh can be revealed for the first time today after the details of Essex Police’s investigation – named Operation Oregon – were leaked to the Daily Echo.

Their investigation is being carried out on behalf of Hampshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Hayes – which is understood to be the first time a UK PCC has ordered a probe of its own chief constable.

The document shows how Mr Marsh is being probed over NINE complaints.

These include:

• A failure to undertake a thorough investigation into the sexual abuse of vulnerable pupils.

• As a result, a failure to protect a vulnerable child from harm.

• Giving “instructions” to officers that were designed to “mislead” parents of alleged victims.

• Leaking details of alleged victims.

Some of these relate to Operation Flamborough – an inquiry set up by Hampshire police after claims Stanbridge Earls failed to properly protect a vulnerable child who claimed to have been raped by fellow pupils.

Mr Marsh is being investigated over claims he told his boss, Mr Hayes pictured right, that the operation was “established to protect Hampshire Constabulary’s reputation”.

He is also facing claims that he leaked details of a criminal investigation and details of alleged rape victims to Caroline Nokes, the MP for Romsey and Southampton North, as well as to Hampshire County Council.

There is no suggestion that the authority or Mrs Nokes are under investigation.

The probe also focuses on whether officers from Hampshire police were instructed to “mislead” parents of alleged victims into thinking Operation Flamborough was an investigation into the sexual abuse of children.

When the Daily Echo revealed last year that Mr Marsh was under investigation, spokesmen from Hampshire Constabulary and Mr Hayes’s office said they were aware of a complaint that had been made and that it would be inappropriate to comment further.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, a Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal found last year that the £39,000-a-year school had discriminated against a girl and that staff members failed to tell the youngster’s parents that she had complained of pain in an intimate part of her body.

The tribunal found that a vulnerable youngster had suffered “appalling abuse” at the hands of another student, while the school was slammed by panel members for being “unsystematic, unprofessional, ad hoc and completely inadequate” when it came to protecting the youngster.

Part of Operation Flamborough was to involve an internal inquiry into whether police involved in previous investigations into sex abuse claims at the school should be disciplined.

Mr Marsh was appointed in January last year to take over as chief constable from Alex Marshall – the same time that details first came to light of allegations that a vulnerable teenager had been groomed and sexually abused at Stanbridge Earls.

Mr Marsh joined Hampshire Constabulary as deputy chief constable in July 2010. When approached by the Daily Echo, Mrs Nokes, pictured left, said she did not intend to comment on the issue and had referred our questions to Essex Police.

A Hampshire County Council spokesman said: “We can confirm that we are aware of Operation Oregon, but are not able to provide any further comments – which should be sought from Essex Constabulary who are undertaking the investigation.”

THE revelations are the latest twist in the on-running controversy surrounding Stanbridge Earls.
Details came to light in January 2013 of allegations that a vulnerable teenager had been groomed and sexually abused by another student.

A Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal report said systems which should have protected the girl were “unsystematic, unprofessional, ad hoc and completely inadequate”.

Head teacher Peter Trythall was accused of “a failure of responsibility”.

The report described how the girl went to school staff and it became clear she had been involved in a sexual encounter. Her parents were not informed, and only found out when she told them at a later date.

In the months that followed, the Department of Education called the standard of care at the school “shockingly poor”, but Ofsted bosses had to take disciplinary action against some of their own staff after admitting mistakes were made while investigating the school.

Meanwhile, Hampshire police had set up Operation Flamborough to find out whether there had been “further criminal offences” at the school.

Later, an Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation began into complaints made to Hampshire police concerning their conduct over the abuse allegations.

In August last year, the Daily Echo revealed that chief constable Andy Marsh was under investigation.

The school closed when too few pupils were signed up for the next school year.

IN A letter entitled “Operation Oregon – an investigation into your complaints against Chief Constable Andy Marsh”, Essex Police chief constable Stephen Kavanagh sets out the details of the probe.

Names of people involved have been changed to B, C and D to protect the identities of those
involved.

The letter, which is dated October 17 and headed with the Essex Police logo, sets out how it is
alleged that the chief constable of Hampshire Constabulary:

• Himself disclosed, and/or authorised or instructed a police officer serving with Hampshire
Constabulary to disclose, details of a criminal investigation, specifically details of a victim of alleged rape and/or sexual abuse and other personal data to third parties including; Caroline Nokes, Member of Parliament for Romsey and Southampton North, and Hampshire County Council. It is alleged that in doing so the Chief Constable; (1) breached the complainants’ and, where
applicable, their child’s right to confidentiality, (2) breached the Data Protection Act 1998, and (3) is in contempt of court.

• Prevented a Section 47 of the Children Act 1998 investigation without evaluating the risk to children involved.

• Concealed information from B’s child’s placing authority without evaluating the risk to the child.

• Gave instructions to officers which were designed to mislead two of the complainants, B and C, into thinking that Operation Flamborough was an investigation into the sexual abuse of children, when in fact merely represented a “strategy discussion” to prevent “negative publicity”.

• Informed the PCC that Operation Flamborough was established to protect Hampshire Constabulary’s reputation.

• Ignored his primary duties regarding investigating crime to the detriment of vulnerable children.

• Did not ensure that Operation Flamborough was a thorough investigation into the sexual abuse of female pupils and as a consequence D’s vulnerable child came to harm.

• Failed to protect D’s child from sexual abuse as a direct consequence of his actions.

• Breached C’s role as a possible witness.

 

 

Devon and Cornwall Police, the Daniel Bryant cover-up, and the Azimuth Trust

Daniel Bryant, a paedophile and a former policeman for Devon & Cornwall Constabulary, has finally been brought to justice after 40 years. The conviction was down to the tenacity of survivor Russel Dawson, who first reported Bryant’s abuse in 1987. Devon & Cornwall Police refused to bring charges against Bryant, saying Dawson’s allegations were uncorroborated – despite a second boy also alleging abuse.

It appears that someone in Devon & Cornwall Police was protecting Bryant. As well as dodging the charges in 1987, he was allowed to  take early retirement in 1994 for ill health just months after being suspended after a third victim came forward. Bryant was then allowed to continue working with children for almost 20 years until he was eventually investigated in 2013. Why was he never investigated before, despite continued pressure from Russel Dawson and his family?

While Bryant was employed by Devon & Cornwall Police and abusing boys using the cover of surf life-saving clubs and charities, a paedophile ring was active in the Devon & Cornwall area, also using charity status and watersports  – this time sailing – as a cover to abuse vulnerable boys.

The sailing charity was called the Azimuth Trust (see video link below), and was operating from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, when the charity’s skipper, Michael Johnson, was convicted. But there were many other paedophiles linked to Azimuth Trust who escaped justice, which raises serious questions about Devon & Cornwall Police’s handling of the case.

Russel Dawson is calling for an independent inquiry into why it took Devon & Cornwall Police so long to bring Daniel Bryant to justice. Hopefully this will also lead to the truth coming out about the Azimuth Trust.

The Sunday People 06.10.13

North Devon Journal 25.3.13

Update on the Lambeth Police Station ‘Sex Chamber’

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) have responded to a Freedom of Information request about the Lambeth Police Station ‘sex chamber’, first reported in a November 1997 article in the South London Press, and shared on Spotlight earlier this year. Original article

The FOI doesn’t provide much new information but confirms the accuracy of the South London Press story, i.e. there was a chamber (‘a small space’) underneath Lambeth Police Station , ‘certain items’ were found, and this prompted an investigation by Scotland Yard’s Criminal Investigations Bureau.

Logged on 11 Nov 1997:

“IF ASKED: Approx two weeks ago, a CIB investigation began after certain
items were found in a small space at an MPS building in Lambeth.

The building is mainly used by civil support staff.

There is no suggestion that police officers are involved in this matter,
or that anyone was taken there under duress.

There is no evidence that any sexual activity actually took place at the
premises.

IF ASKED: Can confirm there are no police officers involved.”

Logged on 14th Nov 1997:

“IF ASKED: There have been no suspensions icw this enquiry.

IF ASKED: There are no police officers based at Lambeth. The building is
entirely a base for civil staff departments.”

Please note that the abbreviation ‘icw’ means ‘in connection with’.

The searches at the DPS and Records Management Branch failed to locate
information relevant to your request. Please note that, owing to the time
that has elapsed since the investigation into this incident, any files
relevant to this case would have been destroyed in accordance with the MPS
disposal schedule. Disciplinary investigation files are destroyed 6 years
after the conclusion of the investigation.

The same person has now made another FOI request asking what items were found, and for details of the internal investigation.

Earlier this year the Mirror reported that the Metropolitan Police have reopened their investigation into a paedophile ring that operated in Lambeth Council children’s homes. DCI Clive Driscoll was removed from the original investigation and placed on a disciplinary after superiors learned that politicians, including an MP, were among the suspects. Full article

Five months on and there haven’t been any updates on the investigation.

The Lambeth Police Station ‘Sex Chamber’

The Mirror have reported on the cover-up of an investigation of a paedophile ring in Lambeth council children’s homes. It’s suspected that the reason for the cover-up was the involvement of politicians, including at least one MP.

Read More

There’s another reason why Scotland Yard were so keen to close the investigation down.

In November 1997 the South London Press ran a story about a ‘sex chamber’ hidden in the basement of Lambeth Police Station with bedding, a red light, and a manacle. Was Lambeth Police Station being used by the paedophile ring to abuse children and produce child pornography?

How the police failed to investigate a judge (September 2008)

How the police failed to investigate a judge
By Nick Davies

The Guardian, September 2008

Police have been ordered to review their handling of the case of a judge accused of sexually abusing young children after claims that they failed adequately to investigate him because he was a friend of the chief constable.

The judge, who for legal reasons can be named only as Judge X, has been accused by his former wife of abusing children as young as 18 months of age, giving one of them a sexually transmitted infection; downloading child pornography on his computer; and using the transcripts of trials involving sexual offences for his personal gratification. The judge has denied all the allegations.

The former wife’s allegations in June 2006 were referred by social services to Dyfed Powys police, who investigated and concluded that they were baseless. The judge’s former wife then complained that the investigation had been inadequate and had the appearance of bias because, she claimed, Judge X was a friend of the then chief constable of Dyfed Powys, Terry Grange, a claim which Grange has denied.

Now a review by the Independent Police Complaints Commission has ordered Dyfed Powys police to reconsider the former wife’s complaint about the weakness of their investigation. In a summary report the IPCC’s case officer comments on the rejection of her complaint: “I fail to see how the findings can be supported without any evidence of a thorough investigation into all complaints made … it is clear that the investigation has not been completed.”

The IPCC review was told that:

· Although the former wife said she had personally witnessed Judge X naked with named young children, Dyfed Powys police failed even to interview the judge and phoned him for an off-the-record conversation, which had no evidential value;

· Although the former wife said she had witnessed Judge X downloading child pornography on his home computers and identified two sites which she claimed he had been using, Dyfed Powys police failed to seize any of the judge’s computers;

· Although she alleged that the judge had passed a sexual infection to a child Dyfed Powys police made no attempt to obtain relevant medical records;

· Although she accused him of using court transcripts for his sexual gratification Dyfed Powys failed to mention the allegation in its inquiry report.

When the former wife heard the outcome of Dyfed Powys’ investigation in January 2007 she filed a formal complaint that it was inadequate. The force considered this complaint and in July 2007 rejected it.

In August 2007 she appealed to the IPCC, who initially refused to review the handling of her complaint on the grounds that her paperwork had arrived with them six days after the statutory 28-day deadline. She sought a judicial review in the high court, which in June this year ordered the IPCC to review the case.

The IPCC review comes to no conclusion on the validity of the former wife’s allegations against Judge X. In a statement last night he told the ITV programme Wales This Week: “I only wish to state firmly that there is absolutely no truth in any of these allegations.” Nor does the IPCC make any comment on the claim that Judge X was a friend of the then chief constable, Terry Grange.

Grange, who was a spokesman on child protection for the Association of Chief Police Officers, retired with immediate effect last November after being accused of misusing force email and a credit card while having an affair.

The IPCC’s report requires Dyfed Powys police to reopen the case, initially in order to establish whether the former wife’s complaints about the original inquiry were properly handled. In a statement the police said: “The force will revisit and reinvestigate the complaints submitted, a process that will necessitate further engagement with the complainant. A new investigating officer has been appointed.”