Met Police FAILED to ‘protect abuse kids’ and is leaving hundreds of children ‘at risk of rape and sexual exploitation,’ watchdog claims
Shocking report reveals three-quarters of child protection and abuse cases were poorly handled by cops in London
THE Met Police is leaving hundreds of children at risk of sexual exploitation and rape because of systematic failings, a watchdog revealed.
The shocking report found three-quarters of child protection and abuse cases were poorly handled.
A senior police source branded the document from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary the “most damning review” in its history.
It raised concerns the Met was sitting on a Rotherham-style abuse scandal.
Among the most horrifying examples was a failure to interview a ten-year-old girl who may have been abused by her father.
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There was also evidence officers wrongly closed the case of a 13-year-old girl allegedly being exploited by older men — without even speaking to her.
The review of 374 cases found 278 were handled inadequately. Thirty-eight were referred back to the force, led by Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr said: “We found serious errors of judgment, inconsistency, unacceptable delays and a lack of leadership which meant that children are not being protected properly.”
The report comes weeks after a damning review found “numerous errors” in the Met’s Operation Midland probe into claims of a VIP paedophile ring.
Blast from the past
THE FORMER chair of Theresa May's child abuse inquiry was branded "disgraceful
Yvette Cooper, the Labour head of the Home Affairs Select Committee said it defied belief that Dame Goddard had shunned Parliament to explain her sudden departure as head of the inquiry team this summer.
And she vowed to summon the Kiwi judge for a Commons grilling if she ever set foot back in the UK.
But the attack came as just part of a withering assessment of the top team charged with unearthing historic child abuse across the public sector.
Ms Cooper said the inquiry's response to staggering allegations of bullying and sexual assault within its own team were "inadequate".
And he said the appointment of a new lead counsel should be a "priority";.
Ms Cooper said: "For the sake of the survivors and child protection we need to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse to be effective.
"But so far it has been beset by problems and it needs to sort them out fast."
Dame Goddard quit in July with a huge £80,000 payoff from new Home Secretary Amber Rudd. It later emerged that concerns over her leadership style had been raised with the Home Office in April.