Met Police Set up New Child Abuse Team

By Jamie Grierson and Sandra Laville
The Guardian
September 18, 2015

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/18/met-police-set-up-new-child-abuse-team

Scotland Yard says under the new arrangement Operation Midland, focused on claims of a paedophile ring at Dolphin Square, London, will remain a homicide team. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

The Metropolitan police have set up a new team of 90 officers to deal with investigations into alleged attempts to cover up child abuse by high-profile figures.

At Scotland Yard, the Independent Police Complaints Commission is managing internal investigations into 29 allegations of police corruption in the handling of child abuse claims. Among the allegations are claims that special branch and senior police intervened to block investigations into high-profile figures, including politicians.

The team will also deal with the demands of the statutory inquiry into institutional child sexual abuse, led by Justice Goddard, and with criminal investigations relating to Operation Fairbank, the umbrella inquiry into child sex abuse claims involving high-profile figures, and Yewtree, which was set up amid the Jimmy Savile scandal.

In a statement the Met police said: “The MPS is in the process of establishing a specific team in response to the combined demands of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse led by Justice Goddard, the investigations following our referrals to the IPCC, and the ongoing related criminal investigations relating to Operations Fairbank and Yewtree. It is anticipated that this team will comprise about 90 staff, with some staff in place already.”

Operation Midland, which is examining claims that boys were systematically abused by a paedophile ring made up of men from politics, the military and security services at locations across southern England, including the Dolphin Square estate in south-west London, will continue as a distinct homicide team consisting of 27 officers. “The team are taking no new investigations and their main focus is on Midland,” the Met said.

On Wednesday the IPCC announced 12 more investigations into the Met’s handling of abuse claims, adding to 17 that were announced earlier this year. Another allegation has been made against Essex police, bringing the total to 3o.

The majority of the investigations stem from allegations made by retired Met officers and are to be conducted by the internal professional standards departments at the Met and Essex force but overseen by the IPCC.

Detectives have faced calls to shelve Midland, which is based on the testimony of one witness, known only as Nick. This person was once described by police as “credible and true” but recent reports have suggested faith in his evidence has weakened.

It also emerged that Scotland Yard had launched a review of Midland, in April, which concluded at the end of last month. Its findings are now being considered.