Summary
Overview
This episode of The News Agents features an in-depth investigation by LBC's Crime Correspondent Andy Hughes into allegations that a former Metropolitan Police officer was involved in a paedophile ring while serving as an active officer. The investigation reveals claims of abuse, alleged cover-ups, and systemic failures within the Met. The episode also includes an interview with Justice Minister Jake Richards about reforms to the European Convention on Human Rights and controversial changes to the UK's jury trial system.
Uncovering the Paedophile Ring Allegations
Andy Hughes explains how his investigation began in 2012 when a young woman was arrested and recognized a custody sergeant as the man who had abused her as a child. She disclosed that this Met police officer had picked her up near her care home, taken her to hotels in Park Lane, and shared her with other powerful men including a judge and an unnamed MP. Hughes discovered multiple independent victims with identical stories about the same officer, revealing a pattern of systematic abuse involving multiple girls from care homes.
- A young woman arrested in 2012 recognized a custody sergeant as her childhood abuser while in a West London custody suite
- The officer allegedly picked up girls near their care homes and took them to Park Lane hotels, sharing them with important men including a judge and unnamed MP
- Two completely independent women told identical stories about the same officer without knowing each other
- One victim stated in police interviews that this officer did this numerous times with several girls in her care home
" She looked behind the desk and she saw the officer that she said had abused her as a child. She then became extremely distressed. "
" That police officer, when I was a child, picks me up near my care home, take me to a hotel in Park Lane. He used to share me with other important men, including, she said, a judge. "
The Investigation Disappears
Despite serious allegations from multiple victims, the investigation was shut down in 2013 due to "lack of evidence." The accused officer was allowed to retire while under investigation, requiring senior-level approval that someone granted. Even more troubling, one of the allegations completely disappeared from Met records with no paper trail remaining. Detectives who interviewed victims clearly believed them, yet the cases were closed and the officer allowed to walk away.
- The complaint was made in 2012, but two months later the officer had retired while under investigation
- In 2013, a year after the complaint, the investigation was shut down due to lack of evidence
- One allegation disappeared completely with no Met record of it existing
- Someone senior signed off the officer's retirement knowing he was being investigated for sexual offences, grooming, and being part of a paedophile ring
" Someone signed off his retirement. Someone who knew he was being investigated for sexual offences and grooming and being part of a paedophile ring allowed him to walk off into the sunset. "
" The only way I know what happened is I've spoken to people who are actually involved in the investigation... the detectives believed her. Yet, a year later, the case was dropped due to lack of evidence. "
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