A report has found that cases of historical hair grooming in historical child grooming cases were delayed as a city council has overshadowed the pages of evidence.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Constable and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found that some of the materials provided by the Manchester City Council include pages, which show only a few words.
The Watchdog stated that “it was impossible to assess the clear value of the information” but said that since a new procedure, there was an agreement to share evidence.
The Manchester City Council stated that the “complex” rules about share personal data meant that if some information was included in the evidence, the prosecution could be endangered.
The Greater Manchester Police (GMP )’s historical handling of child sexual abuse cases revealed information as part of an inspection, which found that the force made significant improvements after a series of reports in handling the allegations.
Review by HMICFRS In 2024, the commission was commissioned by Mayor Andy Bernham of Greater Manchester to look into the “current and ongoing provisions”.
The report said that each of the 10 local authorities in Greater Manchester signed their agreement about what information would be shared with the police.
“Some are all set to share the available information and do this immediately and without cuts,” found in the review.
“Others will do so only according to strict rules as to what can be included.
“This has led to a significant delay in the investigation and the preparation of evidence for the court.”
It was noted how the green jacket and the burnis operation “were particularly affected by these delays”.
Only one person has been convicted as part of the Operation Green Jacket, which was launched to investigate child sexual abuse in South Manchester in the early 2000s six years ago.
Operation Burnis was established to investigate child sexual abuse after the death of 15 -year -old Victoria Agoglia in 2003.
Victoria, who was in care, died two months after a drug overdose, when she was raped two months after the report and was injected with heroin by a large person.
The report found, “The material provided by the Manchester City Council took several months and so heavy that some pages had only a few words.”
“This made it impossible to assess the clear value of the information.”
A spokesman for the Manchester City Council said that rights criminals were “committed from the beginning” to do justice.
The spokesperson said: “The sharing of personal data is a complex legal field. Failure to correctly follow the relevant guidelines will reject such information in the court, which is serving to endanger prosecution rather than extending them.
“As this work has moved forward, we are capable of developing information-sharing protocols with the police, which have extended processes and have been so successful that they have been adopted elsewhere.”
HMICFRS stated that GMP, Council and Crown had agreed to a new way to work together since prosecution service.
“Investigators can look and assess remotely unexpected documents,” HMICFRS said.
It said that it was “far more efficient and effective”, which meant that the process had to resume.
HMICFRS highlighted how GMP has made significant improvements on how it investigated cases of grooming the child.
The Watchdog found that the force had “a strong multi-agency approach to investigate child sexual abuse” and “important resources to support these investigations”.
It now has an expert child sexual abuse major investigation team along with 98 dedicated employees, working with legal and non-constituent agencies to support the victims.
HMICFRS also mentioned that “good strategic and operational leadership and governance arrangements were in place to investigate the GMP”.
But there were “various training intervals” and the previous failures resulted in “irreparable loss of faith”.
Speaking in front of the publication of the report, former detective Maggi Oliver, who resigned on the handling of Ruchdel Grooming cases from GMP, said: “They are the most frightening childhood that you can imagine.
“They have not found any reason to trust anyone, but when they trust in the system, it is unable to fail repeatedly.”
Michelle Skir, an Inspector of the Constable of His Majesty, said: “We found that since 2019, when GMP started reviewing the child sexual exploitation investigation in his non-recently, the force has improved his understanding and attitude to investigate allegations of child criminal and sexual exploitation.
“It is clear that the force has been trying to provide a better service to those who may have experience sexual abuse or may be.
“But for some, the confidence and belief in the police were lost, and the force would not be able to improve its experiences.”
Greater Manchester Joint Authority and Crown Prosecution Service have been contacted for comment.
