IN THE NEWS
VICTIMS’ ANGER AS RAPE CASE REFORM OF POLICE IS SHELVED
Campaigners against sexual assault have criticised the govern- ment’s decision to abandon its review of the way the police handle rape cases. Funding for the review will be shelved as part of budget savings despite several high- profile cases in which men committed a string of attacks before being caught.
Just weeks after taxi driver John Warboys was jailed indefinitely after being convicted of attacks on 12 women, Kirk Reid was convict- ed of 26 attacks, including two rapes. Warboys was left free to attack women because
police did not believe his victims’ reports and Reid had come to the police’s attention 12 times before he was finally arrested. Following the cases HM Inspectorate of Constabulary an- nounced that it would carry out a full audit of how victims were treat- ed.
The study – financed with £441,000 from the Home Office – was to scrutinise rape investi- gations from begin- ning to end, including how police built their cases and dealt with those accused.
The Home Office insisted funding for the probe was withdrawn
because it would have “duplicated” other reviews by Baroness Stern and Sara Payne. Dave Gee, an adviser to the Government on rape, told The Times that abandoning the scheme was short- sighted. He said: “Despite the advice to investigators and pros- ecutors to try to build cases, and thus the credibility of the victim, there is little evidence of this being applied routinely. It results in a majority of discontin- ued cases.”
He said some forces were already reviewing rape investigations in the expectation of funding shortfalls.
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CONVICTED RAPIST STILL DRIVING A TAXI IN BRADFORD
A Bradford taxi driver with a conviction for rape was revealed last month to be still driving his cab around the city, after council chiefs failed in an attempt to revoke his licence. Bradford Council admitted it had been unable to revoke the licence after the driver appealed in court to
get it back.
The case came to light after a member of the public made a Free- dom of Information request to the council, which also disclosed that 31 other Bradford cabbies have serious criminal convictions for violence.
Of the 3,006 drivers in the Bradford district, 29
have been convicted for actual bodily harm, two for grievous bodily harm and one for rape. A Bradford Council spokesman told the Yorkshire Post: “The council refused to renew the licence for the one driver with a rape conviction, but he successfully ap- pealed in court.”
EAST LOTHIAN CABBIES’ PERSONAL DETAILS POSTED ON WEBSITE
The personal details and criminal convic- tions of taxi drivers have been published online after a council blunder.
It has been reported that full details of licensing applications - including convictions ranging from minor driving offences to theft, assault and drug dealing - appeared on East Lothian Council’s website along with the names and addresses of members of the public who had lodged complaints. The private details, which were considered at a licensing meeting in Haddington, were quickly removed from the site after a call from a member of the pub- lic, but not before a handful of people had accessed the informa- tion.
A council spokes- woman told the Edinburgh Evening News: “Unfortunately,
due to staff error, these private papers appeared on the pub- lic section of the council’s committee web pages for a short period.
“As soon as the rele- vant council officials were informed of the error, the papers were removed from the website and the UK Information Commis- sioner’s office was immediately notified of the breach in data pro- tection.
“This was a serious error on the part of the council. We have sent letters to the individu- als named in the papers apologising unreservedly for any distress caused. Fol- lowing an immediate investigation into the circumstances sur- rounding the incident, we have also taken steps to improve our procedures to ensure that it does not hap- pen again.”
At least one person - who was named as lodging a complaint against a taxi driver said he would be now be lodging an official complaint against the council.
“I think it shows negli- gence by East Lothian Council not to have got in touch with me it should have been the first thing they did. I am devastated that my address and tele- phone number have appeared online and will be contacting my solicitor and East Lothian Council. “The problem is that the [taxi driver] who I was complaining about in the first place could get to know where I live. It was meant to be confidential.
“I now find myself where someone put my name over the internet. I’m gutted about it and I am going to be seeking legal advice and I want an inquiry.”
PHTM OCTOBER 2010
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