The Times - UK (2020-07-27)

18 1GM Monday July 27 2020 | the times

News

Hundreds of sex offenders have van-
ished from police monitoring amid
fears that they have been using online
services to secretly change their names.
The whereabouts of 913 sex offenders
are unknown, according to police
records obtained by campaigners.
Some are feared to be offending
under new identities. More than 1,
sex offenders on the register have noti-

A former parliamentary aide claims
that she was sexually assaulted and
threatened by a Conservative MP while
working in the Commons last year.
She also says that when she reported
the assault to Mark Spencer, the chief
whip, he took no action against the MP.
It is understood that Mr Spencer does
not believe that a sexual assault was re-
ported to him in their conversation, but
acknowledges that she reported abu-
sive behaviour and threats.
The woman, who is in her early twen-
ties, said: “Our conversation was brief.
He didn’t seem interested in the details
of the allegations but spent most of the
time saying how I shouldn’t worry
about the threats. His response was,
‘Well don’t worry, because the MP
won’t actually carry out those threats’.
“I asked to speak to him again and

Secret name changes allow sex offenders to dodge the police

John Simpson Crime Correspondent fied the authorities of name changes,
making it harder for the public to check
their backgrounds.
The Safeguarding Alliance, which
submitted freedom of information re-
quests to obtain the figures, said that
while it was illegal for sex offenders to
change their name without telling offi-
cials, this was insufficient as a deterrent.
The true picture is probably worse
because only half of the police forces in
England and Wales provided data.

One serial child sex offender, Terry

Price, has changed his name five times,

Sky News reported.

Price repeatedly raped Della Wright,

who is now 47, over a number of years

after first attacking her when she

was six. “This person has been through

the system not once but countless

times — and even as recently as 2016 he

was allowed to change his name again

whilst in prison,” Ms Wright, who has

waived her right to anonymity to

campaign about the issue, told Sky

News.

The Safeguarding Alliance is peti-

tioning MPs to “revoke the right of reg-

istered sex offenders to change their

name by deed poll”.

The Home Office said: “Sex offend-

ers who fail to tell police of a name

change already face tough prison sen-

tences. We are working with the courts

and Disclosure and Barring Service to

ensure measures are strengthened.”

6 Ministers should consider detaining

inmates with dementia outside jail,

MPs have said, arguing that the condi-

tion is poorly managed in the prison

system. Incarcerating people who may

not remember why they were jailed

“raises practical and ethical questions”,

the justice committee said. The prison

population is ageing in England and

Wales and about 80 per cent of prison-

ers aged 70 and above are serving time

for sex crimes, the report said.

PC Harper’s

mother joins

call to review

convictions

John Simpson

The mother of a police officer dragged

to his death by a gang of thieves has

joined 60,000 people calling for a re-

view of his killers’ convictions for man-

slaughter.

PC Andrew Harper, 28, became en-

tangled in a sling attaching a stolen

quad bike to a car. He was dragged at

speed down a country lane for more

than a mile.

He died of the catastrophic injuries

after the incident near Sulhamstead,

west Berkshire, last August. The driver,

Henry Long, 19, and his two accompli-

ces have been cleared of murder and

face jail for manslaughter. The verdict

prompted outrage among PC Harper’s

family and fellow officers.

Long, with Jessie Cole and Albert

Bowers, both 18, were seen to laugh in

the dock when details were read out.

Debbie Adlam, the officer’s mother,

commented on a petition urging the

attorney-general to review the case.

“Andrew James Harper is my son,”

she wrote. “I am disgusted that he has

been let down. When they crossed the

junction on A4 there’s no way they did

not know he was there being thrown

against the pavements. Utterly and bit-

terly disgusted with the outcome.”

His widow, Lissie, 29, and other family

members have spoken of their shock

and distress at the verdict after lawyers

for the teenagers argued that they had

not intended to kill the constable.

Sir Mike Penning, a former policing

and justice minister, said last week that

he would be writing to Suella Braver-

man, the attorney-general, to ask her to

investigate.

The petition had reached 63,932 sig-

natures last night.

A note in which one of the killers

wrote that he was missing his mother in

prison on remand prompted criticism

from PC Harper’s grandfather.

Cyril Shrimpton, 84, told the Sunday

Mirror: “It’s all very well for Bowers to

send his mother birthday cards and

drawings because he’s bored in prison.

But we’ll never again get a card or a

phone call from our grandson Andrew.

“We’ll never be able to celebrate

birthdays, Christmases or anniversa-

ries together. The fact that Bowers is

already talking about being out one day

shows he’s got no insight into the devas-

tation he caused. All he cares about is

himself.”

It has also emerged that Jed Foster,

the killers’ friend, has begun legal

action against the local force, Thames

Valley Police.

Mr Foster, 21, alleges unlawful arrest,

false imprisonment and malicious

prosecution after he was charged with

murder. The charges were dropped

when new evidence came to light.

Clare Foges, page 27

Chief whip ‘did nothing when I

said I’d been sexually assaulted’

raised complaints that he wasn’t taking

this seriously and he just had his [spe-

cial adviser] send me a message saying

I should go to [the independent com-

plaints and grievance scheme].

“He never suggested I should go to

the police. In fact I asked him when he

would withdraw the whip, he first said

when he had a police report, then

changed it to a charge, then he said ulti-

mately he’d need a conviction.”

She said: “I felt like he did not take me

seriously or recognise the severity of

what had happened.”

A spokesman for Mr Spencer said:

“The chief whip takes all allegations of

harassment and abuse extremely seri-

ously and has strongly encouraged

anybody who has approached him to

contact the appropriate authorities, in-

cluding parliament’s independent com-

plaints and grievance scheme.”

The woman intends to pursue her

case with the police and through parlia-

ment’s independent process.

Elizabeth Filkin, a former parlia-

mentary commissioner for standards,

said: “If someone has reported any-

thing constituting a criminal offence

the whip should advise them to go to

the police, now or when they feel ready.

“It’s certainly not appropriate for

them to do nothing, regardless of what

independent procedures are in place.”

Last week the Conservative Party

was criticised for not withdrawing the

whip from Rob Roberts, MP for Delyn,

after he sent inappropriate messages to

two junior members of staff. Mr Rob-

erts has apologised and the party is in-

vestigating.

Julian Lewis, in contrast, had the

whip withdrawn for reportedly seeking

the help of Labour MPs to get elected as

chairman of the intelligence and secur-

ity committee. Whipping tactics also

drew dismay last month when Tories

were encouraged to block a measure to

keep debates on harassment by MPs off

the floor of the House, despite it nomi-

nally being a free vote.

In several previous cases, MPs ac-

cused of wrongdoing have stood down

before inquiries were completed.

A party investigation into the con-

duct of Ross Thomson, a former MP,

has not reached any conclusion. He was

accused of groping men and reported to

the chief whip and independent com-

plaints scheme. He denies wrongdoing.

Esther Webber

Silverstone

offers you

a vroom

with a view

F

ormula One

enthusiasts

will be given

pole position

in a

development

overlooking

Silverstone (Victoria

Brzezinski writes).

In the motor racing

equivalent of building

houses next to

Centre Court at

Wimbledon,

trackside

apartments will be

available for

£1.2 million and

£1.65 million, with

free access to all

the big races and

use of the

clubhouse.

Escapade Living

will build 60

homes, to be

finished in 2022,

which will be sold

on a 125-year lease.

Flats without a view

will start at £650,000.

All the apartments

will be marketed as

investment properties.

Owners will be able to

stay there for up to

three weeks a year

and receive a rental

income for the rest of

the time.

Motorsport is big

business, turning over

£9 billion in Britain in

2019; there is usually

more air

traffic at Silverstone

than anywhere in the

UK on F1 days as the

jet set flies in by light

aircraft or helicopter.

Given the track’s

location in rural

Northamptonshire,

there are few high-

end hotels for

wealthy fans.

Many stadiums

now incorporate

homes. Tottenham

Hotspur is

building at least

1,500 homes in

and around its new

stadium in north

London, and Brentford

FC’s new 17,250-seat

stadium sits at the

centre of a 2,000-

home development

near Kew Bridge

railway station in west

London. The

housebuilder Galliard

is selling 600 homes

encircling the new

AFC Wimbledon

stadium in southwest

London, with prices

starting at £477,500 for

a one-bedroom flat.

Galliard also built

the Arsenal Emirates

stadium and its

surrounding 250

apartments. A big

sales incentive was

that every buyer could

purchase season

tickets for the new

stadium — the tickets

were like gold dust at

the time.

For horse racing

fans, David Wilson

Homes is building a

1,500-property

trackside development

at Newbury

racecourse in

Berkshire.

Homes overlooking the

track will be sold for up

to £1.6 million but

owners can stay for only

three weeks a year

andreceiv tl

moreair

N t e w n h H b 1

and

Mark Spencer does

not believe that he

was told about a

sexual assault

ESCAPADE LIVING