the times | Thursday January 13 2022 19
News
Detectives are examining a cache of
digital devices after the search for a
schoolboy who vanished 15 years ago
became a kidnap and human traffick-
ing investigation.
Andrew Gosden was 14 years old
when he skipped school in Doncaster,
took a train to London and vanished on
September 14, 2007.
Two men have now been arrested in
London on suspicion of kidnap and
trafficking in the case, with one of the
suspects allegedly found in possession
of indecent images of children, police
said this week.
Raids on properties linked to the sus-
pects led to the seizure of multiple
digital devices, including mobile
computers at school it is considered
unlikely that he was a victim of online
grooming. He left the house for school
as usual before sneaking back in to
change into casual clothes, including
jeans and a distinctive T-shirt showingSir Paul Smith was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour; “Mr
Motivator” Derrick Evans, left with his wife, got an MBE; Sir Clive Lloyd was knightedF
irst it was the
Queen, then a
prince and now
a duke for the
“king of
tailoring” (David
Sanderson writes). Sir
Paul Smith was made a
member of the Order of
the Companions of
Honour by the Duke ofCambridge yesterday.
The Nottinghamshire-
born fashion designer
joked at his investiture
ceremony at Windsor
Castle: “I was made a
CBE by the Queen,
received my knighthood
from Prince Charles and
now with William I’ve
got the full set.” TheOrder of the Companions
of Honour was founded
by George V in 1917 to
recognise services of
national importance.
There are 65 members
at any one time and
present members
include JK Rowling, Sir
David Attenborough and
Sir Paul McCartney.
“This is really special
because of the limited
number of people who
receive it. It’s also very
much about longevity —
you’ve been consistently
contributing to society,employment, exports,
and [have] enthusiasm
and energy for young
people,” Smith, 75, said.
Also being honoured
yesterday was Sir Clive
Lloyd, 77, the former
West Indies cricket
captain who was its
first player to win 100
international caps. He
was knighted for
services to his sport.
Derrick Evans, 69,
better known as the
television fitness
instructor Mr Motivator,
was made an MBE.Fashion king tries
on ‘the full set’
The sentence handed to the mother of
Star Hobson was “unduly lenient”, the
attorney-general said yesterday as she
referred it to the Court of Appeal.
Frankie Smith, 20, was sentenced to
eight years in prison last year for caus-
ing or allowing the death of her 16-
month-old daughter, but will serve only
STEVE PARSONS/PAPolice scour phones for evidence
of missing boy in trafficking case
phones that will now be sent for foren-
sic examination, a process detectives
expect to take at least six months, The
Times understands.
Andrew’s father, Kevin Gosden, 56,
said last night that sex trafficking was
one of the worst things that had crossed
his mind to explain his son’s disappear-
ance, even before the two arrests.
“You go through all kinds of scenar-
ios and what the possible outcome
could be, no matter how awful,” he said.
“And sex trafficking, along with
murder, suicide and other awful possi-
bilities, is one of those worst scenarios.”
The teenager was a high-achieving
pupil at a Catholic secondary school
where he had a 100 per cent attendance
record. He had no access to the internet
at home and although he would usethe heavy metal band Slipknot. From
there he went to a shop to withdraw
£200 from his bank account and head-
ed to the railway station where he
bought a one-way ticket to London. He
was last seen on CCTV at King’s Cross
station in the capital.
“There was no logical reason for him
to run away, nobody was aware of any
problem,” his father said.
The men were arrested last month.
South Yorkshire police announced on
Tuesday that a 45-year-old man had
been arrested on suspicion of kidnap,
human trafficking and the possession
of indecent images of children. A 38-
year-old man was arrested on suspicion
of kidnap and human trafficking. Both
men have been released under investi-
gation while inquiries continue.John Simpson Crime Correspondent
kevin Gosden’s son Andrew vanished
in 2007 after taking a train to LondonFour-year term for Star Hobson’s mother ‘too lenient’
two-thirds of her sentence behind bars.
She could be released in four years
because of the time she spent in custody
on remand.
Smith’s girlfriend, Savannah Brock-
hill, 28, was handed a life sentence and
must serve a minimum of 25 years in
prison for murdering Star at a flat in
Keighley, West Yorkshire, in 2020.
A trial at Bradford crown court was
told how Star was subjected to monthsof assaults and psychological harm
before Brockhill inflicted “a fatal punch
or kick”.
Suella Braverman said that she could
refer Smith’s sentence to the Court of
Appeal but not that of Brockhill.
She said: “This case will have caused
upset to anyone who read about it, but
my job is to decide if a sentence appears
to be too low based solely on the facts of
the case. I have carefully considered thedetails of this case, and I concluded that
I can refer Frankie Smith’s sentence to
the Court of Appeal as I believe it is
unduly lenient.”
She added that the threshold for
challenging sentences “is a high one”
and that with Brockhill, “the test was
not met”.
Frank Smith, Star’s great-grandfa-
ther, had previously described the
sentences as “staggeringly soft”.Charlotte Wace
Northern Correspondent
Detective
planned to
rape girl, 8
John SimpsonA married police detective has been
jailed for trying to arrange sex with an
eight-year-old girl after a random sting
operation by another force.
Detective Constable Lee Cunliffe, 40,
thought he was messaging the girl’s
mother, who he believed was complicit
in his plan to rape her daughter, in a
series of chats on an encrypted messag-
ing app. Cunliffe, of Greater Manches-
ter police, had in fact been talking to a
unit at Scotland Yard that combs inter-
net chat forums and websites for evi-
dence of child sex abuse.
He boasted that his job allowed him
to travel and one of the chats took place
while Cunliffe was on duty, Liverpool
crown court heard yesterday as he was
jailed for eight years and four months.
The father of one admitted arranging
to have sex with an eight-year-old girl,
misconduct in public office and having
227 indecent images of children.
He also admitted possessing inde-
cent images of a teenage girl in one of
his cases, after falsely filing a police
report to say that the evidence did not
exist on her boyfriend’s phone.
Judge Andrew Menary said the com-
plainant, a vulnerable girl aged 15,
“would never trust the police about
anything ever again”.
Cunliffe told police he was sexually
aroused by his conversations with the
child’s “mother” but would not have
carried out any actual abuse.