Former Met Police Chief: Historical Sex Investigations A Waste Of Time

11 April 2018, 10:39

The former head of the Metropolitan Police has told LBC that putting time and resources into investigating historical sexual offences is a waste of time and has led to a lack of police to deal with violent crime.

Sir John Stevens said that, with additional resources needed for terrorism and for incidents like the Grenfell Tower fire, police bosses need to prioritise the work they are doing.

And he believes they should stop wasting time on historical offences, such as Operation Midland, which investigated Sir Edward Heath, Lord Brittan and Harvey Proctor for sexual assaults in the 1970s and 1980s. No charges were ever brought from the operation.

And he believes this is a key reason that there are less police officers on the street and violent crime is rising.

Speaking to LBC, Sir John said: "The problem is priorities.

"Some of these historical offences which have taken place are extremely time-consuming and take a lot of resources away."

When Nick asked if they were worth it, Sir John responded: "Some of them are not, no.

"Some very strong decisions have got to be taken.

"Baroness Doreen Lawrence has taken a very brave stance on in saying 'I don't think there's anything more to be discovered here' [in the Stephen Lawrence investigation]. Let's have a little bit more of that."

Nick mentioned the time and money spent on Operation Midland, based upon the words of one man, Nick, who appears to be a fantasist.

Sir John shook his head as he said: "I was a detective for long enough and I led some of the big inquiries. At the end of the day, you have to keep an open mind when you're doing an investigation.

"That means, you have to test what the evidence is from a complainant. Now that doesn't mean you have to throw it aside."