Thousands of sex offenders prosecuted for changing personal details without telling police
Thousands of sex offenders are changing their details without notifying police, new figures reveal, as campaigners call for an end to a “loophole that is making a mockery of the legal system”.
Between January 2019 and June 2022, there have been almost 12,000 prosecutions made against people on the sex offence register who have failed to tell authorities about a change in their personal information, such as name and location, despite a legal requirement to do so.
The figures – obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request by The Safeguarding Alliance and shared exclusively with Sky News – are “just the tip of the iceberg in this epidemic” and do not reflect those who have not been caught, campaigners say.
Labour MP Sarah Champion, who led a debate in parliament on Thursday about tightening the laws, told Sky News: “By changing their name that makes a lot of the schemes that we have around safeguarding completely redundant.
“For example women who’ve experienced domestic violence, they can call up, check the name of their new partner against that (sex offence) register. If they’ve got a different name, that’s not going to flag those dangers.”
Ms Champion said the process of changing a name for a sex offender is “so simple to do”.
“You can do it online. I’ve found offenders that have done it in prison. I’ve found offenders that do it just before they get charged to keep their birth name protected.”
She said a new name allows criminals to get a new driving licence and passport and with those documents “you can then get a clean DBS check in that new name”.
“And we’ve found examples of offenders that have done that. And then have gone on to re-offend almost without any form of detection being available,” she said.
The MP for Rotherham said police already have tools to put markers on driving licences and passports electronically which could be used to flag attempts by sex offenders to change their details.
However, she claimed the Home Office have said it could only be applied in the most extreme circumstances because of cost.
Labour MP Sarah Champion said the process for a sex offender trying to change their name is “simple to do”
Ms Champion said: “What price is put on protecting a child or a vulnerable person from a sexual offender? What price is the consequence of not doing that? Colossal. I would imagine it’s going to be a couple of hundred pounds each time they do the check.”
Asked if sex offenders should be stopped from changing their name in the first place, Ms Champion said “you still then have the same problem of trying to enforce it”.
“The problem we have at the moment is all of the onus is onto the sex offender to tell the police if they change their name, if they change their location, if they go abroad, and by nature, they’re not,” she said.
She said sex offenders are “disappearing” after changing their details and “the government can’t just sit on its hands on this. It needs to put proper protections in place”.
Can sex offenders legally change their name?
Data previously obtained by Sky News shows more than 900 sex offenders have disappeared off the police radar with many thought to have disguised their identities by changing their names and not telling officers.
From January 2017 to December 2019, 1,349 registered sex offenders notified a name change – but 913 were reported missing during the same time.
While sex offenders who fail to notify face up to five years in prison, campaigners say that is not enough of an incentive to stop them.
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Ms Champion and the Safeguarding Alliance want a tagging system placed on the passport and/or driving licence on all registered sex offenders to stop them from using official documents as a way to evade justice.
They are also calling for the onus to be put on authorities who manage violent or sexual offenders to check if criminals have changed their details.
The government carried out a review of the issue in 2021 but the findings have not been made public.
Government ‘carefully considering’ review findings
Speaking in the Commons on Thursday, Home Office minister Sarah Dines said she was “carefully considering the findings”, stressing some of the content is “very sensitive”.
She suggested there are several tools to help the government manage “the risk” of sex offenders, but added: “I do accept and concede that there is always more work to be done.”
Ms Dines also faced pressure to take action from Conservative MP Mark Fletcher, who wants to make a new law to stop sex offenders from changing their identities.
The MP for Bolsover also said it is “unacceptable” and a “tremendous slap in the face” for victims for the government not to publish a review into the issue, and it feels like “we are prioritising the rights of sexual offenders over the rights of the general public”.
Miss Dines said: “As I’ve made clear, public protection and safety is our number one priority and we’re committed to ensure that the police and other agencies have more and better tools to assist them to more effectively manage registered sex offenders.
“So in a nutshell, a lot has been done but there is more to do. We need more joined-up systems and I’m going to try and do my little bit in my short time to address these issues.”
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
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The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
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Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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