BBCA Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has pressed the Home Secretary for an urgent update on what information forces should give to the public after allegations that authorities tried to cover up alleged offences by asylum seekers.
It comes after two men reported to be Afghan asylum seekers were charged following alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton.
Warwickshire PCC Philip Seccombe is calling for fresh national guidance to be issued after police were accused of withholding their immigration status.
“It is very easy to criticise and suggest that the balance of disclosure hasn’t been correct, but it is much harder to take these decisions on the ground,” the PCC said.
“Like all forces, Warwickshire Police finds itself in a difficult position of trying to carefully balance the legal safeguards which protect the integrity of the judicial process, while maintaining public order and simultaneously ensuring that public confidence is maintained through transparency and honesty.
“Currently police forces are in an invidious position when deciding what can and should be disclosed in sensitive cases, given that the national guidance is silent on both the ethnicity and immigration status of suspects.”
Two men have appeared in court charged in connection with the rape of the 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton.
Ahmad Mulakhil faces two rape charges, while Mohammad Kabir is accused of kidnap, strangulation and aiding and abetting the rape of a girl aged under 13.
Warwickshire County Council leader George Finch accused Warwickshire Police and the Home Office of covering up their immigration status.
On Wednesday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said police should reveal more information about suspects, and that guidance to police was already being looked at.
But she added it was an “operational decision” for forces and the Crown Prosecution Service over what information to release.
She said: “However, we do think that the guidance needs to change, the College of Policing is already looking at this, and Home Office officials are working with the College of Policing.”
The Nuneaton case has led to fresh pressure on police over the information they make public.
The Southport atrocity committed by Axel Rudakubana in July last year was marked by a focus on the suspect’s ethnicity and immigration status, with false rumours spreading online that he was a Muslim asylum seeker, fuelling riots after the stabbings.
Seccombe added: “It is imperative that police forces have revised guidance as soon as possible, so everyone has the clarity needed on what information will be released, when it will be released and by whom, for any incidents going forward.”
