Independent inquiry will ask why no national alert issued for Peter Chapman (From The Northern Echo)

Independent inquiry will ask why no national alert issued for Peter Chapman

8:11am Thursday 11th March 2010 in

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THE police force responsible for a nine-month delay in trying to trace Ashleigh Hall’s killer will face the highest level of independent investigation, it was confirmed yesterday.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it would hold an independent inquiry into why a national alert was not issued for Peter Chapman after it was discovered he was not living at his registered address.

The IPCC also criticised Merseyside Police for only referring the matter after Chapman was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder, rape and kidnap of 17-year-old Ashleigh on Monday.

News of the inquiry came as it emerged that attempts to stop sex offenders using social networking sites to meet teenagers are being hampered by human rights laws.

Stockton-born Chapman, 33, a registered sex offender, was classed as medium risk and living on Merseyside, where he was monitored by police. Despite officers discovering he was not living at his registered address in January last year, a nationwide alert was not distributed until last September.

Chapman was picked up by police the day after he raped and murdered Ashleigh, having posed as a 19-year-old on Facebook.

In a statement yesterday, IPCC Commissioner Naseem Malik said: “Our investigators will undertake a thorough review of how Merseyside Police monitored Chapman, what intelligence and information was available about him and what actions were taken when it was established he was missing.”

She added: “This is a matter that should have been referred to the IPCC as soon as Merseyside Police became aware of the issues last year.

“That is a matter I will be taking up with the force separately.”

Independent inquiries are held when the incident could cause the greatest level of public concern, have the greatest potential to impact on communities or have serious implications for the reputation of the police service.

A spokeswoman for Merseyside Police said it would be inappropriate to comment until the conclusion of the inquiry.

Ashleigh’s murder has prompted fresh calls for convicted sex attackers to give the authorities their email and computer addresses.

Three years ago, ministers proposed that convicted rapists and paedophiles should be forced to disclose their online details to stop them grooming youngsters.

But this week the Home Office admitted efforts to introduce the legislation had been shelved following a High Court ruling that the requirements of the sex offenders’ register breached the Human Rights Act. The policy was set out in a document called Review of the Protection of Children from Sex Offenders, published in June 2007.

But in December 2008, two convicted sex offenders won a landmark court case when High Court judges agreed that indefinite registration on the sex offenders register, with no chance of a review, breached their right to a private and family life under Article 8 of the European Court of Human Rights, enshrined in British law as the Human Rights Act.

The ruling forced the Home Office to put the email address plan on hold until an appeal in the Supreme Court is heard.

Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson has written to the Home Secretary over the issue. He said: “We need to close as many loopholes as we can to stop this happening again.”

Facebook, which has been criticised this week for refusing to add a panic button to its site, where users can report grooming, said it would also welcome the disclosure of offenders’ online identities.

“If sex offenders were forced to register their IP (internet protocol) or email address, and we were sent the list it would help us to keep the site safer,” a spokeswoman for the site said.