Home Office delivers damning verdict on police attempts to use human rights law to block identification of perverts on the run.

THE HOME Office last night described a police decision to withhold the identity of three registered sex offenders who are on the run as “nonsense”.

Northumbria Police and North Yorkshire Police are refusing to divulge details about the wanted men. They say it would be an invasion of their privacy and breach their human rights.

But a spokesman for the Government department condemned the decision last night, adding: “That is nonsense.

This is nothing to do with data protection.

“Protection of the public is a priority. If the person who absconded is of a significant risk, the police can identify them. It is up to the individual police forces to make that decision.

The police are within their rights to publicise this.”

North Yorkshire Police admitted that a sex offender supposed to be kept under close scrutiny has been missing for 19 months.

But when asked by The Northern Echo to name the offender, the force said: “To provide you with this information may lead to the identification of the offender and would breach data protection principles, and also the right of the individual to privacy under the European Convention of Human Rights.”

The force reviewed its policy yesterday, but reaffirmed its stance. It said naming the offender may also compromise the anonymity of their victim – despite all victims of rape and other sex crimes already having guaranteed anonymity for life from the time they make a complaint.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “We are continuing to make inquiries into the location of the missing man.

“It is strongly believed that he has left the country. We are making regular contact with Interpol and foreign forces to locate him.

“The investigation to trace the individual is still ongoing and for operational reasons it is inappropriate to release his details at this stage.

We also need to ensure that the victim’s anonymity is protected.”

Northumbria Police have been looking for two sex offenders who have been missing for up to two years.

However, it said they could not be named because it would contravene the Data Protection Act.

The Northern Echo will appeal against the decisions and enter an official complaint with the Information Commissioner.

Appalled victims’ groups have urged the police to launch public appeals to track down the offenders.

Last night, Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague backed the calls. Mr Hague, the MP for Richmond, in North Yorkshire, said: “Legal uncertainty arising from the Human Rights Act has left prison governors, probation staff, police and local authorities reluctant to warn residents about dangerous offenders for fear of breaching the offender’s right to privacy.

“An incoming Conservative government will change policy and issue guidance.”

Convicts who are made to sign the sex offenders’ register, including rapists and paedophiles, must stay at an address approved by the police, so they can be monitored effectively.

Facebook killer Peter Chapman was jailed for 35 years last month for the kidnap, rape and murder of Darlington student Ashleigh Hall.

Police lost track of Chapman nine months earlier.

Following The Northern Echo’s inquiry, Cleveland Police issued a photograph of 28-year-old Sri Lankan sex attacker Suraj Shyani Wijekoon, who disappeared from Middlesbrough last summer.

No sex offenders are currently missing from Durham Police area.