IN reporting the guilt of Ashleigh Hall’s murderer Peter Chapman on Tuesday, The Northern Echo’s front page headline was “Fatal blunders”.

The sentiment was aimed primarily at Merseyside Police for their incompetence in taking nine months to issue a nationwide alert after the registered sex offender went missing from his home.

But it was also aimed at national procedures which allow those on the sex offenders’ register to go unchecked onto social networking sites in search of vulnerable young people.

We demanded that Merseyside Police be called to account for their handling of Chapman and we therefore welcome the strong stance taken yesterday by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Not only has the IPCC confirmed that it will carry out the highest level of internal police inquiry, it has sent an early signal of its dissatisfaction with Merseyside Police.

IPCC commissioner Naseem Malik has expressed her disappointment that the matter was not referred to the police watchdog at a much earlier stage.

She has promised Ashleigh’s family a thorough investigation so that lessons can be learned.

At the same time, the Home Office must also carry out a thorough review of the legal loopholes which are preventing paedophiles from having to disclose their online details.

Far too often, the human rights of offenders outweigh the human rights of their victims.

It is surely the duty of the Home Office to build a case to redress that balance when it comes to the criminal use of the internet.