Bassetlaw: ‘It is beyond my belief’ says Mann after claiming Council destroyed child sex abuse files

John Mann is demanding an inquiry be made after claiming that Notts County Council destroyed files into child sex abuse.
MP for Bassetlaw John MannMP for Bassetlaw John Mann
MP for Bassetlaw John Mann

The Bassetlaw MP says that six of his constituents have approached him in the past year, claiming they were abused as children.

But when Mr Mann attempted to locate the files, he found that they had been destroyed by the council as part of a routine operation.

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Said Mr Mann: “It has been revealed not only that the council have been destroying files, but they continued to do so after allegations of abuse resurfaced.”

“It is beyond belief that they destroyed evidence. I have still not received a response to my letter asking the council to confirm that they have destroyed the files.”

“I have written to the police asking them to re-examine the cases and prosecute.”

“No matter how long ago the abuse is alleged to have taken place, the victims deserve justice.”

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Mr Mann raised the issue in Parliament after Theresa May announced a major inquiry into child abuse when it was revealed that 114 home office files on abuse claims had disappeared from Government records.

Mr Mann asked: “This year in Bassetlaw, six people have come forward and made allegations of historical child abuse, but there have been no prosecutions and Notts social services have destroyed files. Will that be in the remit of one of these investigations now taking place?”

Mrs May responded: “I am sure that we all want the same thing, to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice. The whole point of the inquiry panel is to look at lessons learned as a result of these various reviews of historical allegations that have taken place.”

Steve Edwards, of Notts County Council, said that he has contacted Mr Mann and was waiting to speak with him about the six individuals referred to in the House of Commons.

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He added: “ Like every local authority in the country, we work to file retention procedures that are compliant with data protection policies. From the information we have to date, files that have been destroyed have been in line with these policies.”