Police use of child rapist informant in underage abuse case ‘beggars belief’, says NSPCC

The recruitment of a child rapist to spy on parties where police believed underage girls would be sexually abused "beggars belief", the NSPCC has said.

The informant was paid almost £10,000 by Northumbria Police to assist an investigation into the systematic grooming and abuse of at least 278 girls in deprived areas of Newcastle and Gateshead.

Following the conclusion of four linked trials, 17 men and one woman were convicted or admitted offences that range from rape to inciting prostitution and supplying drugs.

While Northumbria Police chief constable Steve Ashman said he would "not rule out" using a convicted rapist to aid an investigation again, the NSPCC has described the informant’s role in the case as "staggering".

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NSPCC spokesman Jon Brown said: "It beggars belief that they thought it was okay to put an individual who clearly still represented a risk in contact with vulnerable children.

"We are of the view that this needs to be thoroughly understood and reviewed to get an idea of what on Earth they were thinking of.

"I’m not aware of another circumstance in the country where something similar has happened."

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Mr Brown said Northumbria Police should have placed greater importance on the vulnerability of the girls the informant came into contact with.

He said: "The thought process… beggars belief, we just don’t understand it. Questions need to be answered."

The informant, who can only be identified as XY, was recruited years after he drugged an underage girl and invited another man to rape her after he had done so.

During pre-trial hearings, a jury was told XY was arrested after his recruitment following a teenage girl’s claim she had been approached by a man who made an indecent proposition.

The informant was later told he would face no action after he took part in an identity parade.

During legal submissions, XY gave evidence to the court and made a series of allegations against the police, including claims of racism and that he was asked to plant drugs.

He claimed he was recruited because he acted as an informal taxi driver for some of the defendants and "had to make it look like I was their friend".

A judge rejected his evidence in its entirety, describing it as "inherently unreliable" and "clearly dishonest".

Despite this, Northumbria Police chief constable Steve Ashman said "dangerous men are behind bars" because of the information gathered using the convicted rapist.

He said: "We have to step into a murky, dangerous and shadowy world and the people who are going to provide us with that information which will protect victims – it’s not the postmaster or the district nurse."

(c) Sky News 2017: Police use of child rapist informant in underage abuse case ‘beggars belief’, says NSPCC