Police watchdog investigating ‘actions’ of three ex-GMP senior officers involved in shelved Operation Augusta probe into child sexual exploitation

Inactions would be more accurate. But we know what they mean. From the Manchester Evening News

The police watchdog has confirmed it has launched an investigation into the ‘actions’ of three ex-Greater Manchester Police officers during a much-criticised 2004 investigation into child sexual exploitation.

The force apologised earlier this year and confirmed ‘vulnerable children were let down’ following the publication of a damning report commissioned by the mayor of Greater Manchester’s office.

Council leaders in Manchester also apologised for the failure on the part of social services to protect youngsters in care. The report, published in January, reveals in harrowing detail how a grooming gang was allowed to operate ‘in plain sight’, targeting vulnerable children largely in care homes.

The operation was launched by GMP in 2004 after the death of 15-year-old Victoria Agoglia, who had told of her sex abuse at the hands of Asian men and was living in a home under the responsibility of Manchester city council. She died in 2003 after she was injected by heroin by a man then aged 50 who went on to be convicted and jailed. “No formal action was taken to investigate this matter or prevent it occurring again,” the report said.

Greater Manchester Police dropped the investigation due to resource issues.

Eight of the men identified went on to rape or assault girls, for which they were convicted.

In a statement, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the report ‘raised concerns about the conduct and decision-making of some of the officers involved’.  The watchdog said that after ‘careful consideration’, it has now launched an independent investigation into three former GMP ‘senior’ officers. The three have not been named.

Two have retired and the third is ‘currently working for another organisation’ . . . “We have now decided it is necessary to investigate the individual conduct of these three former GMP officers who were all involved in either supervising or setting the direction of Operation Augusta.  . . . We now need to establish and examine all the available evidence. The investigation is in its early stages.”

No further details have been released. It has not been confirmed how long the independent investigation would take.