Home Secretary calls for more transparency from police over suspects
The issue has been the subject of fierce debate in a series of high-profile cases, including recently over the charging of two men – reported to be Afghan asylum seekers – over the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton.
The Home Secretary said 'we do think more transparency is needed' in the information given by police.
She said: 'We do think the guidance needs to change and we have also already, about six months ago, we asked the Law Commission to look at this and to accelerate their review around some of the contempt of court issues, that's about what information can be released when there's a trial pending.'
She referred to a case where Iranian nationals were charged with spying offences in May and the Crown Prosecution Service revealed three of them had arrived either on small boats or a lorry.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'It is an operational decision for the police and Crown Prosecution Service on an individual case, what and when information can be revealed in a live investigation.
'However, we do think that the guidance needs to change, the College of Policing is already looking at this, and Home Office officials are working with the College of Policing.'
A College of Policing spokesman said: 'Media relations guidance for police is already under review and is looking at how forces can best balance their obligations under contempt of court legislation with their responsibility to prevent disorder.
'Police forces make challenging and complex decisions on a case-by-case basis and transparency is essential to prevent misinformation and reassure the public.'
The Southport atrocity committed by Axel Rudakubana in July last year was also marked by a focus on the suspect's ethnicity and immigration status – with false rumours spreading online that he was a Muslim asylum seeker, fuelling the riots seen in the aftermath of the stabbings.
The same force, Merseyside Police, were more transparent when a car drove into crowds during Liverpool FC's Premier League victory parade, saying they had arrested a 'white British man'.
Emily Spurrell, Merseyside's Police and Crime Commissioner, told Today in Rudakubana's case the situation was complicated because he was under 18 when he was arrested, which created 'huge challenges' about what could be said.
She said: 'I think the police will always aim to be as transparent as possible, but they are limited because of their need to protect the criminal justice process.'
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has pushed for the immigration status of suspects to be routinely released by police (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
She acknowledged that 'we live in a very different world now' to when some of the guidance was first drafted as rumours could spread quickly online and there were some 'bad actors who deliberately circulate false information to serve a particular agenda'.
The Nuneaton case has led to fresh pressure on police over the information they make public.
Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, was arrested on July 26 and charged the next day with rape, according to Warwickshire Police.
He appeared at Coventry Magistrates' Court last Monday and has been remanded in custody.
Mohammad Kabir, 23, was arrested in Nuneaton on Thursday and charged with kidnap, strangulation and aiding and abetting rape of a girl under 13, the force added.
He appeared at Coventry Magistrates' Court on Saturday and has been remanded in custody.
Warwickshire Police did not deny a Mail On Sunday report which said Mulakhil and Kabir are asylum seekers.
Reform UK's leader Nigel Farage and Warwickshire Council leader George Finch claimed there had been a 'cover-up' in the case.
Mr Farage said it was a 'cover-up that in many ways is reminiscent of what happened after the Southport killings last year'.
In a letter to the Home Secretary, Mr Finch claimed that a 'cover-up' of immigration status 'risks public disorder breaking out on the streets of Warwickshire'.
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