Human error may have led to grooming gang cases being dropped, says NCA

In the early stages of a comprehensive investigation, it became clear that human error could lead to criminal cases involving alleged grooming rings being dropped.

Operation Beaconport – a project of the National Crime Agency tasked with uncovering failures in tackling grooming gangs – will examine thousands of cases in which police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to take further action against suspects.

Police say there have been cases where lines of inquiry were not properly followed, victims were not accounted for and suspects were not interviewed as they should have been.

Investigations that were mistakenly closed without further action have already been discovered.

Nigel Leary, deputy director of the National Crime Agency, said: “Initial investigations found that in some cases where a decision was made not to take further action, there were existing lines of inquiry that could be pursued.”

“We saw what appeared to be potential human error in these cases.

“We found that in some cases these investigations did not follow what we would describe as appropriate investigative practice, which in fact could have contributed to the decision not to take further action,” Mr Leary added.

The issue of gang grooming has hit the headlines in England and Wales in recent months, with a national inquiry into the matter thrown into turmoil due to disagreements before it even starts.

Operation Beaconport is a national police operation led by the NCA and was established earlier this year to eliminate inconsistencies in the handling of cases by police forces. It examines cases between January 2010 and March 2025.

It is not clear how much the operation will cost or how long it will take.

So far, 1,273 cases of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse identified by 23 police officers have been referred to the investigation team.

Of these, 236 relate to rape allegations, which Operation Beaconport primarily investigates.

The NCA expects the operation to involve thousands of officers from across the force, with Mr Leary claiming it will be “the most comprehensive investigation of its kind in UK history”.

Responding to the review’s initial findings, Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood said: “The grooming gangs scandal was one of the darkest moments in this country’s history.

“This government launched this national police operation to track down the evil child rapists who committed these crimes and put them behind bars where they belong.”

As part of the investigation, the ethnic origins of suspects and victims will be recorded. Officers admit to finding gaps in available data that they are trying to fill. They will also aim to flag dangerous suspects and those at risk of fleeing the country.

The NCA says better data sharing between multi-agency teams and more coordinated efforts to track and disrupt criminals will be developed to help them tackle these crimes more effectively.

It is not yet clear how much the operation will cost or how long it will take.

The investigation into grooming rings and other non-family sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 cost £89 million over 11 years.

Last month, Metropolitan Police announced It was investigating 9,000 cases of child sexual abuse.

Some of these cases are likely to be controlled by Operation Beaconport, which handles cases involving two or more suspects. It will also focus on allegations where there is more than one victim, the suspects are still alive and the case has not yet been independently reviewed.

The review will run alongside the government’s national public inquiry announced earlier this year.

Richard Fewkes, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said some victims would also just want to feel they were being listened to.

“Justice means different things to different victims and survivors, and no two victims and survivors are the same.

“For some, justice means being believed and listened to by someone in authority, perhaps for the first time,” he said.

Police forces have made significant progress in tracking gangs and child abuse, a watchdog said last month. “significant challenges” remained.

Inconsistent definitions, data accuracy issues and poor national coordination risked undermining efforts to protect vulnerable children, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services said in a progress report.

It found that only 37 per cent of child abuse cases were correctly flagged in police systems and opportunities to protect children were still being missed.

A Home Office spokesman said the inspector’s report showed “significant progress” had been made but acknowledged there was “more to do”.

Chris Philip, the shadow home secretary, said the Home Office’s failure to adopt a definition for group-based child sexual abuse ensured “the system remains blind to patterns of abuse”.