Warwickshire police and crime commissioner’s call comes after claims of cover-up over details of men accused of child rape
Yvette Cooper is facing demands for clarity over the information that police forces are permitted to release to the public after claims of a “cover-up” by the authorities over the immigration status of men accused of raping a child.
The Warwickshire police and crime commissioner, Philip Seccombe, called for fresh national guidance after police were accused by Reform UK of failing to confirm that two Afghan men being prosecuted for the alleged attack on a 12-year-old girl were asylum seekers.
There is increasing pressure on prosecutors and the police to release details about the ethnicity and immigration status of people facing a criminal charge.
Cooper, the home secretary, said on Tuesday that the guidance should change to permit police to release the ethnicity or immigration status of criminal suspects but added that she was waiting for a review to be concluded by the Law Commission.
