Home Secretary Says More Disclosure Of Immigration Status Of Crime Suspects Needed
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has said guidance on disclosing personal information was being reviewed. (Alamy)
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said guidance on the sharing of the immigration status of crime suspects "needs to change" following the alleged rape of a 12-year-old in Warwickshire.
Appearing on BBC Breakfast, the Home Secretary said the government "do want to see more transparency in cases", and that "local people do need to have more information".
Cooper's remarks follow the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton last month and subsequent speculation over the immigration status and nationality of the suspects.
The Reform UK leader of Warwickshire council, 19-year-old George Finch, has made claims about the suspects. They have not been confirmed by the police.
Warwickshire Police said in a statement: "Once someone is charged with an offence, we follow national guidance. This guidance does not include sharing ethnicity or immigration status."
Conservative Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Seccombe, said: "It is essential to state that policing decisions – such as whether to release details about a suspect – must follow national guidance and legal requirements."
Two arrests have been made: Ahmad Mulakhil, charged with two counts of rape, and Mohammad Kabir, who has been accused of kidnap, strangulation and aiding and abetting the rape of a girl aged under 13. Both will appear before Warwick Crown Court on 26 August.
During her interview on the BBC, Cooper used previous examples of the ethnicity and immigration status of suspects being shared as an example of how guidance for the police on disclosing futher details can be reviewed.
"When we had a very high-profile arrest in the cases around both national security and terrorism cases being investigated, the police released the fact at the point of arrest that the suspects that they had arrested were Iranian," said Cooper of a different case.
"And the Crown Prosecution Service, at the point of charging people, set out what their immigration asylum status was at the point of charging them.
"So, we know that it can be done; it is an operational decision about how much information can be revealed in the middle of a live investigation."
Cooper told the BBC the Law Commission has been asked by the government to "accelerate its review" into looking at "what information can be released" during active court proceedings in order to ensure "a fair trial" and "increase transparency".
Cooper's remarks come after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told journalists at a press conference this week he "absolutely" believed police forces should be obligated to release the immigration status of the suspects. In his remarks, Farage also accused police in Warwickshire of a "cover-up".
