MP calls for Telford abuse scandal to have separate inquiry

The Telford sex abuse scandal will not be fully investigated by the inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA), the local MP has claimed as she called for a separate inquiry.

Up to 1,000 girls, some as young as 11, were abused by paedophiles in Telford since the Eighties, a Sunday Mirror investigation found. The paper said it had discovered that social workers knew of abuse in the Nineties but police did not investigate for a decade.

Lucy Allan, Conservative MP for Telford, told the BBC: “The IICSA will not investigate whether any of the authorities in Telford should be accountable. That is why we must have an independent inquiry into what happened; such an inquiry is outside the current scope of the IICSA.”

Her call was echoed by Dino Nocivelli, a child abuse solicitor at Bolt Burdon Kemp, a law firm, who said police needed to be held accountable for failings.

Asst Chief Constable Martin Evans, of West Mercia Police, told the Mirror that tackling child abuse was the “number one priority for Telford police”.