Criminals could abscond due to no-deal Brexit, police fear

HUNDREDS of dangerous criminals could abscond in the UK if police lose access to European conviction records after a no-deal Brexit, a police chief warns today.

Richard Martin, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on Brexit planning, said British police would be left blind to crimes committed abroad by a person arrested in the UK if, as feared, the EU system for sharing records was switched off on March 29.

Instead of information being shared within days, Mr Martin said, it would take more than two months to check the criminal records of a suspect with European counterparts, during which time the individual could abscond.

Mr Martin, a deputy assistant commissioner with the Metropolitan Police, warned that the public could be less safe, and would be exploited by criminal gangs. About 17 per cent of suspects arrested in the UK are foreign nationals, ranging from 27 per cent in London to 3 per cent in Durham.

“If we don’t get information back from our EU partners in a timely fashion, there’s a real risk [of a suspect absconding],” he said.

Nick Hurd, the policing minister, said Britain would revert to “tried and tested” measures in the event of no deal, while the Government was investing £2.5m in a specialist police centre to ensure intelligence-sharing continued after Brexit. Security was of “paramount importance,” he said.

Mr Martin warned that Britain also faced being frozen out of EU intelligence-sharing and extradition agreements, which could delay arrests of suspected European criminals.

UK police used the Eu-wide “SIS 2” database 539 million times last year.

“If we exit the EU without a deal, that gets switched off overnight,” he said.