Police: We must not trust all accusers

POLICE chiefs want to ‘rebalance’ the controversial policy of automatically believing alleged victims of sex crimes.

Sara Thornton, head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, has told colleagues she believes a rethink is in order.

The issue is at the centre of a review by the College of Policing, which produces guidance for forces. It is likely the guidance may be clarified next year.

The guidance, from 2014, was meant to ensure all crimes were recorded and to reassure victims. But one source said it ‘appears to have had unintended consequences. There is a growing body of opinion that it should be rebalanced’.

The shortcomings of the policy were laid bare in a series of deeply flawed inquiries into claims of a Westminster child sex ring. Critics said troubled individuals, or even fantasists, were being pandered to by police officers.