Daily Record

Anger at decision to drop royal sex probe

Former top cop calls for fresh investigat­ion into duke

- BY RUSSELL MYERS

A FORMER chief superinten­dent yesterday slammed the Met Police for dropping its sex crime investigat­ion into Prince Andrew.

Dai Davies says that another force must now carry out an independen­t probe.

Met Police officers spoke to Virginia Giuffre, who claims the Duke of York sexually assaulted her in London when she was 17.

She says she was trafficked by paedophile billionair­e Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for underage sex traffickin­g.

But Scotland Yard decided to take no further action in the case, and refused to probe allegation­s that Epstein had abused other young women in Britain. Davies, who headed the royal protection unit, said the decision was very premature, with Prince Andrew subject to a civil claim in a US court and his former friend Ghislaine Maxwell – Epstein’s lover – awaiting trial on sex traffickin­g charges.

Davies said: “There are far more questions than answers here. What have they reviewed, what have they investigat­ed?”

Referring to Met boss Cressida Dick, he added: “What did the commission­er ask? So far she has proved herself totally incapable of making operationa­l decisions so there is a strong case for an outside force to be brought in to independen­tly assess all this informatio­n.”

The Met and Dame Cressida have been under fire in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder by a serving officer amid claims of a culture of misogyny.

Davies added: “Given the Met’s reputation and inability to keep their own house in order, what trust should the public have in them to investigat­e a member of the Royal Family? It is still unknown whether the Met has interviewe­d a catalogue of potential witnesses including Andrew’s former police protection officers, members of the Royal Household staff and key people associated with Epstein and Maxwell.

“The whole process stinks of a job done very badly indeed.”

Prince Andrew’s legal team has until October 29 to respond to legal papers being served on him in the US lawsuit.

A source said: “Despite pressure from the media and claims of new evidence, the Met has concluded that the claims are not sufficient to warrant any further investigat­ion. The Duke has always vigorously maintained his innocence.”

 ?? ?? FROWN PRINCE Andrew in Windsor yesterday
FROWN PRINCE Andrew in Windsor yesterday
 ?? ?? CLAIM Duke and Virginia
CLAIM Duke and Virginia
 ?? ?? CRITICISM Dai Davies
CRITICISM Dai Davies
 ?? ?? UNDER FIRE Cressida Dick, head of Met Police
UNDER FIRE Cressida Dick, head of Met Police

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