MET COPS ‘RISK NEW WORBOYS’
Anger as rape unit is axed
BRITAIN’S biggest police force is disbanding its rape investigations unit.
The move has raised fears that serial sex beasts such as black-cab rapist John Worboys could escape justice.
The Metropolitan Police set up the Sapphire unit nearly a decade ago after a series of failures in high-profile cases. Sex crime detectives in London are now being reassigned to small teams across the capital’s 32 boroughs.
The Met claims the move will improve its handling of rape cases because officers can work more closely with domestic abuse teams.
But victims’ campaigners fear another Worboys could slip through the net.
The fiend, who is believed to have attacked as many as 100 women, is at the centre of controversy over his imminent release from jail.
Campaigners fear local units could fail to spot serial attackers targeting women across the entire city.
Harry Fletcher, of the Victims Rights Campaign, said the decision to run down the sex attack unit was “astonishing”.
He said: “The confidence of victims of rape and sexual assault has been seriously eroded by recent events. A mix of Worboys and rape trial collapses has made matters even worse.
“The decision to deploy specialist officers locally will reduce morale among victims even further.”
A Met Police spokesman said: “Around 85% of rape allegations involve parties who are already known to one another.
“Bringing sexual offences officers into local policing teams means rape investigators will work alongside colleagues specialising in domestic abuse.”