Honoured for role in investigation

Six officers and three members of staff have been honoured for their involvement in a ‘challenging’ investigation into the sexual assault and abduction of a teenage girl.

The team were honoured for their work on Operation Isotope, an East Berkshire Child Abuse Investigation Unit investigation resulting in six people being jailed for more than 40 years.

In November 2020, the victim, then a teenager, reported an assault by a man from Slough and a woman from London.

The victim later disclosed that the man had raped her over several years.

In February 2021, the offenders kidnapped the victim from foster care in Crowthorne.

She was located safely in Sheffield following a significant police investigation.

The investigation saw a total of eight suspects brought to trial to trial.

Chief Constable Jason Hogg recently presented awards to the senior investigating officer (SIO) DI Stuart May, deputy SIO DI Laura Al-Owaied and DS John Denard taking over from her.

Officer in the case, DC Zoe Eele, ‘worked tirelessly’ to support the victim alongside her co-officer

DC Christine Miller, assisted by DS Corinne Mullar.

DI May said: “I am delighted that the hard work of the Operation Isotope team has been recognised.

“This was a very challenging investigation involving a young victim who had experienced serious abuse.

“The victim showed tremendous courage in attending court to give evidence and I hope that the lengthy sentences imposed on those responsible provides her with some comfort.”

Also honoured were Digital Forensic Unit investigators Andrew Dunn, Charlie Brown and Miles Larson.

The investigation resulted in the seizure of many devices and a significant volume of cell site, ANPR and call data, which the digital forensics team had to go through.