[Article] Fury over Soham police's secret Irish database

Victor

I not sure if the title is strictly correct, but you get he idea.

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/2201019?view=Eircomnet

Fury over Soham police's secret Irish database
From:The Irish Independent
Saturday, 20th December, 2003
Ian Cobain and Dominic Kennedy

THE British police force criticised for its part in the Ian Huntley case kept a secret list of all Irish people in its area, regardless of whether they were suspected of breaking the law.

Humberside police, under attack for destroying the file on Huntley containing allegations of repeated sex attacks, nevertheless ordered officers to record details of every Irish person they dealt with.

Names and other personal details were fed into a database compiled by Special Branch officers. Even English people of Irish descent were put on the list.

The revelation provoked furious criticism of the Humberside force last night and calls for the database to be destroyed.

There were demands that a Home Office investigation, instigated to establish how Huntley slipped through police vetting checks, should be widened to examine why innocent people with Irish surnames were targeted by the Humberside force.

The disclosure of the secret database will increase the pressure on David Westwood, Humberside's beleaguered chief constable, to resign.

Dr Westwood is already fighting for his professional future after a junior Home Office minister dismissed his attempts to blame the failures of his force over Huntley on data protection legislation.

The database of Irish residents on Humberside was compiled during a campaign codenamed Operation Pre-Empt. It was prompted by Special Branch concerns that the two major ports within the force area could become entry points for republican terrorists.

daveirl

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