Major report due from police watchdog on South Yorkshire Police's handling of Rotherham child abuse allegations

Police watchdog, The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), launched a major investigation into South Yorkshire Police’s handling of reports of child sexual exploitation (CSE) in the town between 1997 and 2013, following the publication of the explosive Jay report in 2014.

Professor Alexis Jay found that at least 1,400 children were groomed and abused by men of Pakistani heritage between 1997 and 2013 while those in authority failed to act.

Named ‘Operation Linden,’ the IOPC’s probe into the abuse has seen them look into 265 allegations made by 51 complainants, 44 of whom are abuse survivors, and investigate the conduct of 47 police officers.

A misconduct hearing examining allegations made against former Detective Sergeant David Walker that he failed to act on tip-offs about grooming gangs in the town was the final set of proceedings to be brought.

The hearing concluded on Thursday, March 31 and cleared Mr Walker of any wrong-doing, with the hearing’s panel determining that he had not taken any action which fell ‘below the accepted practice at the time’.

Speaking after the conclusion of Mr Walker’s misconduct hearing, IOPC Director of Major Investigations Steve Noonan said: “We are now working to finalise our overarching report following the conclusion of the misconduct hearing linked to Operation Linden, our investigations into South Yorkshire Police’s response to non-recent allegations of child sexual abuse in the Rotherham area.”

He added: “We now need to consider the judgement and any potential impact on one ongoing investigation as part of Operation Linden before we will be able to publish our report, which will cover 91 investigations completed so far.

“This has been an extremely complex piece of work – the second biggest operation we have ever carried out – and it is our aim to publish this report as soon as we reasonably can.

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“Our priority remains the welfare of the survivors who took the difficult decision to come forward. They have shown a great deal of bravery both prior to and throughout our investigations and we must be respectful of the experiences they have gone through.”

The IOPC has not provided a specific date for the publication of the Operation Linden report, but it is expected in the coming weeks and months.

Following Mr Walker’s exoneration, the South Yorkshire branch of the Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, has said it will be examining the case against Mr Walker, claiming proceedings against him should not have gone ahead.

Steve Kent, chairman of the Police Federation in South Yorkshire, said: “We are all pleased that Dave Walker has been exonerated in this hearing. It is encouraging to hear that he received praise from the panel.

“This sadly is another example of an IOPC led investigation that should not have got to this stage for a case which has had no merit.”

But Mr Noonan said the IOPC investigation found ‘Mr Walker had a case to answer for gross misconduct in relation to possible breaches of the police standards of professional behaviour, in relation to duties and responsibilities for not recording information on police systems’.