Pubs face closure in rape crackdown

The Metropolitan Police’s sex crimes unit will use licensing laws to close “problem” clubs and pubs in a new crackdown on rape and sexual assault.

The unit, called Sapphire, has been hit by controversy over the years, notably when it was reported last month that a former Sapphire officer, Ryan Coleman-Farrow, failed to investigate numerous assault cases leaving some 11 sex attackers at large.

Speaking to the Guardian, Sapphire’s detective chief superintendent, Mick Duthie, said: “It is a big responsibility investigating rape; if we get it wrong, a rapist walks free, I don’t want that to happen on my watch.”

As part of the crackdown, pubs and clubs where high levels of rape and sexual assault are reported will be shut down if necessary.

Duthie explained: “If you were in Lewisham High Street at night and someone had a glass or bottle stuck in their neck, we would use the licensing legislation to close that place down. But until now we haven’t done that for sexual offences.

“We are looking at areas that generate high levels of sexual offences, identifying nightclubs or pubs where this might happen, and which we can link back to rapes and use the licensing laws against these premises.”

Other tactics in the campaign include using “covert” surveillance and intelligence gathering to target men who, though suspected of rape, have never been charged; a prevention campaign aimed at men and women and increasing supervision of Sapphire officers by restructuring the unit into five or six regional teams.