Response to reports of serious sexual assaults - Northamptonshire Police, May and November 2017

On 4 May 2017, a woman was subjected to an alleged serious sexual assault by a man in Northamptonshire. This was reported to Northamptonshire Police and swabs were taken from the woman

On 16 June 2017, the officer in charge and their supervisor received an email from the forensics department saying there had been a match hit from the samples taken from the woman but that the sample held in the database had been destroyed. The email contained an attachment listing the name of the male suspect. Without a sample from the suspect, an evidential link could not be established.

The officer in charge recorded that a match had been found on the database but they did not know who the man was. No enquiries were conducted surrounding the male suspect and the investigation appeared to continue on the basis there was no match.

On 15 November 2017, a second woman was subjected to alleged serious sexual assault by a man. Northamptonshire Police conducted enquiries and it was established that this was the same man listed on the first report. The man matched the physical description provided by the first woman.

The man was arrested and subsequently charged with multiple serious sexual offences against both women.

Our investigators examined various documentation including the occurrence log, emails and national and local policies. Two officers who were subjects in the investigation provided a written response to allegations they had failed to investigate an allegation of serious sexual assault.

Based on the evidence available, we were of the opinion that the performance of the officer in charge of the investigation and their supervisor had been unsatisfactory. We also found unsatisfactory performance for another officer who had failed to send an email to notify the officer in charge and their supervisor that there had been a forensic match hit result.

After reviewing our report Northamptonshire Police agreed and advised that the two officers would be subject to an improvement programme.

We agreed that their proposals were appropriate.