BRITAIN: Revelations about Soham child murderer Ian Huntley's background as a serial violent paedophile have led to calls in Britain for greater police powers and the introduction of identity cards, in efforts to prevent a recurrence of the tragedy that befell 10-year-old friends Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells.
As Huntley (29) began his first day of two life sentences for luring the girls into his house, murdering them and disposing of their bodies, police and politicians were embarking on their own round of soul-searching.
A leaked internal police report showed that forces across Britain were incapable of coping with a backlog of cases that should be entered into a national data base that would help track potential child predators.
The leaked report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary found that London's Metropolitan Police logged only 5 per cent of convictions within the required seven days, far short of the target of 90 per cent.
At Humberside, where records of Huntley's past should have been kept but were destroyed according to a local policy of keeping records for only one month, half of all convictions were recorded on time, according to the report, which was revealed to the House of Commons by Home Office minister, Ms Hazel Blears.
The Police National Computer is designed to provide information on arrests and convictions that can be used to check on the backgrounds of people applying for a variety of jobs.
Checks were made when Huntley applied for the position of resident caretaker at Soham Village College, but inadequate cross-checks failed to turn up the only recorded offence against him, a 1995 burglary charge that was dismissed. His history of predatory behaviour against young girls was not available.
Huntley was investigated 10 times between 1995 and 1999 for a string of offences that included sex with under-age girls and rape. One of the girls who complained about him was just 11 years old; that case was dropped. In four other cases, police were alerted to Huntley's involvement with girls aged 15 and, in once case, 13, but no charges were laid.
Police at Humberside destroyed records of the investigations because senior offices believed this was the requirement under the Data Protection Act. Humberside police are now accused of misinterpreting the Act. Ms Blears told the Commons there were no restrictions contained within the Act on the collection and use of information.
Sir John Stevens, the commissioner of Scotland Yard, said it was in the public interest that police hold on to records for as long as possible.
"The policy here is to hold on to things as long as we can - if someone's being investigated for rape and there is a possibility they're a murderer, we have a duty to hold on to that," Sir John said. "We have to think about the public interest."
A former senior police officer said the Soham experience made a good case for the introduction of a controversial identity card scheme that has, until now, been justified by the "twin threats" of organised crime and terrorism.
"It makes out the case for having biometric identity cards even more powerfully, because here is a man who is obviously hiding his identity," said Lord Mackenzie, a former president of the Police Superintendents Association.
Opinion polls have found a majority, up to 65 per cent, of British people in favour of the introduction of a national identity system, with conditions. Only about 7 per cent of the population are adamantly and unconditionally opposed.