Why didn’t police prosecute 'brutal' abuser linked to Church of England?

For over 30 years police were not told about Smyth’s crimes because of an "active cover up" inside the Church of England, according to the Makin review published earlier this month.

It found that Smyth was an "appalling abuser of children and young men. His abuse was prolific, brutal and horrific".

It also highlighted how evidence of crimes had been gathered in the 1980s but was suppressed, including details of children being physically and sexually abused.

"The scale and severity of the practice was horrific," noted the so-called Ruston report, named after the Rev Mark Ruston, who compiled it in 1982.

It listed victims being beaten hundreds of times with canes until they bled.

People inside the Church of England kept this secret, meaning Smyth was able to move to southern Africa and continue his abuse, the report found.

He was put on trial there for culpable homicide after the suspicious death of a 16-year-old boy in Zimbabwe but the case collapsed.

The Makin Review raised questions about the police’s overall handling of the reports it had received in this period and the failure to follow up on them. "An explanation offered by those in touch with police at the time suggests they may have been overwhelmed in this period by historic allegations of abuse."

The NPCC acknowledge "police forces up and down the country saw a massive increase in non-recent reports of child sexual abuse during this period which did present resourcing challenges for many".

In 2017 police finally launched an investigation - Operation Cubic - but only after press reporting.

Channel 4 News had been tipped off about the Ruston report by Smyth survivor advocate and writer Andrew Graystone.

He hoped the press would push the police into action.

"They were too busy with Jimmy Savile and other victims," says Mr Graystone.

"They should have been more assiduous in following up whether victims they did know about had been contacted and therefore had had the opportunity to respond.

"They were not sufficiently curious as to whether there was more they weren't being told or whether the offences were more widespread and serious."

He says the consequence was further delay in dealing with Smyth. When the full scale of his crimes was finally made public it was too late.

In 2018 the Crown Prosecution Service agreed there was a case for him to answer and arrangements were begun to bring him back to the UK from South Africa for questioning but in August he died.

"While the victims will not see the suspect charged and the allegations put before a court," said a spokesperson for Hampshire police, "we hope that the updates provided to them during the course of the investigation provided some reassurance that their allegations were taken seriously."

The NPCC said: "In the past many victims have been failed. This is not good enough and policing has worked hard to learn from its mistakes.

"The approach today to tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation has evolved and is much improved in many aspects. However, there is still much to do, and making these improvements is a significant priority for national policing."

Newsnight - Fall of an Archbishop

With Justin Welby stepping down as Archbishop of Canterbury, following criticism of his handling of a report into a prolific child abuser with ties to the Church of England, Victoria Derbyshire asks a senior bishop if he should have gone sooner.