A social worker “arranged” for a 15-year-old girl and her younger brother to stay with Ian Huntley despite the fact she was known to be having a sexual relationship with him, writes Sally Gillen.

North East Lincolnshire social services had received a referral that the girl, known as ‘AB’, and her younger brother had been thrown out of their home by their parents, and were living with Huntley. AB was known to be in a sexual relationship with Huntley and was possibly pregnant.

The public inquiry into how Huntley got a job as a school caretaker in Soham despite a string of sexual allegations against him, including four of underage sex, heard that an unnamed male social worker had allowed the girt, known as AB, to remain with him.

Counsel for the inquiry James Eadie said “an unnamed male social worker spoke to Ian Huntley …….and arranged for the children to stay there”.

Questions would need to be asked about why such a decision was made, he said.

AB was the first of a number of girls who came to the attention of Humberside police and North East Lincolnshire social services between 1995 and 1999 because of her involvement with Huntley.

The case, which occurred in Aug 1995, was later the subject of a joint investigation by the police and social services. But despite signing a police statement in which she admitted to having a sexual relationship with Huntley, who was 21 at the time, another social worker concluded there were no concerns in relation to AB’s welfare.

The case was never entered onto the police child protection database. Eadie said Humberside police had explained this failure by saying the forms had either not been submitted, had been lost in transit or not processed.

Earlier, he told the inquiry that the database, one of three in Humberside to record intelligence by the police, had been described in a June 2003 police best value inspection as “ineffective” and “almost worthless”.

Child protection police officers were unable to access it from their own computers, no guidance was provided as to the nature of what should be on it, and the task of inputting information was left to clerical workers, who only worked office hours preventing access at any other time. Just two of the nine incidents involving Huntley were recorded on the child protection database.

Over the next 16 days the inquiry will hear from North East Lincolnshire social services, Humberside and Cambridgeshire police forces.