Safeguarding campaigners slam convicts scandal

Child and adult protection campaigners have reacted angrily to revelations that Britons convicted of serious crimes abroad could be working with vulnerable people due to government blunders.

Gary FitzGerald, chief executive of Action on Elder Abuse, said it was “appalled, stunned, shocked, outraged” over the Home Office’s failure to pass on over 27,000 records of offences to police.

These offences would have not been picked up on criminal records bureau checks, enabling serious criminals to work with vulnerable people.

He added: “I find it absolutely incredible that something so serious and significant can have fallen through everyone’s responsibilities.”

FitzGerald was also unhappy with media coverage of the issue. “It sounds like the only people who will be impacted will be children, which obviously isn’t the case,” he said.

While the NSPCC was less extreme in its criticism, head of policy and public affairs Diana Sutton described the revelations as “extremely worrying”.