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| Warnings from the family stalked by a violent criminal were ignored by Home Office | Warnings from the family stalked by a violent criminal were ignored by Home Office |
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| A series of catastrophic mistakes by the Home Office resulted in a young doctor and her family having their lives put at risk. | A series of catastrophic mistakes by the Home Office resulted in a young doctor and her family having their lives put at risk. |
| The Home Secretary, Theresa May, and Home Office officials ignored at least four explicit warnings and evidence that Al Amin Dhalla, a Canadian citizen, was a violent criminal who had tried to strangle his mother and attacked his uncle with a knife. | The Home Secretary, Theresa May, and Home Office officials ignored at least four explicit warnings and evidence that Al Amin Dhalla, a Canadian citizen, was a violent criminal who had tried to strangle his mother and attacked his uncle with a knife. |
| That meant he was able to return to the UK, where he subjected the family to a campaign of violent stalking that ended with him setting their house on fire and attempting to kill them. | That meant he was able to return to the UK, where he subjected the family to a campaign of violent stalking that ended with him setting their house on fire and attempting to kill them. |
| An official report into the case also reveals glaring flaws in Britain’s immigration regulations which allowed a convicted violent criminal who had served a jail sentence in Canada being able to get a work permit to live in Britain, without any checks into his background. | An official report into the case also reveals glaring flaws in Britain’s immigration regulations which allowed a convicted violent criminal who had served a jail sentence in Canada being able to get a work permit to live in Britain, without any checks into his background. |
| Last night the Home Office was ordered to pay £130,000 in compensation to Alison Hewitt, her mother, Pamela, and stepfather, David Gray, for its failures, which resulted in an arson attack on their home and an attempt to kill them with a crossbow. | Last night the Home Office was ordered to pay £130,000 in compensation to Alison Hewitt, her mother, Pamela, and stepfather, David Gray, for its failures, which resulted in an arson attack on their home and an attempt to kill them with a crossbow. |
| The case is also deeply embarrassing to Ms May, who was personally made aware of Dhalla’s criminal record in a letter that was lost by the Home Office. | The case is also deeply embarrassing to Ms May, who was personally made aware of Dhalla’s criminal record in a letter that was lost by the Home Office. |
| The matter has been referred to the Home Affairs Select Committee by the parliamentary ombudsman, who investigated the family’s complaint. The department has been given six months to respond. | The matter has been referred to the Home Affairs Select Committee by the parliamentary ombudsman, who investigated the family’s complaint. The department has been given six months to respond. |
| “A mother and her family were forced to endure a living nightmare for months on end because of the Home Office’s repeated mistakes,” the parliamentary and health service ombudsman, Julie Mellor, said. “Vital opportunities to protect the family were missed because procedures weren’t followed, allegations weren’t followed up and two of the complainant’s letters lost.” | “A mother and her family were forced to endure a living nightmare for months on end because of the Home Office’s repeated mistakes,” the parliamentary and health service ombudsman, Julie Mellor, said. “Vital opportunities to protect the family were missed because procedures weren’t followed, allegations weren’t followed up and two of the complainant’s letters lost.” |
| The Home Office was ordered to pay compensation to Alison Hewitt's mother, Pamela, and stepfather, David Gray, pictured (PA) | |
| In an interview with The Independent, Ms Hewitt described how she had first tipped off the Border Agency after discovering Dhalla’s previous convictions in Canada for which he was jailed. | In an interview with The Independent, Ms Hewitt described how she had first tipped off the Border Agency after discovering Dhalla’s previous convictions in Canada for which he was jailed. |
| At the time, Dhalla was out of the country but the warning was not passed on to immigration officials at Heathrow and he was allowed to re-enter the UK. When her daughter ended the relationship, Dhalla began harassing the family with repeated texts, emails and telephone calls. | At the time, Dhalla was out of the country but the warning was not passed on to immigration officials at Heathrow and he was allowed to re-enter the UK. When her daughter ended the relationship, Dhalla began harassing the family with repeated texts, emails and telephone calls. |
| Worried about their safety, Ms Hewitt wrote to Ms May and the head of the Border Agency to express the family’s concerns about Dhalla, including evidence of his previous convictions. But she never received a response and the letters were lost. | Worried about their safety, Ms Hewitt wrote to Ms May and the head of the Border Agency to express the family’s concerns about Dhalla, including evidence of his previous convictions. But she never received a response and the letters were lost. |
| Even when Dhalla was arrested after test-firing a crossbow and with his victim’s address programmed into his satnav, he was released by police after they contacted the Home Office, which told officers he “was not of interest to them”. Dhalla went on to try to burn down the 500-year-old thatched cottage belonging to Ms Hewitt and Mr Gray. | |
| The couple were put under police protection and while Dhalla was on the run he dressed as a doctor to track down Dr Hewitt at the hospital where she worked. | The couple were put under police protection and while Dhalla was on the run he dressed as a doctor to track down Dr Hewitt at the hospital where she worked. |
| He was eventually arrested after stealing a hospital rota and attempting to confront Dr Hewitt as she went to work. | He was eventually arrested after stealing a hospital rota and attempting to confront Dr Hewitt as she went to work. |
| Ms Hewitt said they had received no reassurance from the Home Office that measures were in place to prevent the same thing from happening to someone else. “We are concerned this could happen to other people.” | Ms Hewitt said they had received no reassurance from the Home Office that measures were in place to prevent the same thing from happening to someone else. “We are concerned this could happen to other people.” |
| David Hanson, shadow Immigration minister, described it as “astounding that no checks were undertaken on this convicted criminal” and called for “an urgent review into the actions of the Home Secretary”. | David Hanson, shadow Immigration minister, described it as “astounding that no checks were undertaken on this convicted criminal” and called for “an urgent review into the actions of the Home Secretary”. |
| A Home Office spokesperson claimed they sent an apology, but the family told The Independent that it had not received it. | A Home Office spokesperson claimed they sent an apology, but the family told The Independent that it had not received it. |
| Q | How did we get here? | |
| A | Theresa May’s announcement yesterday was the culmination of a long-running controversy sparked by Tom Watson, the Labour MP for West Bromwich East. In an October 2012 parliamentary question, he suggested that there was evidence, from the 1992 conviction of abuser and discredited child expert Peter Wrighton, of a “powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and No 10”. | |
| He later asked for details of a dossier compiled by the late MP Geoffrey Dickens, who claimed to have uncovered an Establishment paedophile ring and passed papers in the 1980s to the then Home Secretary, Leon Brittan. But a Home Office review of documents linked to child abuse, submitted over 20 years, reported in 2013 that more than 100 papers had gone missing or been destroyed. | |
| Details of the review came to light only after another MP, Simon Danczuk, called on Lord Brittan to say what he knew about the documents. | |
| Q | What was in the papers? | |
| A | They contained claims about alleged child abuse in care homes, the supposed top-level infiltration of the Paedophile Information Exchange – a pro-paedophile group – and, most explosively, reputed details about senior figures involved in abuse. | |
| Yesterday, Ms May said that the independent review of the documents “found no record of specific allegations by Mr Dickens (pictured below) of child sex abuse by prominent public figures”. The review found 13 items of information about alleged child abuse. The police already knew about nine of them. | |
| Q | Have the police acted on the information? | |
| A | The Metropolitan Police has been investigating allegations of a paedophile ring linked to Westminster and of abuse in care homes.Two men, care home manager John Stingemore, and priest Tony McSweeney, were charged a year ago with sexual assault at a London care home in cases that date back to the early 1980s. Lord Brittan was questioned by police over a rape allegation last month that was not part of the child abuse allegations. He denies any wrongdoing. | |
| Q | What happens now? | |
| A | The two inquiries announced yesterday are among a series of investigations that are being carried out related to different aspects of historic child abuse. These include an ongoing investigation by the National Crime Agency into abuse at children’s homes in North Wales, and one by the Department for Education over attacks by Jimmy Savile on children at schools and care homes. Ms May yesterday said that the larger inquiry would not report until after the General Election, but she held open the possibility of it becoming a full public inquiry which would have the power to compel witnesses to give evidence. | |
| By Paul Peachey |