Hundreds of sex offenders are on the run in the UK

HUNDREDS of sex offenders who are meant to be tracked by the authorities are going missing.

Almost four registered sex offenders disappear every week, it can be revealed after a successful legal fight to force the Home Office to release the information.

It had refused to say how many people on the Sex Offenders register it had lost. But after this paper lodged an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act and the case was set for court the Home Office buckled at the last minute and made the shocking revelation.

The case had dragged on for more than a year as the Home Office refused to admit it held details on the numbers of dangerous sex offenders that had dropped off the radar. It now admits that almost 18 months ago, when the original request was lodged, 448 sex offenders on the Dangerous Persons Database were recorded as either missing or wanted.

One of the regulations under the Sex Offenders Act is that criminals have regularly to notify police of where they are living. Any offenders who fl out this rule and go undercover are committing an offence.

The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders
The Home Office
An earlier Home Office disclosure revealed that there were 243 missing sex offenders the previous year so 205 extra sex criminals have dropped off the system in just 12 months.

The Home Office was also forced to admit that out of the total of 448 there were 279 who have been Awol for more than a year. The Metropolitan police force has the largest number of missing sex offenders with the capital’s officers unable to account for 160 people on the register.

Other forces with large numbers missing are West Midlands, 28, Greater Manchester, 23, Lancashire, 14, Essex, 13 and Kent, 13. One of the most high profile cases occurred in 2010 when Peter Chapman, 39, was jailed for the kidnap, rape and murder of 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall.

Officials were supposed to monitor Chapman but he disappeared seven months before he killed the teenager whom he befriended using a fake Facebook profile. Police rarely publicise the details of missing sex offenders saying it could be a breach of the criminal’s rights under the Data Protection Act.

The Home Office said: “The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders. Under the previous government, we strengthened these powers. The police are responsible for releasing data on sex offenders.

“It is for the police to manage offenders in their area but we work closely with forces to ensure legislation is effective and that officers have all the tools they need.”