John Smyth’s death in 2018 meant a “horrible abuser” linked to the Church of England escaped justice for crimes dating back decades.

Smyth used his role at a Christian charity to attack more than 100 children and young people. Archbishop of Canterbury resigns after criticism in a scathing report earlier this month.

A defender of John Smyth’s victims told the BBC that police were not “nosy enough” when told about him.

It was almost four years after officers first became aware of Smyth and only after it was reported by Channel 4 News that a full investigation was finally launched.

Keith Makin, author of the Smyth review, suggested that in the wake of the Jimmy Savile incident, police may have been “overwhelmed” by allegations of historical abuse in other cases.

A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council acknowledged officers were facing “resourcing challenges” due to an unprecedented number of cases.

So why did “the most prolific serial abuser associated with the Church of England”, as the report describes Smyth, avoid investigation?

The police were not informed of Smyth’s crimes for over 30 years due to an “active cover-up” within the Church of England. Makin review published earlier this month.

Smyth was revealed to be “a horrific abuser of children and young men”. His abuse turned out to be prolific, brutal and horrific.

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

The so-called Ruston report, named after the Rev. Mark Ruston, who compiled it in 1982, stated: “The scale and seriousness of the practice was appalling.”

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

The report found that people within the Church of England kept the secret, which meant Smyth was able to move to south Africa and continue his abuse.

He was tried here for premeditated murder following the suspicious death of a 16-year-old boy in Zimbabwe, but the case collapsed.

When were the UK police notified?

British police were first alerted in the summer of 2013.

One of his victims had sought advice from the Bishop of Ely’s safeguarding adviser. Some details about the case and another alleged victim have been passed to Cambridgeshire police.

According to the Makin review, safeguarding counsel were told officers could do nothing: Smyth’s actions were “an abuse of trust” but were “unlikely to meet the threshold of a criminal investigation”.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police told the BBC: “Due to the limited information available at the time and the victims not wishing to make a complaint, it was not possible for us to investigate.”

The diocese of Ely was advised to contact police in Hampshire, where most of the alleged crimes took place, and was told an intelligence report had been sent by Cambridgeshire Police to their counterparts in Hampshire, although no record was found of the Makin review.

Hampshire Police told the BBC they first received a report of harassment in October 2014.

A representative of the Titus Trust, a subsidiary of the organization that runs the summer camps where the abuse occurred, gave them a summary of the abuse allegations.

However, police did not know the identities of the alleged victims. A spokesperson for Hampshire Police told the BBC they had asked for details but “the third party refused to provide them, stating that the victims would contact the police”.

They didn’t, and it’s not clear why not.

According to victims who spoke to the Makin review, this was a “critical and significant missed opportunity”.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Police told the BBC: “The matter has been filed pending further information.”

He was in a different police force area when the new information came to light.

In late 2016 the diocese of Oxford contacted Thames Valley police, who disclosed a full copy of the Ruston report, compiled more than 30 years ago and detailing the beatings inflicted by Smyth.

Finally the officers succeeded.

And yet very little happened.

As the report did not contain any evidence of crime in the Thames Valley area, the force passed the information on to national police colleagues working on Operation Hydrant. This body was established in 2014 to coordinate policing activities by police forces across the country regarding historic child sexual abuse allegations triggered by the Jimmy Savile case.

A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) told the BBC there had been an “increase in the number of adults reporting that they were sexually abused as children”.

“It quickly became apparent that there was a real potential for duplication of forces as victims reported multiple offenders from different geographical areas.”

The NPCC confirmed Operation Hydrant had received referrals from Smyth and said the information was shared appropriately with relevant police forces.

The Makin Review raised questions about how the police generally handled the reports they received during this period and their failure to follow up on them. “Reports from those in contact with police at the time suggest they may have been overwhelmed by allegations of historic abuse at this time.”

The NPCC acknowledges that “police forces up and down the country have seen a huge increase in non-recent reports of child sexual abuse during this period, creating resourcing challenges for many.”

When did the police start the investigation?

In 2017, police finally launched an investigation – Operation Cubic – but only after media reports.

Channel 4 News was informed about the Ruston report by Smyth’s survivors advocate and author Andrew Graystone.

He hoped the press would mobilize the police.

“They were very busy with Jimmy Savile and the other victims,” ​​Mr Graystone says.

“They should have been more vigilant in tracking whether victims they knew of had been contacted and therefore had the opportunity to respond.

“They weren’t curious enough to see if there were other things they weren’t being told or if the crimes were more widespread and serious.”

The result, he says, was further delay in dealings with Smyth. When the full extent of his crimes was finally made public, it was too late.

In 2018 the Crown Prosecution Service acknowledged he had a case to answer and arrangements were put in place for him to be brought back to the UK from South Africa for questioning, but he died in August.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Police said: “Whilst victims will not see the suspect charged and allegations presented to the court, we hope that the updates provided to them during the investigation provide some reassurance that their allegations are being taken seriously.” “

The NPCC said: “Many victims have been failed in the past. This is not good enough and the police have worked hard to learn from their mistakes.

“The approach to tackling the sexual abuse and exploitation of children today has evolved and is much improved in many respects. But there is still much to do and making these improvements is a key priority for national policing.”

Newsnight – The Fall of an Archbishop

As Justin Welby steps down as Archbishop of Canterbury following criticism over his handling of a report on a prolific child abuser with ties to the Church of England, Victoria Derbyshire asks a senior bishop whether she should have gone sooner.

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