John Smyth: Why police didn’t prosecute abuser linked to CofE

It was only in the summer of 2013 when British police were first alerted.

One of his victims had asked the Bishop of Ely’s safeguarding adviser for counselling. Some details were passed to Cambridgeshire police relating to the case and that of another alleged victim.

According to the Makin review, the safeguarding adviser was told officers could do nothing: Smyth’s actions were “an abuse of trust” but they would be “unlikely to reach the threshold for a criminal investigation”.

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

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

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

They were given a summary of abuse allegations by a representative of the Titus Trust – the successor charity to the one running the summer camps where abuse had taken place.

But police did not know the identity of the alleged victims. A spokesperson from Hampshire Police told the BBC they asked for details but “the third party declined to provide these, stating that the victims would contact police.”

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

This was “a critical and important missed opportunity”, according to victims who spoke to the Makin review.

“The matter was filed pending any new information coming to light,” a spokesperson from Hampshire police told the BBC.