Police inquiries into child abuse claims ruined lives, say MPs

Police inquiries into child abuse claims ruined lives, say MPs

A senior committee of MPs is accusing “over-enthusiastic” police officers of ruining people’s lives by pursuing false claims of child abuse.

The Home Affairs Select Committee calls for limits to be placed on police methods of "trawling" for evidence in such cases. In a report published today, the committee said that inquiries into claims dating back 30 years had created "a new genre of miscarriages of justice". In the past five years, 34 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales have investigated allegations of child abuse in children's homes or other institutions.