We need to re-think effort spent on old sex cases: former NI police boss

Sir Hugh Orde, who retired after heading the now-defunct Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said the way older cases were dealt with should be reviewed.

The former chief constable of the PSNI told Sky News: “You fully resource a historic investigation, yet you don’t fully resource a current day investigation. That is back to front.

“We have to focus on people who need our protection now. I absolutely understand and respect the need for the victims of these awful cases to have some form of resolution.

“Personally, I would far rather that money was spent protecting the next generation and we look differently at how these past cases are reinvestigated or resolved to a degree.”

Awareness of the scale of historical abuse cases exploded after the Jimmy Savile scandal, which led to the launch of several long-running police probes into high-profile figures.

Scotland Yard ended its £1.8 million Operation Midland investigation into claims of a VIP paedophile ring last month, after the 16-month probe ended without a single arrest.

Sir Hugh’s comments came as he backed a charity called the Dot Com Children’s Foundation, which teaches primary school pupils to recognise signs of grooming and abuse.

But his views drew criticism from Liz Dux, a specialist lawyer at Slater and Gordon Lawyers who represented Savile abuse victims.

She told the broadcaster: “It’s very dangerous if an offender thinks ‘well, if I committed my crime 40 years ago I’m not going to be prosecuted because there isn’t any police money’.

“That would be a terrible message to send out.”