Three former GMP officers under investigation for involvement in Operation Augusta

Three former Greater Manchester Police officers are being investigated for their involvement in Operation Augusta by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The officers are being investigated for their conduct in the supervision and setting the direction of Operation Augusta, a 2004 police and social services investigation into child sexual exploitation in South Manchester which identified almost 100 potential suspects and over 50 potential victims of child sexual exploitation.

Two of the former officers have retired and the third is currently working for another organisation.

Operation Augusta was launched after the death of 15-year-old Victoria Agoglia, originally from Rochdale, who was placed in the care of Manchester City Council at the age of eight.

Victoria died of an overdose in 2003 after years of abuse and days after she was forcibly injected with heroin by a 50-year-old man.

The Greater Manchester Mayor’s Office published a review of this investigation in January 2020, which raised concerns about the conduct and decision-making of some of the officers involved.

The review states that Operation Augusta was closed down by senior officers in 2005 in order to free up resources rather than because ‘all lines of enquiry had been successfully completed or exhausted’.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/132314/a-review-has-found-that-authorities-'let-down'-victims-of-child-grooming-rings

IOPC Director of Major Investigations Steve Noonan: “This has been a lengthy but necessary process, and it has taken some time to gather the information required to make a decision whether it was necessary to investigate, and who should conduct the investigation.

“The Mayoral review raised many questions about the actions of those involved in Operation Augusta. We have now decided it is necessary to investigate the individual conduct of these three former GMP officers who were all involved in either supervising or setting the direction of Operation Augusta.

“Though the content of the Mayoral review has been analysed as part of our decision to begin an investigation, it was not a specific investigation into the actions of the officers involved. We now need to establish and examine all the available evidence. The investigation is in its early stages.”

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “When I commissioned the independent review into child sexual exploitation, I wanted to send the clearest of messages to victims that supporting them is my top priority and that I won’t let the passage of time nor any other consideration be used as an excuse for not giving them the truth, justice and accountability that they deserve.

“Given the seriousness of the issues revealed by the review into Operation Augusta, it is important that they are properly investigated and that is why I welcome this decision by the Independent Office for Police Conduct. It is only through robust, impartial investigation that we can truly establish what happened at the time and ensure any mistakes are not repeated.

“Since 2005, there have been undoubted improvements in the investigation of child sexual abuse, not least in Greater Manchester. But we must never be complacent. There is more that we need to do to right the wrongs of the past and improve how we support people going forward. In Greater Manchester, we must have a zero tolerance approach to child sexual exploitation of any kind and an absolute determination to root it out wherever it is found.”