NCA refers child protection agency case handling to IPCC

CEOP knew Cambridge doctor Myles Bradbury was buying potentially harmful videos in 2012, the NCA said

An organisation which took a year to alert police to information about potential paedophiles in the UK is to be investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Child abuse investigators CEOP were given names of suspects in July 2012.

They included Myles Bradbury, 41, of Addenbrooke's Hospital, who on Monday admitted offences against boys.

The National Crime Agency, which took over CEOP, has referred its handling of that information to the IPCC, it said.

In July 2012 the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), a non-departmental public body, received information from Toronto Police, via Interpol, of up to 2,345 UK individuals suspected of being involved with child pornography.

Dr Myles Bradbury, who admitted a total of 25 offences was one of the names given to CEOP

The list included Bradbury, a paediatric haematologist from Herringswell in Suffolk.

Delayed dissemination

However, it was not until November 2013, a few weeks after the National Crime Agency (NCA) had taken over from CEOP that the information was given to Suffolk Police.

The NCA said its deputy director general Phil Gormley became aware the material had not been disseminated to UK police forces and took immediate steps to do so.

Bradbury was arrested in December 2013 and charged in July 2014.

He pleaded guilty at Cambridge Crown Court to 25 offences including sexual assault and making more than 16,000 indecent images.

The offences were committed against 18 victims, some as young as eight, who were in his care between 2009 and 2013 at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

Bradbury has yet to be sentenced.

The NCA said an independent review of how CEOP handled the Interpol data had been carried out and "NCA has taken action based on its recommendations".

In a statement, the organisation said: "The NCA has made a decision to make a referral to the Independent Police Complaints Commission."