Merseyside Police to review child abuse case after judge criticism

Lewis Jones grabbed one girl and forced her into woodland where he assaulted her

A police chief will personally review the handling of a child abuse case after criticism from a judge.

Lewis Jones, 24, was arrested by Merseyside Police after grooming and sexually assaulting a girl, 12, he met through Snapchat in 2020.

He was still under investigation two years later when he attacked a six-year-old girl in a park.

He was jailed for life with a minimum of 12 years at Manchester Crown Court.

Judge Hilary Manley said delays by police in charging and prosecuting offenders before they commit further crimes is "an extremely troubling state of affairs" and this case was an "egregious example".

Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Mark Kameen said he would personally oversee a formal review of the Jones case to establish why there was a delay in bringing a charge.

He said: "We absolutely owe it to the victims of sexual offences to ensure that we fundamentally develop and improve the way we work.

"It's only right and proper that we establish what happened in this case and therefore we will undertake a formal review of the circumstances which led to the delay in bringing charges."

ACC Mark Kameen said he would personally review the case

ACC Kameen said his "thoughts at this time are with the victims and their families, who will never get over the impact of the heinous offences committed by Jones".

The court heard how Jones, formerly of Brocklebank Lane, Allerton, Liverpool, was under investigation after he groomed the vulnerable girl on Snapchat, between January and June, 2020.

'Catastrophic'

Aged 21 at the time, he claimed to be a Year 10 school pupil aged 14 and had sex with the girl, who believed they were in a relationship, the court heard.

The effects on the girl have been "catastrophic" and she is now living in care.

Jones was arrested on 15 June 2020 and police found 102 child abuse images on his phone, involving girls aged as young as nine.

He was then released by police and went to live with his father, who had moved from Liverpool to Manchester, where he carried out the second attack.

Jurors heard how Jones visited a play area in Droylsden, Greater Manchester at about 16:00 on 17 August last year.

He approached the little girl, offering to help make a den, then grabbed her and ran off towards woodland.

He sexually assaulted the girl, but was disturbed after hearing her name being called by people searching nearby.

Twenty-five minutes later, bruised, bloodied and injured from the attack, the girl wandered to a house screaming: "Help me, I've been kidnapped".

After the attack, Jones fled along a canal towpath, but handed himself in the next day after police issued a CCTV image of the suspect.