Rotherham CSE detective tells hearing he had little training

David Walker, pictured here in 2010, worked for South Yorkshire Police in Maltby

An ex-policeman accused of failing to follow up tip-offs about grooming gangs has told a hearing he was untrained and under-resourced.

Det Sgt David Walker led a South Yorkshire Police team tasked with investigating organised abuse in Rotherham between 2009 and 2012.

He told a panel he was parachuted into the role and told to "crack on", overseeing up to 180 cases.

Mr Walker denies misconduct or gross misconduct.

The former police sergeant is accused by Jayne Senior, who worked for council-run youth project Risky Business, of ignoring key information.

During his evidence to the force conduct panel, he insisted that he did pass on emails she sent to him outlining abuse against young people.

These included warnings about a suspected sex offender inviting girls as young as 10 to his home, and another about a man who had raped a 15-year-old.

Under questioning by barrister Jason Pitter QC, Mr Walker said he had been "absolutely crystal clear" that he made no promises to take action on every email received from Ms Senior.

Had his unit done so it would have "ground to a halt", he said.

He said it was "ludicrous" to suggest he had shown no interest in following up the leads, but was dealing with a high caseload and 35 new referrals every week.

Mr Walker said his experience working with child sexual exploitation before he joined the specialist unit was "zero", and he was given no training.

When asked what guidance he was given, he said he was told to "crack on".

At least 1,400 children were raped, trafficked and abused in the town between 1997 and 2013, a 2014 report found

Mr Walker said when he began supervising the unit in 2008 there were "difficulties" working with outside organisations such as Risky Business.

He said the information was always passed on, sometimes to other departments, where it would occasionally "pop up" in other policing operations.

'Abusive' questioning

Mr Walker criticised Ms Senior and Risky Business's approach to children who made allegations.

He claimed the repeated questioning of youngsters was "abusive", as they would be interviewed by a youth project worker, then a social worker, then a police officer and then interrogated as part of the prosecution process.

Mr Walker is one of 47 officers and former officers who were investigated by the IOPC in the wake of the 2014 Jay Report.

The report described how at least 1,400 children in the town had been subjected to CSE by gangs of men in Rotherham.

A full report on the findings of the IOPC's investigation is expected to be published following the conclusion of Mr Walker's hearing next month.