'Lottery' over when public warned of paedophiles

Police have the power to expose paedophiles to relevant parties if they are judged to be posing a serious risk to children, but a Scotsman investigation has discovered the likelihood the protection measure will be used varies significantly.

In Fife, where about 250 registered sex offenders reside, 61 disclosures were made last year. But in Strathclyde, where there are more than 1,400 such offenders, only six notifications have been made since May 2004. The discrepancies have prompted politicians to call for the use of the powers to be reviewed.

The decision to disclose to third parties is taken on a "pressing needs test" where a particular child or adult is deemed to be under threat from a particular sex offender. Those likely to be informed, on a confidential basis, of the presence of a sex offender include headteachers, doctors, youth-club leaders, sports-club managers and landlords.

Most forces restrict disclosure to people on the sex-offenders register. But Fife Constabulary also reveal the presence of paedophiles and others believed to be at high risk of offending who are not on the register.

Detective Inspector Garry McEwan, of Fife Constabulary, said: "In doing so, we aim to minimise any threat to the community. These disclosures were made to a variety of organisations to notify those with management responsibility of employees who would potentially pose a risk."

It is understood other forces are likely to follow suit. A spokesman for Strathclyde Police, which has the lowest rate of disclosure of the six forces that provided details, said it was "one of a number of options" available during the monitoring of registered sex offenders in the community. However, it is only considered as a last resort.

Police across Scotland are set to introduce a formal warning system for disclosing the whereabouts of paedophiles in the spring, following a review of sex-offender legislation by Professor George Irvine. It was prompted by recent cases such as the murder of the Glasgow schoolboy Mark Cummings.

If, for example, a known paedophile moves into a house next to a school, police will have the power to warn him that if he does not move, they will inform teachers. If he ignores the warning, he will receive a final written warning. If that is also ignored, police will then inform the school of the paedophile's name and address.

Police say they are working to introduce the new arrangements "as soon as possible". They will still have the power to notify third parties immediately if the risk is sufficiently serious.

Detective Superintendent Jim Cameron, chair of the risk-management working group for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, said: "Disclosure will only ever be used as a last resort. That's why the figures are relatively low."

Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish National Party's justice spokesman, called on police chiefs to urgently review the use of disclosure powers. "It shouldn't be a postcode lottery

... it depends on each case, but there must be clear guidelines not just for officers but for communities."

Margaret Mitchell, the Scottish Conservative justice spokeswoman, said: "There needs to be a more corporate approach to such an important issue."

Paul Martin, the local MSP of Margaret Anne Cummings, who has campaigned for "Mark's Law", giving parents the right to know a sex offender is living in the neighbourhood, added: "Sometimes it appears more weight is being given to the rights of offenders rather than the rights of potential victims."

Circumstances of a boy's brutal murder shocked nation

THE murder of Mark Cummings sickened the nation, its brutality provoking an outpouring of anger. Mark, eight, fell prey to neighbour Stuart Leggate, a convicted paedophile who sexually assaulted the boy before strangling him and throwing his body down a refuse chute in the high-rise block in Glasgow where they both lived.

But what also shocked society, perhaps even as much as the violence that befell Mark, was the failings the crime exposed among the agencies tasked with protecting communities from dangerous, high-risk offenders like Leggate. He had a long history of offending, first being convicted in 1993 for shameless indecency.

When he was housed by Glasgow City Council's social work department in the city's Royston area, neighbours had no idea he had been convicted three times for offences against children.

Despite being rated as having a high risk of reoffending and monitored by social services, he was housed in a block of flats alongside young families after he used a false name on an application form.

In June 2004, he assaulted Mark after chatting to him and friends about computer games. Mark followed Leggate, 29, into his flat to wash some grease off his hands, but, as he tried to leave, Leggate attacked him. Leggate was jailed for a minimum of 20 years.

After his conviction Mark's family led a march to Glasgow's George Square to demand a clampdown on the freedoms given to convicted paedophiles after their release from prison.