SECRET POLICE REPORT LOST!

A secret log containing details of a suspected paedophile ring and an at-risk child has been found discarded on a street.

Police have launched an inquiry after the highly confidential information was discovered by a shocked passer-by.

The document, lying on Dennison Road, a busy street in Bodmin, Cornwall, contained details of a vulnerable child who is on the Child Protection Register.

The log contained details of a group of "inappropriate adults" that are said to be present at the home of the child and gives an account of a phone call to police alleging that one of the men had previously been charged with the murder of a child.

An urgent internal investigation is underway to establish how the sensitive information, which includes names and addresses, could have come to be lying on a street.

It could have been mistakenly dropped by an officer taking the documents with them when responding to an urgent enquiry, if they hadn't had time to read them beforehand.

The revelation comes just weeks after a confidential computer disk, containing the names and addresses of hundreds of Devon and Cornwall police officers and civilian staff, was found dumped at a recycling centre in Exeter.

Police chiefs promised to tighten up on security after the incident, and the latest breach in Bodmin has left top officers facing another embarrassing situation.

Superintendent John Green said: "The investigation will establish the cause of the disclosure and I am confident will identify any learning points which may be taken from this. I apologise for any concern this may raise with the community.

"We have already taken steps to reassure any person who may have been named in the printout of our plans."

Assistant Chief Constable Bob Pennington said he was grateful for the return of the document, which was first handed to a local paper, before being given back to police.

"Devon and Cornwall Constabulary takes privacy and data protection very seriously and it is unfortunate that a sensitive piece of paper such as this has been mislaid by a member of our staff," he said.

"We understand that the public's concern about issues such as this may have been heightened by other recent stories about data loss within the public sector. I would like to take this opportunity to reassure the public we are confident our existing technology is safe.

"This incident is, however, a lesson for us all to be careful when handling sensitive material."

(Police Report Lost)

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