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Gloucestershire Police taking decisive action to improve how they safeguard children at risk

Source: Gloucestershire Constabulary published on this website Friday 23 May 2025 by Jill Powell

Gloucestershire Police are taking decisive action to bring about rapid change to how we safeguard children at risk following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

In a report published today on Wednesday 21 May HMICFRS said they were ‘inadequate’ at responding to children at risk; investigating reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation of children; and in their leadership of child protection arrangements.

The inspectorate rated them as ‘adequate’ at working with safeguarding partners and ‘requires improvement’ at assessing risk to children and making appropriate referrals.

HMICFRS inspectors provided feedback on conclusion of their visit in December last year, identifying areas they could improve. This information has since been used to develop an improvement plan which lays out how they are addressing their concerns.

Among the actions taken or are in the process of taking are:

  • Launching the Gloucestershire Rapid Improvement Plan (GRIP) – a plan for the whole workforce which sets out how they intend to improve our performance over the next 12 months. Keeping children and young people safe is one of the GRIP’s priorities.
  • Ensuring greater scrutiny and oversight of how they safeguard children at risk by introducing a monthly Crime and Vulnerability Performance Board chaired by an Assistant Chief Constable.
  • Increasing the number of investigators they have in their specialist investigation teams, including the Child Abuse Investigation Team.  This has seen 20 additional officers commencing in those roles on 12 May.
  • Introducing a dedicated missing person team which will audit missing people cases regularly to ensure appropriate risk assessments are carried out and relevant investigative actions implemented.
  • Providing specialist training to hundreds of officers and staff. More than 600 officers have received training on evidence-led prosecutions while all frontline officers and staff continue to receive training on domestic abuse. They are also planning to deliver training which will ensure the voice of the child is always considered when they encounter a case or incident where one is involved.
  • Forging even closer working relationships with partners, specifically with those working in education and social care. In March this year Gloucestershire Police hosted a national missing person conference in Gloucestershire and last month brought together multi-agency colleagues to explore how we can address gaps in identifying and responding to adolescent domestic abuse. We’re also planning a multi-agency child protection conference bringing together key stakeholders to discuss Gloucestershire's approach to protecting children from harm.
  • Issued comprehensive internal and external communications to inform and educate the workforce and the public on child protection matters. In February this year, they  worked with the Internet Watch Foundation to deliver an external campaign on behalf of the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children's Partnership to tackle online grooming and the distribution of indecent images of children in Gloucestershire via social media apps.

In addition to highlighting areas for improvement, HMICFRS recognised how Chief Officers and senior leaders have made efforts to help officers and staff provide a child-centred service and how all employees have been made aware of the need to avoid using victim-blaming language.

Its report also commented on how the Constabulary has social workers embedded alongside officers and staff in its child exploitation team, saying this provides a good opportunity for effective sharing of information and responding to children’s needs more quickly.

Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone, lead for Crime, Justice and Vulnerability, said: “Children and young people are some of the most vulnerable members of society and it’s essential we do everything we can to keep them safe.

“We accept HMICFRS’ findings and recognise we have work to do to address the concerns identified in its report and to deliver the improvements required.

“The steps we’ve already taken will help us ensure we’ve the necessary specialist skills and resources in place to protect children from harm; to respond to and investigate incidents involving them; and that appropriate leadership and oversight is maintained for all child protection matters.

“The safeguarding of children in Gloucestershire is a key priority for the Constabulary and we’ll continue to work with HMICFRS, as well as with our partners, to improve.”

Sex offender identified during Met Police Live Facial Recognition operation

Source: Metropolitan Police published on this website Thursday 22 May 2025 by Jill Powell

The deployment of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology by Met Police officers in Southwark helped put a registered sex offender back behind bars.

LFR is an advanced technology where Met officers position a van equipped with cameras in a pre-agreed location in London.

These cameras capture live footage of people passing by and compare their faces against a database of wanted offenders. If a match is detected, the system generates an alert. An officer will then review the match and decide if they wish to speak with the individual.

On the afternoon of Friday, 10 January, a police van with LFR was operating in the Denmark Hill area, when cameras alerted officers to 73-year-old David Cheneler as being a registered sex offender. Upon being stopped by officers, he was found to be with a six-year-old girl.

Further checks confirmed he was in breach of his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), which prevented him from being alone with a child under the age of 14. He was also in possession of a lock knife that was hidden in the buckle of his belt. He was arrested and taken into custody.

Further enquiries from Met officers established Cheneler had picked the child up from school as a favour for her mother, which he’d also done on two previous occasions after building a relationship with them both over the course of a year.

This case is another example of how the Met’s use of LFR is protecting communities by helping officers take dangerous offenders off the streets of London.

The Met is a forerunner in using this technology as part of its commitment to make London safer by harnessing cutting-edge technology and data to identify and apprehend offenders who pose significant risks to our communities.

Detective Constable Adam Pearce of the Met’s local policing team in south-east London, who led the investigation, said:

“This is a prime example of how the Met is using technology to remove dangerous offenders from our streets, and Live Facial Recognition remains an important tool in protecting Londoners.

“Although there were no allegations made towards David Cheneler on this occasion, it’s possible if he hadn’t been identified using this technology, he could have gone on to abuse this child.

“Her mother was completely unaware of his offending history, and along with her young daughter, were both taken advantage of by Cheneler who abused their trust.”

David Cheneler, 73 (05.04.52), of Lewisham, appeared at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday, 20 May, where he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.

He pleaded guilty at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 13 January to breaching the conditions of his SOPO, as well as possessing an offensive weapon.

The SOPO was originally imposed in 2019 by the courts, following a previous conviction in 2010 for 15 counts of indecent assault on a female under 16 and five counts of gross indecency with a child between 1968 and 1993, for which he served a nine-year prison term.

Live Facial Recognition enables the Met to take a more precise, intelligence-led approach to tackling crime.

Each deployment is carefully planned based on operational needs and is guided by data to ensure resources are directed at offenders who pose the greatest threat to our communities.

Couple jailed for 46 years for sexually abusing a child

Source: National Crime Agency (NCA) published on this website Tuesday 20 May 2025 by Jill Powell

A couple from Wales have been jailed for 23 years each after footage was shared online of them sexually abusing a child.

Jonathan Leonard, 58, from Caldicot, Monmouthshire, and Ann Bray, 62, from Newport were arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency in September 2024 after information was received from the FBI.

Both Leonard and Bray's devices were seized upon arrest, and Bray's device contained videos and images of the pair abusing a child from 2021 to 2024.

NCA investigators discovered Bray had been grooming the child to participate in sexual activity with the pair.

Videos and images of the abuse were taken by Bray and shared to Leonard. Officers found chat messages between them discussing the abuse, their fantasies, and making plans to commit the offences. Leonard subsequently shared some of these images online.

Both Bray and Leonard were also found to be in possession of a number of other indecent images of children and extreme pornography.

They were interviewed by NCA officers but refused to answer any questions about their involvement.

They were charged with multiple child abuse offences and pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court on 24 January.

Leonard and Bray were both sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment, with eight years to be spent on licence today (19 May).

Daniel Waywell, Senior Investigating Officer at the NCA, said: "Leonard and Bray worked together to support one another's sexual interest in children, subjecting a child to years of horrific abuse, which they filmed and shared online with other paedophiles.

"This child, and every one of the victims of abuse in the indecent images and videos found on their devices, are re-victimised each time this material is viewed and shared online.

"The NCA is committed to safeguarding children from sexual abuse and we will continue to work tirelessly, alongside international partners, to remove children from harm and bring offenders like Leonard and Bray to justice."

Top Tips for Staff: help your staff keep your organisation safe online (2)

Source: National Cyber Security Centre published on this website Wednesday 22 May 2025 by Jill Powell

Our training package 'Top Tips for Staff' addresses the challenge of making cyber security relevant to everyone in your organisation. It is completely free, easy to use, and takes less than 30 minutes to complete. This training introduces the importance of cyber security and explains how attacks happen, covering four key areas:

  1. Using strong passwords
  2. Securing your devices
  3. Defending yourself against phishing
  4. Reporting incidents

The training is primarily aimed at SMEs, charities and the voluntary sector, but can be applied to any organisation, regardless of size or sector. It’s designed for an audience who may have little or no knowledge of cyber security, with tips that complement any existing policies and procedures.

'Top Tips For Staff' can be completed online, or built into your own training platform.

As well as some smaller updates to the content, we have ensured that 'Top Tips for Staff' (English) meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (Level AA), so that the package is more accessible for our users.

There are two options for using the e-learning package:

  1. You can direct your staff to the Stay Safe Online: Top Tips for Staff or Gadw’n ddiogel ar-lein: Prif awgrymiadau i staff. The package is free to use, and includes a short quiz at the end, with links to further reading. No login is required - just click on the link and start learning.
  2. Alternatively you can integrate the package into your own organisation's training platform. You can do this by downloading the zip file from our website (the file you download will depend on your organisation's learning management system). Use the PDF instructions to find out how to integrate the package.

We've also summarised the core messages from the training in the infographic below, which you're also free to download, print, and share.

Interested in helping shape ‘Top Tips for Staff’? 

We always welcome feedback, whether you want to make a suggestion or report a problem. Contact us at toptipsforstaff@ncsc.gov.uk

Helpful guidance, Online Safety Act: explainer

Source: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology published on this website Monday 19 May 2024

The Online Safety Act 2023 (the Act) is a new set of laws that protects children and adults online. It puts a range of new duties on social media companies and search services, making them more responsible for their users’ safety on their platforms. The Act will give providers new duties to implement systems and processes to reduce risks their services are used for illegal activity, and to take down illegal content when it does appear. 

The strongest protections in the Act have been designed for children. Platforms will be required to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content and provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems online when they do arise. 

The Act will also protect adult users, ensuring that major platforms will need to be more transparent about which kinds of potentially harmful content they allow, and give people more control over the types of content they want to see. 

Ofcom is the independent regulator of Online Safety. It will set out steps providers can take to fulfil their safety duties in codes of practice. It has a broad range of powers to assess and enforce providers’ compliance with the framework. 

Providers’ safety duties are proportionate to factors including the risk of harm to individuals, and the size and capacity of each provider. This makes sure that while safety measures will need to be put in place across the board, we aren’t requiring small services with limited functionality to take the same actions as the largest corporations. Ofcom is required to take users’ rights into account when setting out steps to take. And providers have simultaneous duties to pay particular regard to users’ rights when fulfilling their safety duties.

To read the full document