A Vice Squad inspector attempted to obtain an arrest warrant for Cyril Smith, but was told to drop the case by a senior officer because of fears of 'political upheaval'.
Robert Glen, a retired Met Police superintendent, told a child sex abuse inquiry an undercover surveillance operation he led in the late 70s gathered enough evidence to arrest Smith on suspicion of being 'involved in some form of obscenities with young boys'.
But when Mr Glen, then an inspector with the Vice Squad in London's West End, tried to obtain an arrest warrant, the late Chief Supt Neil Diver told him to drop the case because 'it would cause political upheaval'.
Mr Glen, who retired from the police force in 1994, told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse that undercover officers carried out surveillance on Smith, Liberal MP for Rochdale from 1972 to 1992, for at least a month in early 1978.
The operation gathered 'sufficient evidence that Smith was involved with underage boys, aged around 13/14, to apply for a warrant'.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...ews/vice-squad-inspector-tells-child-15934440
Robert Glen, a retired Met Police superintendent, told a child sex abuse inquiry an undercover surveillance operation he led in the late 70s gathered enough evidence to arrest Smith on suspicion of being 'involved in some form of obscenities with young boys'.
But when Mr Glen, then an inspector with the Vice Squad in London's West End, tried to obtain an arrest warrant, the late Chief Supt Neil Diver told him to drop the case because 'it would cause political upheaval'.
Mr Glen, who retired from the police force in 1994, told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse that undercover officers carried out surveillance on Smith, Liberal MP for Rochdale from 1972 to 1992, for at least a month in early 1978.
The operation gathered 'sufficient evidence that Smith was involved with underage boys, aged around 13/14, to apply for a warrant'.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...ews/vice-squad-inspector-tells-child-15934440
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