Police chief rejects Reform ‘cover-up’ claim in rape case

Police have denied a “cover-up” after a Reform UK councillor accused the force of withholding information following the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl.

- ROSIE SHEAD

Warwickshire Police Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith has asked the Home Office to confirm the full immigration status of Ahmad Mulakhil and Mohammad Kabir, who have been charged in connection with the offence.

It comes after Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage and Warwickshire County Council leader George Finch claimed there had been a “cover-up” after police charged the two men, who are Afghan asylum seekers.

In a letter to the home secretary and Warwickshire Police’s chief constable, Mr Finch, the youngest council leader in the country, claimed that not publicising the pair’s immigration status “risks public disorder breaking out on the streets of Warwickshire”.

Responding to Mr Finch, Mr Franklin-Smith wrote that the force “did not and will not” cover up alleged criminality.

His letter stated: “I am confident that Warwickshire Police has treated this investigation seriously from the outset working tirelessly to identify, locate, arrest and charge those suspected of being responsible for this awful crime as quickly as possible.”