Sex crime suspects should remain anonymous until charged, says Scotland Yard chief

The chief of Scotland Yard has called on MPs to consider making it a crime to publicly name a suspect in any police inquiry. In March MPs recommended that sex crime suspects should remain anonymous until charged with an offence because of the damage to their reputations, reports The Independent, London.

Given how seamlessly issues of policing and privacy map onto other cultures at a time when information is more porous than every before in human history, consider, for example, the Aarushi whodunit that broke in India in 2008.

Within 24 hours of of her body being discovered on 16 May 2008, the family’s missing servant Hemraj was named main suspect. Next day, his partially decomposed body was found on the terrace. Within a matter of hours, the next shopping list of suspects was ready - Aarushi’s parents.

Coming back to where the debate is at in London, the consideration of anonymity for non-sexual crimes is also on the long list, Scotland Yard confirmed.

“The Commissioner invites legislators to consider the issue of pre-charge publicity for suspects and whether additional legal safeguards are required,” the force said, adding it was “concerned that legislation allowing suspects to be publicly named before charge, whilst those bringing allegations are anonymous, creates an imbalance which should be addressed,” says the report.

Click on this link for the full report.