EXCLUSIVE: Shadow Home Secretery Chris Philp in call for immigration status of suspects to be released if they are charged

SHADOW Home Secretary Chris Philp is calling for the immigration statuses of all foreign suspects to be released once they have been charged.

It comes after most police forces began to release details about the nationality and ethnicity of suspects following new guidance.

However, the Home Office, which is responsible for considering issuing details of an immigration status under the same guidance, repeatedly refused to release anything, even about foreign alleged murderers and rapists, when asked by Essex News and Investigations.

The National Police Chief's Council (NPCC) and College of Policing issued new interim guidance in August on what information to release in a bid to avoid repeats of the misinformation that spread online after Axel Rudakubana stabbed to death three young girls and injured ten others at a Taylor Swift–themed dance workshop in Southport on July 29.

Mass rioting happened in the town, which spread across the country, after it was wrongly claimed online that the then 17-year-old was a Muslim asylum seeker, when he had been born in the UK to Christian parents from the UK.

The guidance said police forces should consider releasing details of a charged suspect's nationality and ethnicity in 'high profile' cases such as rapes and murders or where there was significant interest in the case.

Checks by this website found the majority of forces released such details in most cases, even for more minor offences, with some even proactively adding the information to press releases.

The interim guidance, which will be reviewed before being made permanent, states it is for the Home Office to consider the release of a suspect's immigration status.

We asked the Home Office for the immigration status of 19 foreign nationals charged with serious offences in the UK, including murders and rapes.

We also asked for the same for 16 people wanted for extradition to other countries for similar serious offences, but it refused to provide the information for any of them.

A spokesperson said: "It is our longstanding policy not to comment on individual cases."

She said it was only likely to deviate from this in response to the most significant of cases, such as the Manchester synagogue terror attack, when the suspect was shot dead by police.

Last month Hampshire Police proactively released that Jaiden Hassan-Agard, 18, from Southampton, was British born, but identifies as Mixed White and Black Caribbean heritage, after he was charged with the manslaughter of Tia Langdon, 25, who fell to her death from a block of flats on August 28.

In August Kent Police proactively advised the press that Ako Hawla, 26, from Erith, was of Iraqi descent after he was jailed for 13 years this month at Woolwich Crown Court for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in 2019.

Enquiries to six other police forces about the nationality of apparently migrant offenders since the guidance was introduced  discovered most would confirm an offender's nationality and, in some cases their ethnicity, if specifically asked.

However, Nottinghamshire Police refused to provide the nationality or ethnicity of a suspect, understood to be in the country from India on a restricted work visa, who has been charged with assaulting a toddler.

The 26-year-old suspect was detained by private security guards after he allegedly picked up a child not known to him before kissing them about the face in Nottingham City Centre last month.

He was initially arrested on suspicion of sexual assault on a child, before later being charged with common assault, and bailed to appear before magistrates.

Mr Philp said: "I welcome the news that the police have been encouraged to consider disclosing the ethnicity and nationality of suspects in high-profile and sensitive cases. However, this does not go far enough.

"The public deserves to know the truth about the nationality and immigration status of all suspects - no public institution should be covering up this information.

"Just recently, we have seen press reports on the huge scale of the crime committed by illegal immigrants housed in the Government’s own asylum hotels. The public are rightly sick of this illegal immigrant crime wave. It has to end.

"The Labour Government must stop covering up crime by illegal immigrants and asylum seekers and make full disclosures of the immigration status of offenders."

Regarding the Nottinghamshire Police case, a spokesman said: "We have given full consideration as to whether this case meets the threshold for providing the suspect’s nationality and/or ethnicity as outlined in the new guidance, and our conclusion was that the threshold is not met in this instance.

"The guidance states that forces should proactively release charging information where the crime is of a serious nature, such as rape or murder, where the incident has already been reported in the media or on social media sites for public reassurance reasons.

"This is a common assault incident in Nottingham, whereby the suspect is in the country on a lawful basis."

NPCC Chair Chief Constable Gavin Stephens said: "The interim guidance encourages forces to disclose a suspect’s ethnicity and nationality in high profile and sensitive investigations and operations at the point of charge, if the case meets certain criteria.

"All forces are operationally independent, and the interim guidance is there to guide decision making on individual cases. The interim guidance is designed to bring consistency to decision making but the outcome can vary depending on the particulars of each case."

The Runnymede Trust, a race equality think tank, has warned the guidance risks 'reinforcing the idea that certain groups were inherently criminal' and could fuel attacks on certain groups such as Muslims.