Two suspects are now being held in police custody, charged with grave sex crimes against a minor—in circumstances that grimly echo the authorities’ handling of last summer’s Southport murders.
Ahmad Mulakhil faces two charges of rape, while Mohammad Kabir is accused of kidnap, strangulation, and aiding and abetting rape. All charges are related to the same girl, whose age—under 13—means that under English and Welsh law, the offences are treated with even greater severity.
Now they are charged, the men’s names and ages can be made public. However, their presumed nationalities and legal residential situation in the UK are being withheld by the authorities. Potentially, this would make someone revealing them open to ‘contempt of court’ (sub judice) charges.
For residents of the Warwickshire town, more information concerning the identity of the attackers is essential to knowing how safe they are. Local councillors were briefed by police about the arrests, but then obliged to keep quiet, so as not to ‘inflame community tensions.’ According to Warwickshire County Council leader, George Finch of Reform UK:
Our communities are at a breaking point, and that’s why we need Reform to change things. We’re the last line of defence against the blob, the cover-ups of the councils, and we have to fight every step of the way against this blob, and this is what we’re doing at Warwickshire County Council …. It has to stop. A 13-year-old girl had been raped by two asylum seekers, and I was told that if I release this I would be in contempt of court, that I cannot release this due to this phrase: community cohesion.
Police have not confirmed parts of Finch’s account, although he claims to have been warned by the force not to publicise their alleged asylum applicant status—not to reveal that at least one of their addresses is a ‘house in multiple occupation’ used by migrants. Finch’s appearance at a Westminster press conference on Monday, July 4th, alongside Nigel Farage, also saw him acknowledge the problems posed by contempt of court laws.
This prompted predictable criticism, with Farage ‘fanning flames of hatred’ with ‘dangerous’ claims of ‘cover-up’ according to the Mirror. Yet it was precisely the lack of information about the Southport murders that fuelled some of last summer’s riots in England.
Warwickshire Police has tried to defend the current position, with a boilerplate statement from Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe:
It is essential to state that policing decisions—such as whether to release details about a suspect—must follow national guidance and legal requirements.
Yet the public is well aware of how promptly Merseyside police were able to release extensive details of the suspect in the Liverpool FC parade car ramming, prompting further concerns of ‘two-tier policing’ in Britain.
