Tuesday 19th March 2024,
North Yorks Enquirer

Queen’s Police Medal for Scarborough Detective

Queen’s Police Medal for Scarborough Detective

by TIM HICKS

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Introduction

I read with disbelief the articles below concerning the award of the Queen’s Police Medal (QPM) to Detective Sergeant (DS) Angelina (Angie) Carey (Retired):

  • Scarborough News article here
  • Yorkshire Coast Radio article here
  • York Press article here.

According to the York Press article:

“A RETIRED detective sergeant who received the Queens Police Medal in the New Year Honours has won praise from former colleagues in North Yorkshire Police.

Deputy Chief Constable Phil Cain tweeted that he offered his congratulations to all honours recipients but wanted to give a special mention to Detective Sergeant Angie Carey, ‘who dedicated her career to help keep vulnerable children and families safe.’  

Detective Jon Kenworthy said he wanted to echo this, adding: “Huge congratulations to Angie – what a way to sign off on a brilliant career.”  

Angie worked on the frontline of child and adult safeguarding for twenty-five years, achieving notable convictions on behalf of vulnerable people and working to safeguard both adults and children in the Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale areas.”

The above articles are concise and well written, but appear to have been spoon-fed to the journalists concerned from North Yorkshire Police (NYP) and published without question.

They therefore lack the incisive and critical analysis that our readers have come to expect from the NYE.

The NYE’s analysis

Detective Sergeant Carey’s career falls into a number of phases:

  • 17 February 1986 joined North Yorkshire Police and was a uniform branch constable at Scarborough and Ryedale. Resigned in December 1988 for family reasons.
  • 1995 returned to work with the force.
  • 1995 – 1997 Uniform Branch Constable at Scarborough.
  • 1997 – 2001 Detective Constable at Scarborough
  • 2001 – 2015 Detective Sergeant (DS) Family Protection Unit and CID at Scarborough.
  • 2015 – 2019 Detective Sergeant Vulnerability Assessment Team at Scarborough.

From at least 1958 onwards, Conservative Scarborough Councillor, North Yorkshire County Councillor, Millionaire businessman and Mayor of Scarborough Peter Jaconelli was openly abusing children with impunity in Scarborough – with the full knowledge of North Yorkshire Police. He was joined in this by media personality and millionaire pervert Jimmy Savile, when he came to live in Scarborough in the 1960s. Both men were protected by Scarborough police because of their wealth and influence. I believe the reason that Savile maintained his mother’s flat in Scarborough after her death was because it offered unrivalled opportunities to abuse children because the police were in Jaconelli’s pocket.

All of DS Carey’s police service from 1986 until 2019 was in Scarborough based at Scarborough Police Station, which is pictured above and known as “Peter Jaconelli House” in the NYE Newsroom. Her service would have encompassed:

  • The latter period of Jimmy Savile and Peter Jaconelli’s period of abusing children in Scarborough from 1986 onwards. BBC Report here.
  • The 2003 investigation into paedophilism in Scarborough, although it is unclear if she participated in it. (Codename withheld by NYP). Articles by the Daily Express here and here.
  • DS Carey participated in the 2004 investigation into paedophilism in Ampleforth College (Codename Operation Ellipse).
  • The 2008/9 investigation into Peter Jaconelli in Scarborough, although it is unclear if she participated in it. (Codename withheld by IPCC and NYP). IPCC report and NYE investigation here.
  • The NYE investigation into Peter Jaconelli and Jimmy Savile’s offending in Scarborough and Whitby by myself, Nigel Ward and others, which started in 2012.
  • The initial “extensive searches of force records which did not reveal a local connection” of Jimmy Savile to North Yorkshire in 2012, in response to the HMIC investigation. (See below).
  • The May 2013 investigation into Peter Jaconelli and Jimmy Savile’s offending in Scarborough by Deputy Chief Constable Sue Cross. Indeed as a long serving Detective Sergeant at Scarborough specialising in child protection, DS Carey may have assisted with it. (See below).

Peter Jaconelli and Jimmy Savile. Did Scarborough police know?

Scarborough was alive with credible allegations about Peter Jaconelli going back to the 1950’s. It would have been impossible for Scarborough police not to have known about him and about Savile:

  • NYE correspondent Nigel Ward was warned by his mother that Jaconelli was a child abuser in 1958. Jaconelli was that well known locally.
  • Peter Jaconelli was charged with indecent assault in 1972, but this was nicely covered up at the time. NYE investigation here.
  • Former Scarborough Councillors Geoff Evans and Mike Ward both confirmed that Jaconelli was a paedophile and was openly known for his offending in Scarborough and Whitby.
  • There was a major paedophile investigation in Scarborough in 2003 in which Jaconelli, Savile and another man are alleged to have featured as suspects.
  • Savile and Jaconelli were well known in Whitby for cruising over from Scarborough in Savile’s Rolls Royce together and openly picking up youths from the burger bar in full view of Whitby Police Station.
  • There were numerous complaints made to Scarborough Police at Peter Jaconelli House which were all ignored. This Daily Express article records how two girls who were indecently assaulted by Savile and reported it to the police at Scarborough Police station were ridiculed by Scarborough CID and told to toddle off home because Jaconelli was too important to be arrested. Article here. This is typical of victims experience with Scarborough

Clearly the Police must have known that Jaconelli was a dangerous paedophile and a threat to young people. As with the Rotherham grooming scandal, nothing was done. Jaconelli was even allowed to continue as a school governor and enticed children into prostitution.

Jaconelli died in 1999, Savile died in 2011. In 2012, Savile was exposed as a paedophile, but Jaconelli’s reputation was unsullied.

The NYE unravels the NYP cover-up

Mrs Theresa May, who was Home Secretary at the time, made a statement on the failure of the British Police Service to arrest Savile to Parliament on the 12th of March 2013:

“In particular, I asked that the review establish clearly which forces received reports or allegations in respect of Savile and related individuals prior to the launch of Operation Yewtree on 5 October 2012. For each of those forces, I asked HMIC [Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary] to review the extent to which the allegations were robustly investigated and whether there were any police failings in doing so. HMIC have concluded their review and today published their report. A copy will be placed in the House Library. 

HMIC conducted enquiries in all 43 police forces in England and Wales, and liaised with HMIC Scotland and the States of Jersey Police. Their review finds that, as far as police records disclose, five allegations of child sexual assault were made against Savile to the police between 1958 and 2009. In addition to these recorded allegations, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has traced two historical intelligence entries relating to Savile.”

In response, NYP issued this statement: 

“When the allegations surrounding Jimmy Savile were publicised, we carried out extensive searches of force records which did not reveal a local connection.”

Although in fact Savile lived in Scarborough and was a Freeman of the Borough, there had been numerous complaints made about him to Scarborough CID at Scarborough Police Station, he had recently appeared with Chief Constable Maxwell at a police organized event where he was held out as a role model for young people and had been driven around in a NYP police car.

As a result of the statement, North Yorkshire Police were excluded from the HMIC and Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) – now the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigations.

Subsequently, following pressure from the NYE, the IPCC forced NYP to conduct an investigation into Savile’s offending in North Yorkshire. It was performed by no less a person than NYP’s Deputy Chief Constable Sue Cross and ignored the evidence to exonerate NYP of any knowledge of Jimmy Savile or Peter Jaconelli’s abuse of children in Scarborough and Whitby.

The Cross report is below. It is heavily redacted and it is a disgrace.

Download the PDF file CROSS_REPORT.

It was only when the NYE team (at that time, the Real Whitby team) participated in a BBC investigation that the truth came out.

Joint BBC and NYE investigation here.

The day after the programme was shown, North Yorkshire Police referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and a subsequent investigation by NYP codenamed Operation Hibiscus which investigated the evidence of the NYE’s witnesses identified that Savile and Jaconelli had committed thirty-seven sexual offences, including two they committed together.

It should be emphasized that although Operation Hibiscus, the NYP investigation into Savile – in which Nigel Ward, former Councillor Mike Ward and I participated – identified thirty-seven sexual offences. Some victims will not want to come forward, some will have moved on. Scarborough is a holiday town, so many of the victims will have been visitors who will be unaware of Operation Hibiscus. The real number of victims betrayed by Scarborough Police is unquestionably much, much higher.

The Cross Report had prevented the proper investigation of thirty-seven serious sexual offences by Savile and Jaconelli, including two they conducted jointly, thereby ensuring the reputation of the force would be unsullied.

Please see this suitably grovelling apology by Assistant Chief Constable Paul Kennedy in which NYP was forced by the NYE to admit that it had covered up for Savile and Jaconelli here. In which he claims that:

In the past. In the region of thirty years ago North Yorkshire Police missed opportunities, did not listen, did not investigate”.

This conveniently ignores the fact that DCC Cross had done exactly that in her report, refusing to engage with NYE journalists or to interview any of the witnesses. In short, continuing with the same policy as NYP had followed when Savile and Jaconelli were alive.

No action has ever been taken against Deputy Chief Constable Sue Cross over her investigation, or the officers that assisted in it. Nor has any action been taken against the officers that issued the initial statement that Jimmy Savile had no connections to North Yorkshire. NYE Report here.

Deputy Chief Constable Cross has never apologised for her report, which has never been retracted either by NYP or Cross herself.

Deputy Chief Constable Sue Cross pictured before retirement

BBC reports here and here.

The wider implications of DS Carey’s award.

There is no doubt that Scarborough Police protected Peter Jaconelli and Jimmy Savile and their reputations, instead of prioritizing the protection of children.

This could be for a number of reasons:

  • As mentioned in the BBC investigation, Scarborough police would not investigate Jaconelli because he was a pillar of Scarborough society, a Councillor, businessman, a County Councillor and the Mayor of Scarborough.
  • It has been alleged that Jaconelli routinely bribed Scarborough police officers.
  • Jaconelli was receiving stolen property. NYP will not confirm that Jaconelli was a paid informant for CID, on the grounds that this would prejudice police intelligence by giving criminals an insight into police investigation methods. This is clearly a ruse to prevent the release of the information. All criminals know that the police use paid informants, so there is nothing to be lost by releasing this information. But nevertheless, NYP is refusing to confirm or deny if Jaconelli was one of theirs.

In my opinion, the Jaconelli paedophile ring was unquestionably the worst case of police corruption in the history of policing in North Yorkshire. Police officers that supress intelligence and complaints of serious sexual offences of child abuse by not investigating it are knowingly committing a deeply corrupt act.

This scandal obviously did not involve every police officer in Scarborough in the years 1958 to 2014 and there were no doubt many good, brave and honest policemen serving there. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that there are many police officers that should have gone to prison for attempting to pervert the course of justice and misconduct in public office over the way Jaconelli and Savile were protected. To be clear, Scarborough police was a cesspit of police corruption. As with the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, Savile and Jaconelli were allowed to abuse children openly and with impunity, because the abusers were wealthy and influential people.

There is also no doubt that NYP orchestrated a cover up into corruption at Scarborough Police Station at the highest levels of the force, to prevent the truth from coming out.

Returning to the award of the QPM to DS Carey (retired). It is difficult to see how DS Carey could not have known of Savile and Jaconelli’s offending. After all, everyone else in Scarborough did. They were offending openly and with impunity, despite many complaints to the police.

In their comments:

Deputy Chief Constable Phil Cain tweeted that DS Carey, “dedicated her career to help keep vulnerable children and families safe.’

Detective Constable Jon Kenworthy said “Angie worked on the frontline of child and adult safeguarding for twenty-five years, achieving notable convictions on behalf of vulnerable people and working to safeguard both adults and children in the Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale areas.”

Very impressive. Maybe they can explain to Savile and Jaconelli’s victims:

  • Why she didn’t arrest them Savile and Jaconelli, and the police officers that covered up for them?
  • Why did she not come forward and state that Savile lived in Scarborough when NYP released a statement that he had no connections to the area?
  • Why didn’t she contact the NYE and ask what evidence we had of sexual abuse of children in Scarborough, when we were conducting our investigation in 2012 – 2013, as Operation Hibiscus did in 2014?

Deputy Chief Constable Phil Cain on right (pictured as an inspector)

Maybe DS Carey can also confirm why she didn’t speak out and confirm that in fact Savile lived in Scarborough, when NYP issued its initial statement that he had no connection to North Yorkshire – thereby ensuring NYP would evade scrutiny by HMIC and the IPCC.

A full career profile for Detective Sergeant Carey can be read here. In many ways it is very impressive and commendable. In 2011 DS Carey was one of a team of detectives that was commended by His Honour Judge Peter Collier QC for her part in a very skilful investigation into the murder of Alan Atkin in Scarborough in 2010. Article from the Harrogate Informer here. Article from the BBC here.

Awarding of the QPM to a child protection detective who served in Scarborough during the years when Savile and Jaconelli were openly abusing children with the complete acquiescence of the police is crass and insensitive to the victims.

This is what one of Jaconelli’s victims from Scarborough said about DS Carey’s award: 

“Not much to say except if that was her job, she didn’t do a very good job of it. 

Paid for doing nothing, it would seem. 

What has she got to say about the Jaconelli years? 

Where was she? Leaning up against the coffee machine I would guess but most certainly not investigating Scarborough’s mister big (Jaconelli) that’s for sure. 

What the F*** was she doing for 25 years?

It might be worth asking her if she was aware of Jaconellis antics. If she answers NO she is a liar or was the only one in Scarborough that didn’t know. If she answers YES why didn’t she do something about it? 

It’s been a long time, but I don’t feel happy about it. But basically she has to live with it along with the rest of NYP.”

It seemed to me that these questions were highly relevant. So I e mailed NYP asking DS Carey (Retired) for a statement on her role – if any – in the Jaconelli scandal. I also asked for a media comment from Chief Constable Winward, who will have authorised the recommendation for the QPM. A draft of this article was also forwarded.

Chief Constable Winward did not respond other than to confirm that my request had not been forwarded to DS Carey because she was retired. If I get a response, then I will of course publish it in due course.

In the absence of any response from NYP, I will leave the last word to this photoon of Conservative Councillor and Mayor of Scarborough Tom Threat and Retaliation Fox. Who before retirement was Chief Superintendent Tom Fox (Retired) and commanded policing in Scarborough during the Jaconelli and Savile years. This is satirical but nevertheless appears to reflect the defence of Scarborough police to allegations that they turned a blind eye to Savile and Jaconelli.

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