The Metropolitan Police has identified more than 4,000 historical child sexual exploitation cases that may need to be reopened after reviewing investigations dating back to 2010, meaning thousands of previously closed cases could now be examined again.
Officers examined around 12,000 reports as part of Operation Beaconport, a nationwide programme led by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC). The review was launched after Baroness Louise Casey's report into group-based child sexual exploitation recommended looking again at cases that may have been closed too early or where victims may have been denied justice.