A police force under investigation over its handling of sexual abuse claims against the self-professed misogynist Andrew Tate has reopened an inquiry into allegations against him.
Hertfordshire police said they had made the decision to reinvestigate alleged rape and sexual assault offences in the light of previous failures in 2014 and 2015.
The announcement follows a decision by the Independent Office for Police Conduct to examine whether a detective constable could face gross misconduct proceedings for “alleged failures to properly investigate” the case.
The force said in a statement: “We are committed to doing what is right and ensuring that allegations of such a serious nature are properly, thoroughly and fully investigated, no matter how long ago they occurred.”
Three women had made serious allegations against Tate, but the case was closed in 2019 after a four-year investigation.
In a joint statement, the three alleged victims said: “It is long overdue for Hertfordshire constabulary to reopen the investigation into our allegations of rape, sexual abuse and assault by Andrew Tate.
“We have never stopped our search for justice following what we believe was the police’s failure to adequately investigate what happened between 2013 and 2015. We hope that the mistakes of the past are corrected, and that this is now the path to Tate facing criminal justice.”
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the legal test to bring criminal charges had not been met in September last year.
The three women have taken their claims to the high court alongside a fourth woman, and a civil trial is scheduled to take place in June.
Tate denies all of the allegations against him, and his lawyers have previously dismissed them as false and that the women “were not controlled and did not behave as though they were controlled” by him.
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Matthew Jury, the managing partner at McCue Jury & Partners, who are representing the alleged victims said: “These brave women deserve recognition for their relentless and prolonged struggle to ensure Andrew Tate faces justice.
“As we have been saying for years, there is evidence indicating that this investigation was not properly managed when they initially approached the police over ten years ago.
“Hopefully, this time it will be a proper and thorough investigation.”
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