Thames Valley Police© Provided by The Telegraph  

An asylum seeker accused of raping a teenager has been found by police in a migrant hotel where children were staying after a major blunder.

Thames Valley Police identified the asylum seeker on Thursday using police files after he had gone “missing” earlier in the week following his transfer from another migrant hotel 80 miles away in east London, where he allegedly raped a teenage boy.

It is claimed that Clearsprings, the government contractor for the asylum hotel in Buckingham, where he was found, had failed to account for the suspect - leading to claims that he had disappeared.

His presence at the hotel also appeared to be in breach of Home Office policy that criminals or suspects should not be housed in hotels but instead restricted to immigration removal or detention centres.

Greg Smith, Conservative MP for Buckingham, said: “I remain incredibly concerned about this. There has been a major failure. The most important thing is to ensure that the suspect is placed in a secure detention centre.”

It was on Oct 5 that the asylum seeker was arrested and taken into custody by Metropolitan Police officers after reports that a teenage boy had been raped at a hotel in Waltham Forest, east London. He was released on bail pending further inquiries and told he must return to the police station in early January.

As part of his bail conditions, he was barred from the Waltham Forest area and it is believed he was transferred to Buckingham by police, although it is understood the Metropolitan Police maintains the Home Office was responsible for transport and accommodation which meant officers were not required to escort him to the hotel.

Buckinghamshire County Council only became aware of his transfer to a hotel in their area when they were alerted to it by officials at Waltham Forest. 

However, when Buckinghamshire council officials contacted Clearsprings to confirm that was the case, they were told there was no record of him at the hotel, leading to claims that he had gone missing on Wednesday.

Within 24 hours, Thames Valley police who were called in to investigate found the asylum seeker at the Buckingham hotel, confirming his identity with photo identity from police files. 

‘Huge safeguarding issue’

A local source said: “It is a huge safeguarding issue. There are people in the hotel who have presented as adult men but are children. There are also two schools nearby. It is a total mess. He should be in a secure facility.”

The Home Office declined to say where the asylum seeker had been placed and said it could not comment on individual cases.

A Home Office spokesman said: “If someone claiming asylum commits a criminal offence then their bail conditions would be set by the police in the usual way. Their subsequent movements would be dependent on the conditions set, and them abiding by them. The Home Office does not have powers to detain individuals on police bail.

“If an asylum seeker absconds before a decision is made on their asylum claim, or if they fail to comply with our processes, we have a dedicated national absconder tracing team to track them down and bring them back into contact with the Home Office and their claim may be withdrawn. Full security checks are carried out before anyone enters the asylum system.”

Martin Tett, leader of Buckinghamshire County Council, said he had written to the Home Office and Metropolitan Police, raising their concerns about the incident. Thames Valley Police referred calls to the Met. The Met has been contacted for a response.

The case follows a backlash over the surge in the use of hotels for migrants after a record 42,000 have crossed the Channel this year in small boats. On Friday Ben Bradley, a Conservative MP, complained that homeless people were removed from a hotel in his constituency, Mansfield, to make way for 34 asylum seekers.

Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, has established a new protocol that MPs and councils should be informed at least 24 hours before any decisions are taken to move asylum seekers into hotels in their area. It follows complaints that hotels had been block-booked before they were told. By Charles Hymas, Telegraph