Hundreds of convicted sex offenders 'missing'

Police have lost track of nearly 400 registered sex offenders across the UK, official figures have revealed.

Figures show that at least 396 sex offenders are missing, some for more than a decade. Everyone on the sex offenders register is meant to be monitored by police, probation officers and the prison service.

"The horrifying prospect is that these offenders will have rebuilt their lives in communities who don't know them," Claude Knights, from the child protection charity Kidscape, told Sky News.

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"Reoffending is high and particularly among those who have left the support system designed to help them," he added.

The Metropolitan police said 167 registered sex offenders were wanted in London alone. West Midlands Police has lost contact with 39 registered offenders, while 25 are missing in Greater Manchester.

Scotland Yard said London's "diverse multicultural population" meant a significant proportion of sex offenders were "either known or believed to be living abroad, having returned to their country of origin", the BBC reports.

Campaigner Sara Payne, whose daughter was murdered by convicted paedophile Roy Whiting, said the figures were unacceptable. "It's time to take some serious proactive action to bring them back under the police radar," she said.

The NSPCC has called the numbers "alarming", and criticised the lack of police supervision of convicted offenders. The organisation said it had discovered that there was just one police officer responsible for every 50 registered sex offenders.

However, former police officer and founder member of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, Sharon Girling argues that police forces no longer have the resources to properly monitor sex offenders.

The Home Office has defended the system, saying that the UK has "some of the toughest powers in the world" with more sex offenders going to prison for longer.

"It is for the police to manage offenders in their area, but we work closely with forces to ensure legislation is effective and that officers have all the tools they need," said a spokesperson.