Huntley police held secret Irish blacklist.
By Ian Cobain and Dominic Kennedy

THE police force criticised for its part in the Ian Huntley case kept a secret
list of Irish people in its area, regardless of whether they were suspected of
breaking the law.

Humberside Police, criticised for destroying the file on Huntley containing
allegations of repeated sex attacks, nevertheless ordered officers to record
details of every Irish person they dealt with.

Names and other details were fed into a database compiled by Special Branch
officers. English people of Irish descent were put on the list.

The revelation brought furious criticism of the Humberside force last night
and calls for the database to be destroyed. There were demands that a Home
Office investigation, instigated to establish how Huntley slipped through
police vetting checks, should also examine why innocent people with Irish
surnames were targeted by the Humberside force.

The disclosure will increase pressure on David Westwood, Humberside's
beleaguered Chief Constable, to resign.

The database of Irish residents on Humberside was compiled during a campaign
codenamed Operation Pre-Empt. Special Branch had been concerned that ports
in the area could become entry points for republican terrorists and that local
chemical plants could be targets for bombing raids.

It is unclear when the database was established, but an internal memo dated
October 20, 2000, 18 months after Dr Westwood was appointed Chief Constable,
shows that it was part of an attempt to "identify, prioritise and monitor
likely targets for terrorist attack".

Divisions and branches in Humberside were told to notify Special Branch as
quickly as possible of "anyone of Irish origin, descent or background" who was
brought into custody, subjected to a routine street or driving check, or
subject to any police inquiry "for any reason". Special Branch was also to be
told of any people with Irish names brought to the attention of police by
members of the public, "in particular when seeking accommodation".

Police ceased compiling the secret list after the memo was leaked, and Kevin
McNamara, the Labour MP for Hull North, complained to Jack Straw, Home
Secretary at the time.

Mr Straw told him that all information held by Special Branch was the
responsibility of the Chief Constable. Dr Westwood agreed to bring Operation
Pre-Empt to a halt, but it is unclear whether the Irish database has been
erased.

At the time of the 1991 cen-sus there were 4,728 people of Irish descent on
Humberside. Yesterday The Times asked Humberside Police to disclose how many
of their names were on the list, and if the database had been erased. The
force was also asked to explain the apparent contradiction between the claim
that officers were prohibited from maintaining intelligence records on
Huntley's alleged sex offending in the 1990s, when detectives were able to
collate details about innocent people with Irish names in 2000.

The questions had not been answered last night.