MALCOLM HEWITT AND NEWPORT: POLICE FAILURE ALLOWED PAEDOPHILE TO REOFFEND

In May 2009, it emerged that Malcolm Hewitt, a convicted paedophile from Newport, South Wales, was able to reoffend and attack a four-year-old girl due to police monitoring failures. Hewitt, then 55, was already on the sex offenders register after being convicted in June 1998 at Wolverhampton Crown Court for indecent assault and gross indecency with underage girls. He had previously received an indeterminate prison sentence for public protection in 2007 for abusing a young victim.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) found that Gwent Police had failed to adequately manage Hewitt prior to his re-offense. While the investigation highlighted that individual police officers would not be reprimanded, it identified organizational shortcomings in the force’s management of sexual offenders. IPCC Commissioner for Wales Tom Davies stated, ‘Gwent Police’s policies and procedures for dealing with the management of sex offenders at that time were clearly not good enough and the force took action to put this right.’ He added that the IPCC had explained their findings and the actions taken to the girl’s family, expressing hope that lessons learned would prevent similar failures in the future.

Hewitt was convicted by a unanimous jury verdict at Newport Crown Court on charges including two counts of indecently touching a child under 13 and one count of inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity. The offenses came to light after the girl’s mother became concerned about comments the child made while being changed, leading to a police and social services investigation following a medical examination.

The court was told that Hewitt lured his victim with sweets and a kitten he owned. During his trial, the young girl was required to give evidence via video link. The jury convicted Hewitt in less than 90 minutes.

The judge, Neil Bidder QC, described Hewitt as a ‘high risk’ to young girls and sentenced him to an indefinite prison term with a minimum tariff of three years. The judge commented, ‘It is plain to me that you have urges to assault young girls sexually, including an urge to penetrate them. There is a high risk you will continue to seek out and sexually assault young female children. Given your specific targeting of a very young child, there is a substantial risk of causing serious physical harm.’

The IPCC investigation revealed that Gwent Police did not manage Hewitt according to legislation or force policy throughout the five years he lived in Newport. No evidence was found that he was under supervision during this period. Mr. Davies noted that the police force had fully accepted the investigation’s findings, stating, ‘While two police constables will receive management advice, no other individual officer should face misconduct proceedings because of organizational failings.’

A Gwent Police spokesperson expressed regret over the case, acknowledging that the situation was a tragedy for the girl and her family. They stated, ‘We also regret that there were some aspects that as a force we could have handled better. Gwent Police referred the case to the IPCC early on, and we fully accept their findings. All investigation findings have been addressed by Gwent Police prior to today’s report being published.’