Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service it has been decided that none of the conduct disclosed as part of Lancashire Constabulary’s investigation into the welfare of some children at the privately run Jamea al Kauthar Islamic School for Girls in Lancaster meets the threshold for criminal prosecution. (See previous news story)
The investigation was concentrated on one incident that allegedly took place a fortnight ago but this in turn led to significant questions about safeguarding processes at the school which the Constabulary has asked partners and regulators like Ofsted to consider.
A Lancashire Constabulary spokesperson said: “Clearly we have a duty to respond to information received and that is what we have done in this case, as sensitively and proportionately as possible, so that we could ascertain the circumstances surrounding the information we received. Our priority is the protection of vulnerable people and given the same information again we would act in the same way.
“We also have a safeguarding responsibility outside of that investigation, along with partners and regulators, and are duty bound to make sure that the right processes are in place at the school to protect the welfare of pupils. With that in mind we have asked Ofsted and other partners to look into some of these processes.”
Two men arrested on suspicion of False Imprisonment and Sexual Assault have been released from their bail without charge.
A third man, who was arrested on suspicion of False Imprisonment, was earlier released without charge.