Nine British police forces are assessing whether to launch investigations into Epstein-related allegations following claims of human trafficking and sexual assault.
The Metropolitan Police has begun carrying out ‘initial inquiries’ into allegations relating to close protection officers assigned to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
It comes after a former officer claimed that ‘certain members’ of the Royalty and Specialist Protection (RaSP) command may have witnessed abuse at Little St James.
Surrey Police has also urged people with any information about claims of human trafficking and sexual assault relating to the Epstein files to come forward.
The force said the allegations, set out in a redacted report released by the US Department of Justice in December, allegedly took place in Virginia Water between 1994 and 1996.
Essex Police, Thames Valley Police, Bedfordshire Police, Norfolk Constabulary, Wiltshire Police, West Midlands Police and Police Scotland are also considering launching investigations.
Most of the forces are looking into Epstein’s use of various UK airports, which were referenced in flight logs in the files.
Surrey Police have urged people with information to come forward about claims of human trafficking and sexual assault linked to the Epstein files. Pictured: Jeffrey Epstein
A bombshell email from Ghislaine Maxwell confirmed that this infamous 2001 photo of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with his arm around his chief accuser Virginia Giuffre was genuine
The Met Police is examining claims that royal protection officers ‘turned a blind eye’ during visits to Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.
The unnamed former Met officer said: ‘The big question for me is what Andrew’s protection team witnessed on Epstein’s island.
‘I’m not suggesting they definitely witnessed any criminality from Andrew, but there was concern that certain members of the royal protection team wilfully turned a blind eye to what was happening on the island.’
The disgraced royal’s chief accuser Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide last year, claimed she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions, including on Little St James in the early 2000s, claims Andrew has always denied.
Multiple survivors have also alleged they were trafficked to and abused on the island which Epstein purchased in the US Virgin Islands in 1998.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: ‘At this time, we have not identified any wrongdoing by any protection officers.
‘However, initial enquiries into these specific allegations have begun so we can establish the facts.
‘As with any investigation, should any new allegations come to light these will be assessed in the usual way. This includes any misconduct or criminal matters.’
The Met Police has also launched a criminal investigation into Peter Mandelson following claims he passed market-sensitive information to Epstein.
Speaking on LBC, the former Met protection officer said there were ‘real concerns’ that the bodyguards became ‘too close’ to the Royal Family and ‘may have withheld information’ from the force about what happened on the island.
He said members of the Royal Protection Unit were ‘terrified’ to report behaviour as officers who had filed reports in the past were removed and ‘put back in uniform’.
‘I certainly thought that a line was crossed to the point that we were concerned that information was being withheld from the police.
‘They seemed more loyal to the Royal Family than to the Met – and that’s wrong,’ he explained.
‘We used to say they were ‘more royal than the Royals’. Some of them started to wear signet rings and talking and behaving more like members of the Royal Family than a police officer.’
The former Prince Andrew, who was stripped off his titles over his links to Esptein last year, has vehemently denied wrongdoing.
Surrey Police are seeking information from the public over an incident in Virginia Water which appeared in the Epstein files.
The report from July 2020 said someone alleged that they were drugged at night and ‘driven to paedophile ring parties’ in the mid 1990s.
Ghislaine Maxwell (left) and Jeffrey Epstein (right) on board a private jet. Some 90 flights came in and out of UK airports with suspected sex trafficking victims on board
The force reviewed its systems for any reports made at the time but found no evidence of allegations.
Surrey Police added in a statement: ‘We take all reports of child and sexual abuse seriously and therefore, as with any other matter, should new and relevant information be brought to our attention, including any information resulting from the release of materials in the US, we will assess it.
‘Where relevant, and via the national coordination group, we will engage with law enforcement agencies to obtain access to further information which may support our enquiries.
‘It is important that any information is reviewed objectively and without speculation. Updates therefore will be provided only when available – and will be shared on this page.’
Essex Police said it is assessing information from the bombshell trove which suggests the paedophile financier trafficked sex victims to the UK on private flights via Stansted airport.
Flight logs show the convicted paedophile’s so-called Lolita Express had landed or taken off from UK airports up to 90 times between the 1990s and 2018.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has claimed that the newly published files showed in ‘graphic detail’ how Epstein was able to use the Essex-based airport to ‘fly in girls from Latvia, Lithuania and Russia’.
This image released as part of the latest tranche of documents in the Epstein files appears to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouching on all fours over a female lying on the floor
In an article for the New Statesman, Mr Brown said Epstein ‘boasted’ about how cheap the airport charges were in Stansted compared to Paris.
Mr Brown said that Stansted Airport was where ‘women were transferred from one Epstein plane to another’, adding that ‘women arriving on private planes into Britain would not need British visas’.
He said it seemed as though authorities ‘never knew what was happening’, referring to evidence uncovered by the BBC which showed ‘incomplete flight logs, with unnamed passengers simply labelled as ‘female”.
He wrote: ‘In short, British authorities had little or no idea who was being trafficked through our country, and for whom other than Epstein.’
On Tuesday, an Essex Police spokesperson said: ‘We are assessing the information that has emerged in relation to private flights into and out of Stansted Airport following the publication of the US DoJ (Department of Justice) Epstein files.’
A Stansted Airport spokesperson said: ‘All private aircraft at London Stansted operate through independent Fixed Base Operators, which handle all aspects of private and corporate aviation in line with regulatory requirements.
‘All immigration and customs checks for passengers arriving on private aircraft are carried out directly by Border Force.
‘They use entirely independent terminals not operated by London Stansted and no private jet passengers enter the main airport terminal.
The bodyguards were said to have travelled with the then Prince Andrew to the island (pictured) on at least two occasions
‘The airport does not manage or have any visibility of passenger arrangements on privately operated aircraft.’
Thames Valley Police is already assessing claims that Epstein sent a young woman to the UK for a sexual encounter with Andrew at his Royal Lodge home in Windsor in 2010.
Detectives at the force are further said to be examining whether or not Andrew should be investigated for the offence of misconduct in public office over allegations he forwarded confidential reports while a trade envoy for the UK.
Wiltshire Police is reviewing its records and said it had supported the Met Police in its investigation.
A property linked to Lord Mandelson in Wiltshire was also searched by police earlier this month. He has denied any criminality.
Bedfordshire Police is assessing Epstein’s use of London Luton Airport.
West Midlands Police has also confirmed it is assessing information about the paedophile’s private flights to Birmingham Airport.
Police Scotland is appealing for information over Epstein’s use of Edinburgh Airport.
Norfolk Constabulary confirmed it is reviewing Epstein files but has not received any specific allegations.
Police chiefs have joined forces to deal with the series of allegations unearthed in the files, including their inquiries into Mandelson and Andrew, by setting up a ‘national co-ordination’ group.
Set up by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), the unit could be granted access to unredacted Epstein files and will allow detectives to work with experts in the areas being assessed.
It is understood to be chaired by Louisa Rolfe, who has served as a Met Police assistant commissioner.
A NPCC spokesperson told BBC News the group will help forces ‘understand any potential impact arising from the millions of documents that have been made’, adding ‘it may take some time due to the volume of material and the complexity of international jurisdictions’.
‘The sharing of documents related to overseas criminal investigations between law enforcement agencies in different countries is an extremely complex process, and not straight forward.’