Child Rapist Allowed To Deliver Mail To Schools Following Criminal Records Blunder


A man convicted of raping a five-year-old girl was allowed to deliver mail to schools for over a year due to a criminal records blunder in Manchester, UK.

The 35-year-old man, who had been jailed for 12 years for assaulting the young girl, was given a job back in December 2013, delivering mail to businesses and schools for a company called Whistl.

Andrew Horrocks was fired from his position this week after the company found out he had a prior conviction, which he had neglected to tell them.

Defending its position, Whistl said that while it had carried out a Criminal Records Bureau check on Horrocks, which revealed he had a conviction, that information wasn’t passed on and he “slipped through the net,” managing to work delivering mail for a year.

A member of staff who works for Whistl and who wished to remain nameless, said, “This has caused panic among the management at work. Horrocks has been going to schools and businesses as well as private homes – that is what we do. We deliver post to those kind of premises. I think it is shocking that this can happen.”

At the same time, a spokesperson for Whistl spoke to reporters when contacted, saying the following.

“Andrew Horrocks was employed as a delivery operative by the company in autumn 2013. He was subject to a CRB check and the ongoing associated Mail Integrity Code of Practice for the delivery of mail. He had declared an unspent conviction and due to an unacceptable administrative error, the conviction was not highlighted. As soon as we became aware of the conviction, we met with Mr Horrocks and agreed to terminate his employment. We are currently undergoing a thorough review of the existing paperwork for delivery personnel and recruitment processes to ensure that this is an isolated incident. We are distressed that this situation has arisen as we aim to work to the very highest standards.”

With that being said, it still needs to be explained how such a man was able to work in his position for so long without anyone knowing about his past.

[Lead image via MediaMZA.]

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