Lambeth Council Abuse: Key Findings

Details of an internal investigation documenting allegations of sexual assaults and abuse carried out by officers within Lambeth council in the 1990s have been revealed. They include:

:: There were two sites on Lambeth council property used to carry out sexual assaults. They were used for this purpose "on many occasions over the years".

:: Two private removal firms were "frequently" on site, and were believed to have removed evidence of equipment used during sexual assaults, and washed the area down. One firm had keys to all internal lockers, including a cabinet where evidence in a criminal case was kept and later went missing.

:: Items handed to police following the rape of a female member of staff by a colleague on council premises included a semen-stained blanket, soiled tissues, cassettes and a penknife.

:: Bulic Forsythe, a manager in the housing department, told colleagues he was going to "spill the beans" after a visit to one of these sites.

He clashed with an individual who held a senior position and is named in the report as the head of the ring involved in abuse, and then moved from the housing department to social services.

Whilst in social services Bulic told another colleague he believed the individual in housing could still 'get to him'. After his death in 1993, colleagues reported that a report he had compiled went missing from his office.

:: Three male employees, including one in a senior position, were suspended from their jobs in the housing department as a result of the internal investigation.

Despite the findings of rape and sexual assault, and possessing indecent images of children, they were suspended on grounds of a 'breach of the council's equal opportunities policy'.

:: The report recommends a criminal investigation into the allegations of rape, child rape and images of abuse. The Metropolitan Police has confirmed no investigation was ever undertaken at the time.