Child sex abuse evidence lost by 'equipment breakdowns'

This is said to have led to cases breaking down before they reach court because the quality of the written evidence is so poor.

And it is also causing problems with child victims being interrupted during harrowing disclosures about abuse while a police officer or social worker ‘catches up’, interrupting the flow of the interview.

It is understood there was no recording equipment available for up to three months at a busy Glasgow police station towards the end of last year and all interviews had to be written verbatim.

Six years ago the Scottish Government made around £400,000 available for equipment for use by police and social workers in abuse investigations. The equipment is stored in police offices.

The government said it is currently examining the use of pre-recorded evidence for child witnesses including any “operational issues” with the equipment.

Police Scotland said it was in discussions at a local and national level about the replacement of visual recording equipment, "in the short term."

Prior to the recording equipment being introduced in 2012, police and social workers were tasked with taking written verbatim accounts from victims of abuse.

A source said: “It’s a joke that that up until 2012 this was happening.

“The whole interview was geared towards making the record.

“You would be talking to the child and have to stop while the person writing it down caught up. It’s an impossible task and they were losing information.

“Through the process of tendering the Scottish Government gave around £400,000 for the purchase of equipment for the whole of Scotland to eliminate the need to take a written record.

“The equipment is now old and it’s breaking down and staff are having to revert to pen and paper."

The source said that in a busy Glasgow social work office all the equipment broke down late last year and for a period of several weeks all of the interviews had to be hand written.

“Every single day children are being let down because we are not able to gather the evidence properly," he said.

“These are the most important interviews that social workers and police are involved in.

“To me there is no more important role for police and social work than protecting children from sexual and physical abuse.

“You’ve got hard pressed police and social workers dealing with faulty equipment and trying to do their best with children who are coming out with these horrendous disclosures.

“You have a child making a clear allegation about abuse and the quality of the written record being so bad that a Procurator Fiscal is saying I can’t use that.

“We are losing evidence.

“The information gained may be the evidence in chief in a prosecution so the written evidence is crucial.

“There is talk about new equipment but it’s not happening quick enough.”

Cases are also said to have broken down because the quality of the interview was poor with police or social workers asking too many ‘leading questions’ which may prompt the respondent to answer in a particular way.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “We have committed to working with partner organisations to examine the use of pre-recorded evidence for child witnesses, including in relation to joint investigative interviews currently carried out by the police and social work."

Detective Superintendent Elaine Galbraith, Child Protection lead, Police Scotland, said: “"We are in discussion with our child protection partners at local and national level about the replacement of visual recording equipment in the short term and the longer term use of pre-recorded evidence for child witnesses.

“There will be occasions where visual recording isn’t appropriate, for example, if the offence involves video recording or photography. In this instance interviews may be recorded in writing.

"If equipment develops a fault during interview, and while contingencies are in place, it may be that, in discussion with the child, the interview will continue in hand written format rather than reschedule."