Sex offender sentering UK ‘should reveal criminal past’

A police investigation into how a convicted Irish rapist was able to travel to Scotland and rape and murder a woman there has led to calls for foreigners entering Britain to be forced to reveal convictions for sexual offences.

In its review of Patrick Rea’s case the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) outlined how difficult it was for authorities to deal with foreigners who were offenders in their own country. It wants foreign nationals with convictions for sexual and other specified crimes, as well as British nationals convicted of such crimes while abroad, to be forced to reveal their convictions upon entering or returning to Britain.

Patrick Rea was sentenced in Dublin in 1997 to a total of 29 years imprisonment on charges of rape, sexual assault, assault, and false imprisonment.