Meeting hears arrested boy was based at MoD site

A boy arrested on suspicion of sexual assault was living at a military camp accommodating Afghans who helped the UK government in the fight against the Taliban, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed at a public meeting.

The 16-year-old was detained following an allegation of an attack on a girl in her early teens at a skate park near Stone in Staffordshire on Sunday.

During a meeting held to address residents' concerns, an MoD representative from nearby Swynnerton Training Area said the suspect had been living at the site.

They said the MoD was working with Staffordshire Police as part of the investigation, with the force confirming the boy had since been bailed and was no longer in the area.

The MoD official told Wednesday’s meeting: “The individual who was arrested on Sunday was an under-18, so a minor who was currently at that time living at Swynnerton, one of our Afghan communities.”

They said there were about 23 families from Afghanistan living at the training camp, usually used by army reserves or cadet forces.

The meeting, held in the Labour in Vain pub car park, was told the families were not illegal immigrants or asylum seekers. They were accommodated at the camp as part of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme, the MoD official said.

The scheme houses individuals and their families who risked their lives working for the UK government in the fight against the Taliban.

“They should only be here a number of weeks, some have been here longer,” the representative said.

A spokesperson for Staffordshire Police previously confirmed that the boy had been bailed outside of the county “with strict conditions”.

Insp Kelly Wareing told the meeting: “We cannot keep a child in custody while our investigation goes on. So he has been released on police bail but he has been bailed out of the area.

“He’s not in Staffordshire, he cannot come back to Staffordshire, his family are out of the area. Hopefully that will provide a little bit of reassurance for you.”

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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