Greater Manchester Police uncovers further 4,500 unrecorded crimes

Greater Manchester Police has admitted to discovering a further 4,500 unrecorded crimes since it was placed into special measures over the errors.

The police watchdog scrutinised the force in December following a damning report that revealed its failure to record 80,000 crimes in a year.

It has since emerged the matter led to the region's mayor Andy Burnham asking the chief constable to step aside.

GMP said it "fully recognises there is further work to be done".

The force said the additional crimes, dating from 21 December, came to light through a daily audit.

A spokesman said they were being investigated and had been uncovered due to "officer understanding increasing through training and guidance".

Chris Green, Conservative MP for Bolton West, said: "The most important thing at the moment transparency.

"We don't know how many more will come out of the woodwork.

"This could be the tip of the iceberg for the problems in Greater Manchester Police."

Meanwhile, in a meeting on Tuesday night, Mr Burnham confirmed he had asked former Chief Constable Ian Hopkins to resign.

He said he "felt the time was right" to bring forward his retirement to enable the "timely recruitment of his successor", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Hopkins had been on sick leave due to an ear condition at the time but later stepped down permanently.

The episode led to Home Secretary Priti Patel accusing Mr Burnham of throwing the officer "under the bus to save his own skin".

A helpline was set up in December for victims of crime who felt police had not recorded or investigated reports properly and resulted in 155 referrals.

More than half of these had been dealt with and the remainder were being progressed, the force spokesman said.

However, Beverley Hughes, deputy mayor for policing and crime, said the line was closed last month due to low activity and people should revert to "our usual line mechanisms for victims to make contact".

Conservative MP for Hazel Grove William Wragg said it was "disappointing" and called for it to be reopened given the scale of the problem.

"It is absolutely vital. They need to have a pro-active campaign that makes sure people are able to come forward."

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