THE police and county council today apologised for inadequacies that allowed a Dursley man to rape three women in a Gloucestershire care home.

Colin Stokes, of Dursley, was jailed for 14 years for raping three women for whom he was employed to provide care and support.

An adult case review released today by the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Adults Board revealed shortcomings in the response of the county’s police and council.

The 81-page report also looked into the investigation of the care home’s manager – the wife of Stokes – who was imprisoned for eight months for offences of fraud by abuse of position of trust against three adults.

The independent chair of GSAB Paul Yeatman used a press conference held in Gloucester today to express the board’s regret that Stokes’ crimes could have been prevented.

He said: “The board deeply regrets what happened to these victims. Thanks to their bravery and determination these abusers were given considerable prison sentences.

“The review has shown that the crimes committed could have been prevented if previous allegations had been further investigated and information shared between partners.

“What’s also clear is that when the latest allegations were made in 2013, a thorough and extensive investigation took place by both the police and the county council.

“Whilst nothing can put right the wrong suffered by these vulnerable adults, I am thankful they are doing well, living together as part of their local community.”

Stokes, 49, attacked the women - aged 32, 50 and 54 - between January 2012 and April 2013 in supported living accommodation in Gloucestershire.

One victim has a mental age of a child, another is registered blind and the third needs help to communicate. 

He was sentenced in Gloucester Crown Court on March 20, 2014, where he received 14 years in prison with a further six years on licence. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.

In 2007 an earlier allegation of a sexual nature was made against Stokes while at the same care home. This was investigated by the police and handed to the Crown Prosecution Service who decided that there was insufficient evidence to authorise a charge.

The multi-agency safeguarding policy of that time does not appear to have been followed. There is no record of a safeguarding alert being made.

A further allegation of the same nature came to light in the review that was made against Stokes in 1997 while he was working at a different care home. This, like the 2007 allegation, was thrown out by the Crown Prosecution Service due to insufficient evidence.

However, today’s report identifies that information on the 1997 allegations, along with information on 7325 other crimes, was not transferred after police made the shift to a new crime recording computer system in 1998.

Therefore the allegation that was made against Stokes in 1997 was not taken into consideration when the allegation was made in 2007.

Gloucestershire Police, in the report, have said they are in the process of reviewing the 7326 records, which covers a range of different crimes. So far 1012 records have been reviewed in the most serious crime categories and 487 crimes have been transferred onto the current system.

Assistant Chief Constable Sally Crook said: “We accept that the failure to transfer information across police systems was completely unacceptable and we apologise to the victims and their families for this.

“While the small amount of information held on the old police crime recording system about the 1997 police investigation may not have changed the outcome of the 2007 investigation, we accept that there is simply no way of knowing what impact knowledge of the investigation could have had and we understand this is not satisfactory.

“We also understand that this will not be of any comfort to the victims and their families.

“The failing was not the fault of the investigating officers, who may not have known about the old system, or officers in the Public Protection Bureau, moreover an organisational failing affecting more than one crime type.”

The county council described its collective response to the allegations in 1997 and 2007 as inadequate.

A segment of the report focussing on the council reads: “We accept and deeply regret that the lack of proper follow-up to these two big allegations stood in the way of opportunities for offences in 2013 being prevented.”

Director for adult services Margaret Wilcox added: “It is reassuring that the review has shown the 2013 allegations were handled appropriately and we have improved how we help to keep vulnerable people safe.

“I have enormous admiration for those directly involved in this case and would like to apologise to the victims and their families that more was not done to protect them from their abusers.

The council produced a comprehensive action plan for the review to show what changes they are making.

The independent adult case review author David Mellor praised the most recent investigation by the partners which gave rise to Stokes’ conviction.

His report concluded that the incidents were both predictable and preventable and criticised the police and care home provider, among others.

Safeguarding teams have been made aware of the possibility of further victims.

He did, however, give some reassurance to the agencies involved, saying that many of the issues that were apparent in the handling of the 1997 and 2007 allegations had been addressed.

The supported living accommodation at which Stokes was employed has since closed.