POLICE have apologised for not investigating a report of sexual assault involving paedophile businessman Giovanni Miccoli dating back to 2006.
Miccoli, 66, formerly of Agnes Road, Barnsley, was last month sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for eight sex offences against a 15-year-old boy.
The offences took place in 2015 in Barnsley, where Miccoli had previously been a hairdresser, known as Mr Giovanni, and a restaurant owner.
But a Barnsley woman, who reported him to police in 2006 regarding an alleged sexual assault on her nephew, believes he could have been stopped from harming others 12 years ago if her concerns had been acted on. The matter has now been referred to the force’s Professional Standards Department to see if any misconduct took place.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said police told her no action could be taken against Miccoli because her nephew was 16 - the age of sexual consent - despite him being a ‘vulnerable adult’.
She said: “I took my nephew to the police station and we reported him. My nephew was interviewed and they said the age of consent was 16. He was 16 but he was a vulnerable adult. The police said there was nothing they could do about it even though he had sexually assaulted him in his bungalow at Hoylandswaine and my nephew had to escape through a window.
“I was fuming and phoned children’s services, but they did nothing because the police said there was nothing to answer to.
“He (Miccoli) groomed him for 12 months and took him to the hairdressers and gave him a job sweeping up and things like that.
“Other kids have come forward. He could have been stopped in 2006. I’m really annoyed at the police.
“I specifically asked for what happened to my nephew to be recorded and kept on file in case it happened to someone else, but it wasn’t.”
In 2014, the woman again reported Miccoli to the police and was finally given an incident number. She was also due to be a witness at Miccoli’s trial, but he later pleaded guilty so she did not have to give evidence.
Barnsley Chief Superintendent Scott Green said: “A report was made by an officer in Barnsley following allegations of sexual assault against a 17-year-old boy in 2006.
"The report should have been passed on to officers in Barnsley's Public Protection Unit (PPU), which has since been superseded by a specialist public protection team, for evaluation and investigation. There is no record it was received by PPU, and while the report was shared with Barnsley Social Services, there are no details of any police investigation recorded.
“It is clear that the report made in 2006 was not investigated further and I would like to apologise that this did not happen and I can confirm that this has been referred to our Professional Standards Department, in order to determine if any misconduct took place and whether learning can be gained in order to prevent this happening again.
“Protecting vulnerable people is an absolute priority for South Yorkshire Police and our procedures for recording and investigating reports have been thoroughly revised since 2006. All incident reports concerning a vulnerable person or where safeguarding issues need to be considered, are now recorded on a digital system, which allows for assessment and where appropriate allocation to a specialist officer for investigation.”
The Chronicle has also learned that Miccoli was facing 40 charges relating to a teenager in 2012, but the case against him was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service when the victim died.
He was finally sentenced last month, three years after fleeing to Italy.
Police said the offences for which he was convicted took place in Barnsley between January and July 2015.
Miccoli was arrested in August 2015, but fled to Lecce while on bail.
South Yorkshire Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and National Crime Agency worked together to bring Miccoli back to the UK for trial.
He was returned on a European arrest warrant in February 2018 when he was remanded in custody until trial.
He later pleaded guilty to eight offences, which included three counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of sexual activity in the presence of a child and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
