Gross misconduct notices served to officers and staff involved in responding to Leicestershire summer camp poisoning case

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is to investigate several officers and staff at Leicestershire Police and Nottinghamshire Police over their response to safeguarding concerns at a summer camp where children were given sweets laced with tranquilliser.

Eight children and one adult fell ill at the camp in Stathern Lodge, Leicestershire, in July last year.

Our investigation into Leicestershire Police's response has now progressed and expanded to include the conduct of staff from Nottinghamshire Police.

Information was received by Nottinghamshire Police just before 7pm on 27 July raising concerns for the safety of youngsters attending the camp. The detail was logged and passed onto Leicestershire Police.

Shortly after 4pm the following day, Leicestershire Police attended the summer camp and arrested 76-year-old Jon Ruben who later admitted charges including child cruelty offences. Last Friday he was given a prison sentence of 23 years and 10 months. Our enquiries are focused on what happened in the hours between the initial notification and police attendance at the camp.

We have now notified two Leicestershire Police officers and three staff members that they are under gross misconduct investigation for allegedly failing to review the information passed via Nottinghamshire Police, not progressing safeguarding concerns promptly and if this may have delayed officers going to Stathern Lodge.

Two police staff members at Nottinghamshire Police have also been served with gross misconduct notices over the grading of the initial call made to the force, how information from the call was risk assessed and managed, and if this caused any delay to the police response. All notices will be kept under review as our investigation progresses.

It follows a conduct referral from Leicestershire Police on 29 July and our decision to independently investigate.

Based on the information provided at the time from Nottinghamshire Police, we did not consider that a referral from the force was necessary. However, following an internal review which Nottinghamshire Police shared with us, we advised the force that an IOPC referral should be made. This was done in November and our investigation into Nottinghamshire Police began the following month.

IOPC Director Emily Barry said: "We know that this incident has caused shock and distress, particularly to the children and families directly affected.

"Our initial enquiries have expanded significantly and we are now looking at the way both Nottinghamshire Police and Leicestershire Police responded to the very serious concerns raised about the children who were staying at Stathern Lodge last summer.

"We have gathered relevant documentation regarding policies and procedures for both police forces, as well as identifying witnesses and obtaining statements. We are keeping all interested parties updated."

• Leicestershire Police
• Nottinghamshire Police
• Welfare and vulnerable people