Criminal records backlog blamed on officials

LONDON, Mar 2 (Reuters) Officials failed for more than 10 years to tell ministers about a growing backlog of overseas criminal files that led to thousands of convictions not being recorded, a report said today.

The error put Home Secretary John Reid at the centre of a fresh political storm after it was revealed that the ommissions included 27 Britons convicted of rape, some of children.

An internal report into the fiasco blamed a ''rigid management structure'' at the Home Office, saying that officials dealing with the records ''had a particularly narrow view of their personal responsibilities.'' Reid ordered the report after it was revealed that the Home Office had been sitting on 27,500 case files of British citizens convicted abroad.

The report said ministers only learned of the problem when Hampshire's police chief mentioned it to a commons select committee in January.

The ommissions included 27 Britons convicted of rape, some of children, none of whose convictions were recorded on the Police National Computer.

A senior civil servant was suspended in January over the errors.

Reed's predecessor Charles Clarke was sacked over a failure to deport foreign prisoners.

REUTERS SP BD1844