Police assessing Stansted Airport private flights over Epstein ties

Essex Police has said it is assessing information about private flights into and out of Stansted Airport following the publication of the Epstein files.

The BBC understands that while the police is "assessing" the information, it would not necessarily lead to a full investigation.

Last year a BBC investigation found 87 flights linked to the convicted sex offender had arrived at or departed from UK airports between the early 1990s and 2018.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote in the New Statesman last week that police "urgently" need to re-examine whether Jeffrey Epstein's victims were trafficked within and outside of the UK.

An Essex Police spokesperson said: "We are assessing the information that has emerged in relation to private flights into and out of Stansted Airport following the publication of the US DoJ Epstein files."

In December, BBC News discovered that three British women who were allegedly trafficked appear in Epstein's records of flights in and out of the UK alongside other documents related to the convicted sex offender.

US lawyers representing hundreds of Epstein victims told the BBC it was "shocking" that there has never been a "full-scale" investigation into his activities in the UK.

Brown said the scale of trafficking would "become apparent" if an investigation had been conducted into the flights.

The former PM wrote to the chief police constables and commissioner of the Met, Essex and Thames Valley Police.

He added that Stansted, located around 40 miles away from central London, was one of the airports "where women were transferred from one Epstein plane to another".

Stansted Airport said in a statement: "All private aircraft at London Stansted operate through independent Fixed Base Operators, which handle all aspects of private and corporate aviation in line with regulatory requirements."

The airport said that these terminals are "entirely independent" and that "no private jet passengers enter the main airport terminal".

Immigration and customs checks for passengers arriving via private jets are carried out "directly by Border Force", it said, adding that it does not "manage or have any visibility of passenger arrangements on privately operated aircraft".

The Essex Police statement comes as a new national group has been set up to support UK forces that are "assessing allegations" following the publication of the Epstein files, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has said.

Thames Valley Police is assessing allegations, reported by the BBC, that a second woman was sent to the UK by Jeffrey Epstein for a sexual encounter with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

The force previously said it has held discussions with specialists from the Crown Prosecution Service about the allegations that Andrew shared confidential reports with Epstein during his time as the UK's trade envoy.

The former prince has always denied any wrongdoing.

Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Police launched a criminal investigation into Peter Mandelsonfollowing claims he passed market-sensitive information to Epstein.

Two properties linked to the former business secretary and British ambassador to the US were searched following the allegations.

The BBC understands Lord Mandelson's position is that he has not acted in any way criminally and that he was not motivated by financial gain.

Lord Mandelson has previously expressed regret for his continued association with Epstein and apologised "to the women and the girls who suffered".

He was dismissed from his role as ambassador in September, after Downing Street said new information had emerged about the depth of this relationship with Epstein.