- guardian.co.uk, Sunday October 5 2003 17.44 BST
Three child abuse suspects arrested in dawn raids in England, including a 75-year-old woman, will appear in court tomorrow on the Western Isles along with four others detained on Lewis.
Four more suspects arrested at addresses on the island during a series of simultaneous raids by a 40-strong squad early on Friday have been set free. No further action is expected against them.
Raids in West Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Dorset were carried out by a hit squad from Northern Constabulary with the co-operation of local forces in connection with alleged child abuse incidents on Lewis.
More details have emerged of the operation, in which the mainland-based police officers swooped on addresses around Lewis just after 6am on Friday. They liaised with social workers from Western Isles Council who are understood to have several children in care as a result of the operation.
The raids are known to have taken place at Ness and Lochs on Lewis. At Ness, a neighbour close to one of the stormed houses told how the police squad searched the property for four hours. She said: 'They took many bags of stuff out of the house and they were there until 10.30am searching and filling up the vans. They were on their hands and knees out the back and looking in the coal bunker and everything.'
Other people in Lochs spoke of an early raid at another house in that area, which they said was also meticulously searched by the police squad and items were taken away.
The three people arrested in England were a 75-year-old woman as well as two men aged 48 and 36. They have been taken to Inverness, where they are being held.
They will be flown to Stornoway tomorrow and the hearing at Stornoway Sheriff Court is expected to begin at 2pm. Of the eight people detained by the squad on Lewis, four were still in custody yesterday. They are four men, aged 58, 57, 45 and 38.
Northern Constabulary has confirmed that the reason that all the suspects were being brought to Stornoway was because all the alleged offences were committed on the Isle of Lewis. A police spokeswoman added: 'This inquiry is continuing and there may be more people detained as it progresses.'
She declined to comment on speculation about the number of children who are still said to be in the care of the islands' social services.
