London, United Kingdom. British police are assessing whether Jeffrey Epstein trafficked women through a London-area airport on private flights, as part of a nationally coordinated effort to examine the late sex offender’s ties to Britain.
Essex Police assessment of Stansted flights
Essex Police said on Wednesday they were looking at information that had emerged about private flights into and out of Stansted Airport, to the northeast of London, following the publication by the U.S. government of millions of documents on Epstein at the end of January.
The force said the assessment does not constitute a full investigation.
National coordination group and NPCC statement
The assessment follows the creation of a national coordination group to support individual forces examining Epstein’s ties to Britain or British people.
“We continue to work collaboratively to assess the details being made public to allow us to understand any potential impact arising from the millions of documents that have been published,” the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said in a statement.
Investigations involving Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
Two police forces are looking into former British ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles, over allegations of misconduct in public office.
The Epstein files suggested both had forwarded confidential government documents to the late U.S. financier.
Both men have denied wrongdoing and said they regret their friendships with Epstein, and they have not responded to specific requests for comment after the latest files were published.
Flight logs and file references to Stansted and visas
The BBC reported last year that incomplete flight logs and manifests recorded 87 flights linked to Epstein arriving or departing from British airports between the early 1990s and 2018, with unidentified “females” listed among the passengers.
Documents in the Epstein files show multiple references to Stansted, including one that discussed whether a Russian woman with a U.S. visa could switch planes at the airport.
The files also include tens of references to UK visas.
Stansted Airport response and Border Force role
Stansted Airport said in a statement that private flights were not managed by the terminal it operates and that Border Force was responsible for immigration and customs checks.
What questions do you have about the scope of the UK police assessments tied to the newly published Epstein documents?