Overview
- Essex Police’s Serious Crime Directorate carried out coordinated searches Wednesday across Danbury, Maldon and Braintree as part of an investigation into suspected human trafficking and rape.
- Officers arrested two men, aged 57 and 32, on suspicion of rape, human trafficking for sexual exploitation and administering a noxious substance, and they remain in custody.
- Forensic teams searched a Danbury mansion linked to club owner Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and attended Maldon & Tiptree FC’s stadium, which had been set up as a polling station before voting moved to Blackwater Leisure Centre.
- Detective Inspector Lydia George urged anyone with information to use the Major Incident Public Portal, which offers a secure way to share details and access specialist support.
- ITV removed Up The Jammers from its upcoming schedule after the police raids, shelving a six-part show that followed Drewitt-Barlow’s first year running Maldon & Tiptree FC.