A whistleblower from Chester alleges police could have prevented years of child abuse at the hands of paedophile John Allen if they had acted on his tip-off.

Des Frost, former deputy manager of Bryn Alyn Hall children’s homes in North Wales, spoke to The Chronicle as his ex-boss was this week jailed for life at Mold Crown Court for carrying out more than two decades of sex attacks on vulnerable children, some as young as seven.

John Allen, a former children's care home boss, leaving Mold Crown Court

Care home owner Allen, 73, of Needham Market, Suffolk, was previously sentenced to six years in 1995 after being convicted of a series of indecent assaults on dozens of young residents.

More victims came forward following the publication of the Waterhouse report into abuse in North Wales care homes in 2001 and Operation Pallial which investigated allegations of historical sexual abuse.

But Mr Frost believes Allen could have been stopped much earlier had police acted on his tip-off around 1980. This was after six boys complained to a member of staff about being sexually abused by Allen and he approached Chester police rather than the local Wrexham police in the hope it may be taken more seriously as the youngsters were always “getting into trouble”.

John Allen (centre) with children

Mr Frost, 75, who has lived in Chester since 1960, recalled: “I spoke to two CID officers who came out to see me at home. I told them who I was and where I worked and about the allegations and asked if they would pass the information on to Wrexham police. I didn’t think they were that interested because it wasn’t on their patch but I assumed they would pass on the information. It was pretty serious even in those days.”

He added: “I didn’t hear anything but presumed they were doing undercover work and at some stage somebody would come and speak to me but nobody ever did. Thirty years ago there was an implicit trust in the police and, naively, even though they never came back to me, I assumed they had done something.

“Most of the offences took place between 1975 and 1985, there were some more later on into the 90s, so certainly he could have been stopped from perpetrating a number of these offences.”

In hindsight, Mr Frost, a married father of four, wishes he had done more to raise the alarm, but commented: “I didn’t have the benefit of hindsight.”

Cheshire police said they could not find Mr Frost’s report as it pre-dated computer records, adding normal procedure would have meant they could presume the enquiry would have been passed to North Wales Police.

Spokesman Dan Millington said: “The Cheshire Constabulary has undertaken a thorough search of its retained and archived records, but can find no record of a report having been received by Chester CID in 1979 relating to abuse at a North Wales children’s home.

The Bryn Alyn care home

“The report would predate computer held archives. The Constabulary has policies which govern what information is retained on file and for how long. Generally speaking it is rare for police held material to be retained beyond seven or 10 years, unless it relates to a serious unsolved crime.

“If a report had been received by Chester CID in 1979, the process would have been for an officer to take an initial statement from the person making contact, and then provide this information to the force where the offences are alleged to have occurred to progress investigations.

“However, without the relevant documentation it is not possible for the Constabulary to confirm if the report was received, and what action followed on from that.”

Mr Frost is awaiting the outcome of an investigation by Mrs Justice Macur who is reviewing the Waterhouse inquiry with the expectation this will include a probe into why an ITV Wales programme was threatened with legal action by that inquiry if it broadcast Mr Frost’s allegations in an interview recorded in 1997.

Journalists took the instruction as an indication Mr Frost would be called as a witness to the tribunal. He was never called.