London victims’ commissioner seeks review of sex offender’s bail

London’s Victims’ Commissioner Andrea Simon has called for a government-commissioned review after a sex offender was repeatedly allowed to return to a flat overlooking a children’s playground while awaiting sentence. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on 25 September 2026, she said victims and their families had been “grossly failed”. [1]

Simon wants the review to examine how police, prosecutors and courts shared information and responded to risk. Her comments are an assessment of the case, not the findings of a completed inquiry. [7]

Zafer Dogan, 32, from Enfield in north London, was jailed for two years and four months at Wood Green Crown Court on 24 September after admitting offences including making indecent images of children. The Metropolitan Police said his offending included using AI to create sexually explicit images of children. [2]

Police said prosecutors had opposed bail three times, supported by a detailed risk assessment from officers. Dogan pleaded guilty on 6 August but was granted conditional bail while awaiting sentencing. The disputed decisions concerned pre-sentence bail, not early release from his subsequent 28-month prison term. [1] [2]

At the sentencing hearing, a mother told the court that her family had left their home and was living in temporary accommodation, according to Sky News. “I feel like we’re on the run, yet we’re not the sexual offenders,” she said. [6]

Dogan’s defence lawyer, Joseph Carr, said the images made using AI had not been shared. The available reporting does not independently verify that claim. [6]

Questions over the bail decisions

Simon linked Dogan’s return to the community to pressure on prison places. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley had made a similar criticism in a police statement on 24 September, saying pressure to reduce remand numbers had contributed to dangerous offenders receiving bail despite police and prosecution objections. [1] [2]

A Ministry of Justice circular says bail reforms that took effect on 22 March were intended to reduce the prison remand population. They extended a “no real prospect of immediate custody” test to convicted defendants awaiting sentence. The ministry linked the changes to a presumption that prison sentences of 12 months or less should be suspended. [3]

That policy context does not establish why Dogan was granted bail. Bail decisions are made by independent judges or magistrates, and the available accounts do not include the original rulings or full judicial reasons. They therefore do not establish that prison capacity determined the decisions in his case. [1] [2]