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The Crown Prosecution Service has been fined £200,000 by data watchdogs after sensitive video interviews given to police by victims of sex abuse and violence were stolen from a private film studio in Manchester .

The filmed statements involved were given to police by 43 victims and witnesses concerned in 31 separate criminal investigations.

They included testimonies of alleged victims of disgraced radio DJ Jimmy Savile’s ex-chauffeur and flatmate Ray Teret , who was subsequently jailed for 25 years in December last year for rapes and indecent assaults on young girls.

The videos, saved on laptops, were being edited by Manchester-based Swan Films for the CPS to use as evidence in court.

All the cases involved allegations of violence or sexual abuse.

The film company used a flat on Wilmslow Road, Rusholme , as a studio. Two laptops were stolen in a burglary there in September last year.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) launched an urgent investigation into the CPS’ contract with the company.

The probe found the videos were not being kept in a secure environment. They were left on a desk and were password-protected, but not encrypted. The ICO said the studio had no alarm and ‘insufficient security’.

The ICO’s head of enforcement, Stephen Eckersley, said the probe ruled the CPS was ‘negligent’ and failed to take into account the ‘substantial distress’ that would be caused if the videos were lost.

The laptops were recovered by police eight days later. It’s understood that they hadn’t been accessed.

Mr Eckersley said: “Handling videos of police interviews containing highly sensitive personal data is central to what the CPS does.

"The CPS was aware of the graphic and distressing nature of the personal data contained in the videos, but was complacent in protecting that information.

“The consequences of failing to keep that data safe should have been obvious to them.”

The ICO said the alleged victims were vulnerable and had already endured ‘distressing interviews’. They talked openly in their statements, and named names.

Mr Eckersley added: “If this information had been misused or disclosed to others, the consequences could have resulted in reprisals.”

It was discovered during the probe that the CPS had been using the same film company since 2002.

Arrangements surrounding collection and delivery of un-encrypted DVDs were found by the ICO to constitute an ongoing contravention of the Data Protection Act.

The CPS said its contract with Swan Films was terminated immediately.

Security arrangements have now been assessed and tightened.

A spokesman said: “It is a matter of real regret that sensitive information was not held more securely by our external contractor, and that we, as an organisation, failed to ensure that it was.

"We are grateful that the material was recovered without being accessed by those who stole the computer equipment but accept that this was fortuitous.

"It is vital that victims of crime feel confident that breaches like this will not happen and, following a full review after this incident, we have strengthened the arrangements for the safe and secure handling of sensitive material.”