THE police watchdog has slammed officers in the South Yorkshire Police unit that deals with rape and serious sexual assault for showing an “unacceptable” disregard for victims.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary said that an “investigate to record” process was particularly evident in the unit, which also deals with “honour-”based violence and domestic abuse, adding there was “a great deal of time spent trying to disprove the word of the victim from the outset.”

The report went on: “This culture of dealing with reports of crime shows a disregard for victims and is unacceptable, it hides the true extent of the picture of crime from the force and is particularly concerning when the offences investigated by this unit are often of the most serious nature and victims are often the most vulnerable.”

The damning assessment comes days after the Rotherham child abuse report was published and will be a further source of embarrassment for a force already tainted by allegations of a cover-up and smear campaign after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.