Prime Minister Calls for Review of Bail Decisions After Sex Offender Jailed for AI Child Abuse Images

The prime minister has said that the decision to bail a sex offender and repeatedly allow him to return to his home overlooking the playground he targeted must be reviewed.

Zafer Dogan, 32, of Enfield, north London, was jailed on Thursday for two years and four months for taking thousands of pictures of children and using AI software to "nudify" them.

Andy Burnham called the case "disturbing", adding: "I would ask those working across the criminal justice system to look at it and to make any necessary changes as a result."

The Ministry of Justice said while the Crown Prosecution Service had the right to challenge them, final bail decisions were "made by the independent judiciary".

The ministry added: "The protection of victims, witnesses, and the public must always be considered when deciding whether or not an offender should be released on bail."

London's victims' commissioner Andrea Simon said victims and their families had been "grossly failed" by the court system that granted Dogan bail.

She said the case showed "the justice system did not centre victims" and called for a multi-agency review.

Speaking outside the court where Dogan was jailed, Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley criticised the "unfathomable decisions" of the justice system.

Burnham told BBC London's political editor Karl Mercer that Sir Mark "certainly has a point and it needs to be heard".

"It's a matter for the courts when these decisions are made," the prime minister said. "They need to hear the voice of the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

"This case is disturbing and I would ask those working across the criminal justice system to look at it and make any necessary changes as a result."

Burnham also told BBC London the plan to release some offenders before the end of their custodial sentences, to free up space in prisons, was "not an ideal situation".

"The failure to build prison spaces over a number of years has led to this unacceptable situation," he said.

Dogan had pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of a child, which included 900 category C images, 294 category B images and 653 category A images, which are the most serious.

He also admitted possessing extreme pornography, possessing a prohibited image of a child, creating purported intimate images of an adult, obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty and a further two counts of making indecent photographs of a child.

According to the police, he had taken more than 5,000 pictures, many from his bedroom window.

Despite protests from the police and prosecutors, he had previously been bailed back to his flat, forcing one family who had fallen victim to his crimes to move into temporary accommodation.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today, Simon said: "I think victims and their families were grossly failed by the decision to allow this paedophile to return to an address where he was overlooking a playground near to his victims.

"The case [shows that] the justice system just does not centre victims. To know that the police and prosecutors opposed bail multiple times, but nevertheless, he was returned to the community, is an indication that the capacity pressures on prisons are not being balanced with the impacts that that's having on victims' lives.

"We seem to be lurching from one crisis to another, and victim safety and their rights seem to be put to one side, as the justice system struggles."

Simon said there were parallels to be drawn with the case of serial sex offender and murderer Simon Levy.

Levy killed two women and raped a third in 2025 while on bail for other offences, after a series of decisions by authorities that left him free to roam the streets.

Levy had been reported to the Metropolitan Police for a sexual assault in 2017. He then assaulted two women in 2018, but was only convicted for those offences in 2021.

After being released from prison - where he sexually assaulted a female officer - he committed other assaults before the 2025 murders.

He was sentenced to life in prison in August.

Sir Mark previously described that case as a "whole system failing", criticising the decision of the courts and Crown Prosecution Service to bail Levy, while also apologising for the Met's own failings in the case.

Levy is a registered sex offender and was being monitored by police at the time of the attacks.

The force failed to treat the first murder as such until after the second murder and released Levy on bail leaving him free to kill.

It also failed to fully pursue a rape investigation and closed the case, meaning Levy went on to kill Sheryl Wilkins in the same place where he had attacked the surviving rape victim.

Two Met police officers are currently under investigation by the police watchdog for downgrading Levy's risk to women - a decision that was not reversed even after police knew he was attacking women again.

London's victims' commissioner Simon also raised concerns over the government's early release scheme which is set to see about 2,550 eligible offenders leaving jails in England and Wales by the end of the year.

"I hear from victims about what they think they want to do ahead of offenders' early releases from prison," she said.

"They feel they may have to install security cameras or change their daily routines, or live in fear."

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