Nearly 90 Epstein-linked flights used UK airports: BBC

ISTANBUL

Nearly 90 flights linked to Jeffrey Epstein arrived at and departed from UK airports, with some carrying British women who say they were abused by the late billionaire.

The probe, as reported by the BBC on Tuesday, found that three British women who were allegedly trafficked appear in Epstein’s flight logs involving the UK, as well as in other documents connected to the convicted sex offender.

US lawyers representing hundreds of Epstein victims told the BBC that it was "shocking" that British authorities had never conducted a "full-scale UK investigation" into his operations in the UK.

Nearly 90 Epstein-linked flights used UK airports, BBC finds.

The UK was one of the “centerpieces” of Epstein’s operations, one lawyer said.

Testimony from a British victim helped secure the 2021 US conviction of Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell on child sex-trafficking charges, but the woman has never been contacted by UK police, her lawyer Brad Edwards told the BBC.

Kate was identified in court and appeared in records showing more than 10 Epstein-funded flights to and from the UK between 1999 and 2006.

The BBC said it is withholding further details to avoid identifying the women.

US lawyer Sigrid McCawley said British authorities have “not taken a closer look at those flights … and conducted a full investigation.”

Ahead of a Friday deadline under the Jeffrey Epstein Transparency Act to release all US government files, previously disclosed court and estate records have already revealed new details about Epstein’s activities in the UK, including 87 flights linked to him between the early 1990s and 2018, some involving unidentified “females” and others occurring after his 2008 sex-offense conviction, raising questions over immigration oversight.

Although Epstein died in 2019, legal experts told the BBC that a UK probe could still determine whether people based in Britain enabled his crimes, but the Metropolitan Police said it has “not received any additional evidence that would support reopening the investigation,” adding it would “assess” any new information that emerges from the US.

US lawyer Brad Edwards said “three or four” of his Epstein clients are British women “who were abused on British soil,” adding that others were recruited in the UK and trafficked to the US, with records showing Epstein used private, commercial, and chartered flights—many via Luton, Heathrow, and other UK airports—often listing women only as unnamed “females.”

"He's absolutely choosing airports where he feels it will be easier for him to get in and out with victims that he's trafficking," said Ms. McCawley.

UK rules at the time did not require private aircraft to submit passenger details, a loophole closed only in April last year, the Home Office said, as court testimony showed that Kate was abused from the age of 17 after being introduced to Epstein in London and later flown on multiple trips to the US, where she said the abuse continued for years.

Her lawyer, Brad Edwards, told BBC News that despite her testimony, Kate has “never been asked” by UK authorities about her experience, "not even a phone call," adding that she would cooperate fully if British police were to open an investigation into Epstein and those who enabled him.