Specialist team to review Kirkerup case investigation

A specialist team of experienced investigators will review police work in the Kirkerup case after a report raised questions about the investigation into the 2023 kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl, DR reported.

The Danish Ministry of Justice said the review will be a peer review carried out by the National Police. Investigators from other police districts and the National Special Crime Unit will examine the case.

Justice Minister Nicolai Wammen told Berlingske that the report found police could not adequately account for some of the issues raised, and that parts of the investigation could have been handled differently, more quickly and better.

The National Police report, sent to the Danish Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee on Friday evening, said police took the criticism very seriously.

In April 2023, Philip Patrick Westh kidnapped the girl after she had delivered newspapers in Kirkerup near Slagelse. He deliberately hit her with his car, abducted her and subjected her to severe and humiliating abuse for 27 hours.

In June 2024, a court in Næstved sentenced Westh to life in prison for unlawful detention, rape and attempted murder of the girl, the murder of 17-year-old Emilie Meng, who disappeared in 2016, and an assault on a 15-year-old boarding-school student.

South Zealand and Lolland-Falster Police confirmed to Berlingske that Westh was identified as a possible suspect at about 9.30 a.m. Video surveillance showed his car passing a property 656 metres from the crime scene three times while the girl was in the area.

More than five hours passed before Westh was arrested at 2.48 p.m. The girl was found alive at the same time. The timeline is among the aspects that have prompted questions about how police handled the investigation.