Three former detectives have said the Church of England did refer reports of John Smyth's abuse to the police.

The police officers who are now retired, told The Church Times that on the basis of information contained in an independent review into abuse carried out by the late barrister, the Archbishop of Canterbury Most Rev Justin Welby had been justified in thinking proper processes had been followed.

Archbishop Welby was forced to stand down earlier this month after the report by Keith Makin found failures in the way the Church of England handled disclosures by survivors who reported being abused by Smyth.

Smyth has been described as the Church of England's most prolific serial abuser. He was accused of abusing boys he met at Christian camps in Dorset during the 1970s and 1980s. Despite the abuse having been identified decades ago, the report concluded he was never fully exposed and was therefore able to continue his abuse.

He moved to Zimbabwe and then South Africa and the report says "From July 2013 the Church of England knew, at the highest level, about the abuse that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. John Smyth should have been properly and effectively reported to the police in the UK and to relevant authorities in South Africa.

"This represented a further missed opportunity to bring him to justice."

Smyth's abuse was first reported to a church safeguarding officer in the Diocese of Ely. The report says that Archbishop Welby was told that a referral had been made to the police, but that this was not correct.

However, the retired officers say the Bishop of Ely's safeguarding adviser Yvonne Quirk had held an in-person meeting with senior officers in 2013.   

The Makin report says that the police detective who received information from Ms Quirk understood the conversation to be about giving advice. However there is some confusion over whether this was a 'formal' or 'informal' referral.

The report says that the police officer in attendance “did not consider this to be a formal referral to the Police", but the retired detectives said that to them this did constitute a formal referral.

Archbishop Welby said he first knew of Smyth's abuse in 2013 and believed the police had been notified, adding: "I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow".

Speaking to The Church Times one of the officers said: “Nobody can say this isn’t a hideous, horrific case, but to say that, in 2013, no one did anything, and that it wasn’t a police referral, leading to where we are now with the Archbishop resigning, it’s just wrong.”

A spokesperson for Keith Makin said: “Any detail on police involvement beyond what is contained in the report is a question for the police.”