Posts Tagged ‘Lord Janner’
Lord Janner: 3 missed chances, a self-serving CPS inquiry and allegations now fact
Westminster paedos: a look at reporting on the story of sex crimes in high places.
The Daily Mirror has been at the forefront of the allegations of murderous paedophiles protected by the Establishment. Today over pages 6 and 7 it looks at the late Lord Janner, a former Labour MP and peer who died an innocent man. The story, however, is that he dodged justice. He was accused of 2 counts of sex offences against boys between the 1960s and 80s. He never stood in the dock.
“Lord Janner Child Sex Abuse Probe ‘Shambles – they had 3 chances to charge him. It was just one big cover up.”
Lord Janner is now covered by earth, what with his having been buried, if not exactly laid to rest.
Failures by police and prosecutors allowed Lord Janner to escape child sex charges three times, a damning independent inquiry has revealed.
Janner is damned! How’s that for rough justice.
But a man who told detectives Janner abused him as a boy has denounced the report as another Establishment whitewash. Paul Miller, 52, one of 25 alleged Janner victims, said: “This report is another cover up. Nobody has been named yet again. The people who failed the victims should be named and held accountable.”
The story continues:
The independent inquiry’s report published yesterday said it was ‘wrong’ Janner…had not been charged with child abuse in 1991. It added that police and the Crown Prosecution Service also failed to act in 2002 and again in 2007 despite there being a ‘realistic prospect’ of convicting him.”
The independent inquiry was commissioned by the director of public prosecutions. It was carried out by retired High Court Juge Sir Richard Henriques. He says: “I have concluded that the decision not to charge Janner was wrong and that there was enough evidence against Janner on December 4 1991 to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.”
Page 10: “Voice of the Mirror.”
Voice of the Mirror: Victims of Lord Janner need the truth
Not alleged victims. “Victims”.
For decades the former Labour MP Lord Janner preyed on vulnerable children.
Justice denied is judgement delayed until the accused is dead. Guilty!
He is now dead but he leaves behind a legacy of wrecked lives, trauma and misery. The authorities have serious questions to answer as to why they failed to press charges against Janner. All the evidence points to a cover-up by an establishment either too fearful to prosecute one of their own or which, in the worst instance, deliberately concealed his wrongdoing.
Daily Mail Page 16: “How Janner dodged justice 3 times”
What about the law and all those barriers to justice?
The Sun Page 13: Jane Moore says, “Protect victim of serial liars.”
Last week, nearly a year after 20 officers raided Lord Bramall’s home, the Met police issued a churlish statement in which it said there was “insufficient evidence” to pursue the claim against him. “Zero evidence” might have been a better description.
He has expressed his frustration that the Met described his accuser’s claims as “credible and true” before he even knew he was under investigation… is it possible that the culture of Jimmy Savile and police failure to act has prompted the pendulum to swing too far the other way?
Lord Bramall questions whether detectives had carried out a “partial and objective” investigation and suggested they lacked judgment because they were “terrified” of being accused of covering something up. In other words, it has become a victim-centric culture where all accusers are believed even when the most cursory of initial checks might suggest something doesn’t quite add up.
The dead are always guilty. The living are always clean and keen to emphasis that “lessons have been learnt”.
As Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders says:
“The inquiry’s findings that mistakes were made confirms my view that failings in the past by prosecutors and police meant that proceedings were not brought. It is a matter of sincere regret that on three occasions, opportunities to put the allegations against Lord Janner before a jury were not taken. It is important that we understand the steps which led to these decisions not to prosecute, and ensure that no such mistakes can be made again.”
Daily Express Page 6: “Outrage at ‘three missed chances’ to charge Janner over sex abuse claims”
The Express points to failures by police and Crown lawyers. It says the police failed to listen to the alleged victims. The police never do listen. They talk and expect us to hear. Time to name them and the lawyers. Or are we waiting for them to die before they can be questioned?
Posted: 20th, January 2016 | In: Politicians, Reviews, Tabloids | Comment
Witch Hunt Update: Lord Janner Case Dead And Buried (Like Him)
Daily Mirror, 3rd December 1991
Lord Janner is in the clear.
That the peer and former Labour MP is dead is not part of his plea. Plans were to try his corpse in a court of law in what is laughably called a ‘Trial of The Facts’, a phrase that overlooks the key point that facts are hard to make factual if only one side of the argument is heard.
No official word as yet from anti-paedo MPs Tom Watson (“he’s evil”) and Simon Danczuk (“Phwoar- gerrumoff”).
Posted: 15th, January 2016 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment (1)
Lord Janner: trial goes ahead with a corpse in the dock
Lord Janner: a look at the now dead former Labour peer in the Press.
The Sun (page 2): “Janner’s trial will be held”
In Heaven? Hell? Limbo?
The accusations levelled at the now dead former Labour MP “are to be considered in court”. So. Not tried, then. Considered.
The ubiquitous Liz Dux, a lawyer who represents some of the people who allege Janner molested then, says her clients want a “judicial finding that absolutely establishes what happened.” Which it won’t do. Newsflash: the accused man is dead.
The Mirror (page 2): “Janner case ‘could go on'”
Only ‘could”. The Sun said it will. We hear from the Crown Prosecution Service, which says “It is right this matter is considered properly in court.”
Will all the retired police officers who allegedly knew of the allegations be there? Will they be on trial? Or are we only talking about the dead man?
Posted: 22nd, December 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner: the money, the Labour party and making the dead talk
Lord Janner is dead. Greville Janner, as he was named, had a career in politics and law sullied by allegations he molested children. Never tried in life Janner is, nonetheless, the subject of much judgement in death.
Daily Mirror (Page 4): “‘6 Janner ‘sex abuse victims’ to continue to fight for justice”
Readers are reminded that Janner was charged with 22 offences against nine alleged victim dating to the 1960s.
We hear nothing from his lawyers nor anyone defending the dead peer. We do get to know the views of his accusers’ lawyers. Liz Dux – a now ubiquitous media presence – says “there is an option to take this to a civil court”. She then adds, “This is not about money but the facts and the truth.” At which point you interject and remind her that the accused man is dead. The defence rests – permanently.
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Posted: 21st, December 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews, Tabloids | Comment (1)
Lord Greville Janner: fakes death, dodges justice, buried alive
Daily Mirror, 3rd December 1991
It’s tempting to read of the death of Lord Janner, the political Lord mired in allegations of child abuse, and demand an independent inquiry into whether he is dead or not. In the last months of his life, the state of Janner’s health became a subject of popular debate.
Well, he was ill. And now we can really bury him.
The news media is not full of the man’s life achievements. It wants to dwell on what do not know – was he guilty of 22 counts of historical sex offences against boys, as was alleged?
The Telegraph reports on the man’s demise with a most unusual headline:
Lord Greville Janner dies, aged 87: news ‘devastating’ for alleged victims of peer accused of child sex abuse
Surely it was more devastating for Lord Janner and his kin than for his accusers who had waited decades for justice, as we are told. The paper then adds:
Lord Janner died following a long illness, his family say
See. Even the old sod’s death isn’t a fact. One website comes up with the nutzoid headline:
Lord Janner’s death conveniently puts an end to public hearing of evidence of very serious sexual abuse
How convenient to die. The swine!
In a case of justice delayer – and justice denied – every news source quotes the words of a lawyer for hire:
Liz Dux, who represents six alleged victims, said: “This is devastating news for my clients. They have waited so long to see this case come before the courts, to be denied justice at the final hurdle is deeply frustrating.”
Dux has become a ubiquitous voice in the trawl for paedos. Hers is not the voice of justice – it’s the voice of her side or an argument published without question. That it is given so much prominence illustrates how claim has mutated into fact established not by negotiating barriers to guilt and justice but through ceremony .
We also hear from the equally ubiquitous Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who opines:
“Obviously it is very sad for Lord Janner’s family that he has passed away, though it is also extremely sad for his alleged victims.”
Very sad v extremely sad. There is more than hint of vanity amongst the paedo hunting clan.
And on it goes, the public display of righteousness. The Mirror calls Janner a “shamed peer”. If an unproven allegation causes you to live and die in shame, what of the Mirror, which hacked phones? Is it the shamed Mirror? The Mail calls him the “disgraced former Labour peer”.
What we do know is that Lord Janner will not be appearing in court. The Sun says:
A Crown Prosecution Service source last night said a trial of the facts due in April, with no finding of guilt or conviction, will now be abandoned.
Good. That was always utter balls, a sinister, self-serving show trial.
Posted: 20th, December 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner: Howard Riddle orders the peer to attend court
Daily Mirror, 3rd December 1991
Lord Greville Janner will be in court when allegations that he abused children are heard. Well, he will be if he complies with the Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle’s order issued at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Yesterday Janner did not appear in court. He laywers said he was “unfit”.
The former Labour peer, 87, has dementia. He denies all 22 claims that he abused children in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Said Riddle – and what a great name that is:
“I further understand, and this is very significant, it is likely to have no long-term effect on him. He must appear for a comparatively short period of time. He is free to go if he becomes distressed. This will probably be achieved in less than a minute. Nevertheless the law requires his presence.”
The Times hears the medical opinions:
Andrew Smith, QC, for Lord Janner, told the court that the peer was unfit to attend and called two consultant psychiatrists to testify to the severity of his condition.
James Warner said he had no doubt about Lord Janner’s dementia and that the peer’s condition was severe and progressively deteriorating.
He added: “Lord Janner would not be able to understand what is said to him or about him. If asked a question he would not be in a position to respond meaningfully to that question.”
Dr Warner said that Lord Janner was highly likely to become distressed if brought to the courtroom and could suffer what doctors term a catastrophic reaction. However, there would be no longterm effects from any distress caused by coming to the court.
Norman Poole said he had examined Lord Janner last month and the peer had become angry and irritable at their meeting because he did not understand what was happening.
What then? The BBC explains:
Whether Lord Janner is fit to plead – to take part in a full criminal trial – will be decided by a crown court judge. He will consider the medical evidence. If he is not deemed fit he will face what is known as a trial of the facts. There will be no examination of the mental elements of the crime, no finding of guilt and no conviction.
So the point of this is what?
It is a relatively rare procedure normally used not in cases where a defendant is said to suffer from dementia, but where they pose a danger and need to be hospitalised for the safety of themselves and others. The court cannot impose a hospitalisation or supervision order unless a jury has found the defendant performed the physical act of the crime.
Ia Janner a danger to the public at large?
However, Lord Janner can only be sent to face the fitness to plead process and trial of the facts in the crown court, if he attends the magistrates court, or his lawyers have instructions to consent on his behalf.
If they do not, the prosecution may have to make a little used application to a High Court judge for something called a voluntary bill of indictment. This has the effect of by-passing the magistrates court and delivering the defendant direct to the crown court.
Lots of ifs. And we’ve not even considerd the evidence.
Lord Janner: justice delayed is no justice at all for Victor Nealon and Sam Hallam
Victor Nealon
Lord Janner of Braunstone is to to be prosecuted over child sex abuse claims.
Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, was wrong. Leading lawyer David Perry QC reviewed the facts and found that Janner should be charged with historical child abuse offences.
The move means Saunders is the first DPP to have a major decision reviewed and overturned. She is toast. She might also see herself as a victim of the times.
But what does it all mean?
It means Lord Janner could face a trial of the facts, in which a jury hears the evidence against an individual considered too ill for a full trial. This is expected to cover 22 offences allegedly committed in the 1960s, 70s and 80s by Janner, who now has dementia.
What next?
A statement from the CPS said the case against Janner would begin with a hearing at Westminster magistrates court on 7 August.
By then another month will have rolled by. Lord Janner is 86. He’s ill.
It will be the first time that allegations against Janner – which have been the subject of three failed police investigations – will be aired in a courtroom.
Read the rest of this entry »
Lord Janner will face trial – maybe
Lord Greville Janner of Braunstone: It’s been 70 days since the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute Lord Janner on grounds of his poor health.
The Telegraph: Alison Saunders: My Lord Janner decision could be reversed”
Could be?
Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, has conceded that if her decision not to prosecute Lord Janner with child sex offences is reversed by a formal review she will abide by that ruling…
She’d have no choice.
Ms Saunders told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There is a victims right to review going on. We have a process which has been activated and we are waiting for the outcome of that. The outcome of that could be that my decision is upheld or it could be that it is reversed. And I have said that I will abide by that advice that we’ve sought and I will abide by that advice.”
Top lawyer vows to sticks to rules. Read all about it!
The Times: “Janner ‘will face justice’ over child sex abuse claims”
Will. Not could?
The decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute Lord Janner over allegations that he was a serial child abuser is set to be overturned.
Wow!
A senior barrister who has spent several weeks examining the evidence as part of an independent review has concluded that there should be a hearing — the first step towards a full trial, according to the Daily Mail.
Ah! Janner is 86. He’s ill. How long will the hearing process take?
Daily Mail: “Janner WILL face justice: Top barrister to recommend DPP’s decision is over-ruled so case against Labour peer IS heard in court”
The development will pile pressure on Mrs Saunders, who has suffered a torrid two months amid questions over her handling of the Janner affair. She is expected to face renewed calls from critics to consider her position.
She looks doomed.
The extraordinary twist in the case comes after a group of Janner’s alleged victims applied for a formal review of the decision not to charge him. The appeal was launched after Mrs Saunders ruled the peer should not be charged on health grounds, despite saying there was enough evidence to prosecute him for 22 sex offences against nine people. She also ruled out holding a trial of facts, which can be used when suspects are unable to enter pleas or instruct lawyers.
Adding:
More than a dozen people came forward to claim he abused them during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. His family has repeatedly denied he is connected to any wrongdoing.
Simon Danczuk, the MP for Rochdale , tells the Guardian:
“I am pleased to hear the suggestion that Janner will finally face justice: the alleged victims deserve this. The allegations against him are horrific, and we need to hear the facts before a court.
“All suggestions are that Saunders reached the wrong conclusion in April and this is not the first time she has made a major mistake, She has struggled in some of her decisions to pursue journalists through the courts, too. Her job is all about judgment.”
Such are the facts.
Posted: 27th, June 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner: sex attacks in Parliament and ‘unpaid social worker’ Cyril Smith
Lord Greville Janner of Braunstone: a round-up of media reporting on the Labour peer mired in the story of Westminster peados. It’s been 67 days since the Crown Prosecution Sevice decided not to prosecute Lord Janner on gounds of his failing health.
The Sun: “Peer ‘raped kids in Parliament’ MP accuses Lord Janner”
That is some accusation. And it’s been made by Labour MP Simon Danczuk.
The campaigning MP’s comments came in a Westminster Hall debate – giving him protection from being sued for libel.
Any evidence to support the claims?
He blasted: “The shocking thing is that the CPS admits that the witnesses are not unreliable, it admits that Janner should face prosecution but refuses to bring a case. I know the police are furious about this and rightly so. Anyone who has heard the accusations will be similarly outraged.”
They are not unreliable but the DPP says the defendant is.
He went on: “I have met with Leicestershire police and discussed the allegations in detail. Children being violated, raped and tortured – some in the very building in which we now sit.”
Those are allegations.
He added: “Personally I fail to see how the knowledge that a peer of the realm is a serial child abuser is not in the public interest.”
Hold on. The knowledge that he is has not been established. That’s the problem. All we have are allegations. If Danczuk is certain of Lord Janner’s giuilt then why not slap the proof in the public domain?
Lord Janner has been accused in Parliament of being a serial abuser who attacked children inside the Palace of Westminster. Labour MP Simon Danczuk said police had told him they wanted to bring 22 historical charges against Lord Janner, dating between 1969 and 1988.
Today’s police do. But yesterday’s police did not.
Lord Janner’s family has said that the peer “is entirely innocent of any wrongdoing”.
His innocence must be presumed, right?
The Rochdale MP continued: “If Lord Janner really is too ill to face prosecution, then why can’t the courts establish this with a fitness to plead process? This would clear up doubts that still linger, for example why he was still visiting parliament on official visits after he was declared unfit to face justice.”
Social Work Today, 10th May 1977
Yes, indeed. The MP for Rochdale, Cyril Smith’s old haunt and the palce where paedo gangs operated for years. The culture of denial has led to how many people in authority being arrrested and jailed? None.
Mr Danczuk was repeatedly warned by the chair of the debate, Conservative MP Anne Main, against criticising Lord Janner. A former DPP-turned-Labour MP, Sir Keir Starmer, said: “The decision before the DPP was not an easy decision. It was a stark and difficult choice between two unattractive approaches. We should respect the independence she brought to the decision making, and the fact she’s had that decision out for a review. To that extent I think we should inhibit our comments on the case.”
The Telegraph has more from the MPs address:
“The official charges are 14 indecent assaults of a male under 16 between 1969 and 1988; two indecent assaults between 1984 and 1988; four counts of buggery of a male under 16 between 72 and 87, two counts of buggery between 1977 and 1988. My office has spoken to a number of the alleged victims and heard their stories. I cannot overstate the effect that this abuse has had on their lives…
“The Director of Public Prosecutions has said that Lord Janner will not offend again. But the failure to prosecute Lord Janner offends every principle of justice – he may not abuse again but the legacy of the abuse continues. His victims needs the truth [sic] and they need to be heard.”
Lord Janner says he’s not absued at all.
Labour’s John Mann said “hundreds of thousands” were “just starting to come forward” with allegations – but added they were just “the tip of the iceberg”.
Well, if the abuse went on for decades, then you can imagine many more victims were ignored.
He claimed the Establishment was still preventing damaging revelations about the “systemic” abuse being made public.
The Establishment? What is an MP and the police if not parts of the Establishment?
He said: “It gives a strong message that there are different layers in society and some people can get away with things. Why was Cyril Smith, when repeatedly apprehended, not prosecuted?”
Mr Mann believes this question is key to the truth behind the alleged cover-up
Smith is dead.
Posted: 24th, June 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner: Simon Danczuk’s justice to order and Frank Beck returns
Lord Janner: a round-up of media reporting on the Labour peer mired in the story of Westminster peados. It’s been 66 days since the Crown Prosecution Sevice decided not to prosecute Lord Janner on gounds of his failing health.
The Indy: “Ed Miliband was urged to throw out Lord Janner over ‘stomach-churning’ child abuse allegations five months before Labour suspended him”
Who did the urging? And whay does the Express ssays Miliband ws urged “six months” before Janner was suspended?
The warning came from one of his own MPs – Simon Danczuk – who sent a letter to the former leader in October last year to urge him to quickly suspend Lord Janner after three senior officers from Leicestershire police had disclosed serious alleged abuse to him.
Danczuk loves to blow his own horn.
“You couldn’t describe the action that has been taken by the party as swift and decisive,” he told Channel 4 News. “The nature of the allegation is so serious that really decisive action was required. I think they should expel him from the party. I think the allegations are that serious that they should carry out a short, sharp investigation which I am sure would conclude that he should be expelled from the party.”
We’d like to know more about this ‘sharp investigation’. Who would investigate? What facts would they have? How far back would the investigation reach – Lord Janner has been accused of offences during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s? Danczuk’s idea of an investigation to reach the “sure” conclusion of guilt is an affront to justice. It’s self-serving, PR-driven balls.
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Posted: 23rd, June 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner scandal day 58: Michael Jackson’s letter of the law
Lord Greville Janner: a look at news on the Labour peer embroiled in allegations that he abused children. He maintains his innocence. It’s been 58 days since the Crown Prosecution Sevice decided not to prosecute Lord Janner on gounds of his failing health.
With no actual news to report, we make do with a tenuous link between Janner and Michael Jackson. In keeping with the story of Westminster peados, like most of the people implicated, Jackson is dead. And he never read the letter Janner wrote him.
The Leicester Mercury takes up the tale:
Greville Janner wrote to superstar Michael Jackson congratulating him on being cleared of child sex charges… The Labour peer and former Leicester West MP wrote the letter shortly after the singer was cleared by an American jury of molesting a 13-year-old.
A number of national newspapers reported at the weekend that Lord Janner wrote to Jackson, who died aged 50 in 2009, on personalised House of Lords paper in 2005.
He is said to have passed the letter to former child actor Mark Lester and asked him to give it to Jackson.
What he wrote was:
“I was so very pleased at the news of your acquittal. What a terrible time you have endured. You know how much I enjoyed and appreciated meeting you at the Universal Studios and in the UK – and especially on that wonderful day in Parliament and the journey to Exeter. So I send you my very best wishes – and hope you will return to London before long and that I should have the pleasure of seeing you once again before long.”
In June 2002 Janner gave Jackson, spoon-bender Uri Geller and US magician David Blaine a tour of the Houses of Parliament. Lester is chiefly famous for having played Oliver Twist in the 1968 film.
Says Mr Lester:
“Janner knew I was friends with Michael. He gave me the letter and asked me to give it to him. I stuffed it in my pocket and never got round to it. I stumbled across it while clearing my house. What he said was inappropriate.”
If there was ever word that sums up this decade it is ‘inappropriate’. Why is it inappropriate for Janner to have to written to the then world’s biggest star? I mean, did you see Jackson’s fans back then?
Najh Ali speaks to some forty Michael Jackson fans who converged on the Santa Barbara Courthouse to show their support for Jackson January 15, 2004 in Santa Barbara, California.
Hundreds of Michael Jackson fans converged on Neverland Ranch for a candlelight vigil in support of Jackson January 15, 2004 in Santa Ynez, California
Michael Jackson supporter, Olivia Baker, 20, of San Diego, holds a sign outside the courthouse at Michael Jackson’s preliminary hearing on February 13, 2004 in Santa Barbara, California.
Michael Jackson fan, Bianca Martinez, eight-months-old, drinks from her baby bottle as she wears a hat with the message ‘Innocent Like Me’ while sitting in her stroller outside the Santa Barbara County Courthouse at the Michael Jackson child molestation trial June 9, 2005 in Santa Maria, California. Jackson is charged in a 10-count indictment with molesting a boy, plying him with liquor and conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion.
Michael Jackson fan Sean Paterson
Michael Jackson fan Seany O’Kane displays a message of support
There were a few naysayers:
And it was huge news.
But Lester is agog not that Jackson was given a tour of Westminster, but that Janner wrote him a letter:
“Michael Jackson was hounded for much of his life over these allegations and was then found not guilty. No one should congratulate Michael on being cleared let alone a QC and peer. It’s as if he’s saying, ‘Well done, you got away with it’.”
No. It isn’t. Jackson was found not guilty. Janner said it must have been a burden. He never once said ‘Nice one, you got away with it.’
The story of Westminster peadophiles has taken on a life of its own. The alleged abuse is said to have occured over years. This longevity suggests a culture of denial and, to some, a conspiracy of depraved men working together to maintain a secret. But facts are now so thin we get stories of a Wacko Jacko fan letter being passed off as news. In place of evidence of child rape in the shadow of power, we get news of ‘inappropriate’ words. ‘Innocent until proven innocent’, says one of the pro-Jackson banners. To which we would add a new one: ‘Guilty when dead.’
Such are the facts.
Posted: 15th, June 2015 | In: Key Posts, Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner scandal day 57: an alleged victim tells of blood in Westminster
ouses of Parliament, St Stephen’s Crypt – Watercolour by Edward M. Barry c.1863 (WOA 1601)
Lord Greville Janner: a look at news on the Labour peer embroiled in allegations that he abused children. He maintains his innocence. It’s been 57 days since the Crown Prosecution Sevice decided not to prosecute Lord Janner on gounds of his failing health.
The Sunday Express has news:
Lord Greville Janner should NOT be saved from trial, says alleged assault victim
But can he be accused in the media? Yes.
We meet Mr Paul Miller. No 53, Mr Miller was 9 when he was in the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster. A pupil at Braunstone Frith primary school in Leicester, Miller was living in care when he became one of eight children “specially chosen by local MP Janner to visit London in 1969. He lived in care at the time at the Tatlow Road children’s home.”
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Lord Janner scandal day 52: Scotland digs for evidence
Lord Greville Janner: a look at news on the Labour peer embroiled in allegations that he abused children. He maintains his innocence. It’s been 52 days since the Crown Prosecution Sevice decided not to prosecute Lord Janner on gounds of his failing health.
Today’s news.
BBC: “Lord Janner claim investigated by police in Scotland”
Police in Scotland are understood to be investigating claims Labour peer Lord Janner abused a boy there in the 1970s. Det Ch Supt Lesley Boal said Police Scotland officers were investigating a historical complaint – but did not confirm a name.
As ever, facts are thinner than Theresa May’s smile.
BBC home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds said the allegation had first been made in 1991 by a Leicester man who told police that Greville Janner sexually abused him during the 1970s – including in Scotland.
We’re told that Leicestershire police investigated and found Janner had no case to answer. And now a mere 14 years later the allegations resueface. The accused man is now old. He and his victims are denied a court trial. And all we get is a stink.
Now Scottish police are investigating.
“Because Scotland has a separate and independent prosecutor, it would be able to make its own decision about whether to charge Lord Janner,” he added.
Is there new evidence to warrant a charge that wasn’t available to police in 1991? Did the Scottish police investigate Janner? Questions and more questions. And with no court date, there is no chance to having them answered with satisfaction.
So that’s two police forces investigating Janner, the Crown Prosecution Service reviewing the Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision that m’lord would to be unable to take part in his defence due to his poor health, and Justice Lowell Goddard looking at the Labour peer as part od her independent inquiry into child sex abuse.
Yeah, that’s all.
Lord Janner is 86. He says he’s innocent.
But the Mail picks up a scent.
Daily Mail: “With a school party on a Commons visit in 1976, two Labour grandees Greville Janner and George Thomas who ‘abused children'”
Smiling broadly, two Labour grandees welcome a party of young schoolboys to the Commons. Since this photograph was taken in 1976, Greville Janner and George Thomas have been exposed as alleged paedophiles.
Exposed. Alleged. Can you be exposed as an alleged anything? What happened to those barriers to guilt?
The pair, later ennobled as Lord Janner and Viscount Tonypandy, have been accused of preying on children and yesterday campaigners said there was growing evidence a Labour paedophile ring operated at Westminster.
Is the Mail serious in labelling Labour the Paedos Party? If it is, were Liberal Sir Cyril Smith and Sir Tory Peter Hayman wannabe Labour members?
Thomas, Commons Speaker before becoming a peer, is said to have propositioned young men in his official grace and favour apartment in Parliament. He died aged 88 in 1997, but is now the subject of investigations by British Transport Police over an incident on a train in 1959, and by South Wales Police into a claim he raped a nine-year-old boy.
How can that be proven?
The alleged rape victim came forward to say he was abused at home in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the MP, who had befriended his foster parents.
A third former Labour MP, the late Leo Abse, has also been named as an alleged abuser.
Abse is dead. Smith is dead. Hayman is dead. Thomas is dead.
Yesterday campaigning Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who exposed the Cyril Smith scandal, said: ‘If George Thomas abused a nine-year-old boy, then you can be certain it was not a one-off. He would have abused others. The links between these people are coming together like a jigsaw puzzle, and one does get the impression there was a Labour network of paedophiles.’
If. Certain. We’re digging up the bodies to beat them with sticks. It’s only when the depraved grandees die that their guilt becomes a certainty. The pieces from Danczuk’s jigsaw puzzle crumble like dead skin when touched.
The close bond between Janner and Thomas is clear from the black-and-white photograph unearthed by the Mail, which was taken on June 22, 1976. Janner had arranged for 70 pupils from his Leicester West constituency to visit the Commons. There is no suggestion any of the children in the photo were abused…
The claims about Thomas, a one-time headmaster and Methodist lay preacher, surfaced last year. His victim, now aged 56 and living in Australia, said: ‘I was raped by George Thomas in Cardiff. I was about nine. He spent a lot of time at my house.’
He alleged the abuse also happened at another address in the city. A second victim says he was sexually abused on a train from Paddington to Aberystwyth when he was 22 and Thomas was 50.
Thomas, an MP from 1945 to 1983, was a secretary of state for Wales in Harold Wilson’s government and presided over the 1969 investiture of the Prince of Wales. He also read the lesson at Prince Charles’s wedding to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.
Wasn’t is Sir Jimmy Savile who took Diana’s secrets to his grave?
In 2001, Leo Abse MP spoke to the Sunday Times about helping with George Thomas MP’s young blackmailer:
“Over the years, given his exposed position, it was inevitable that he would fall victim to blackmail. On one occasion, after a distraught recounting to me of the pressure upon him, I insisted I would meet and deal with the young criminal in his constituency into whose hands he had fallen.
“My reputation in Cardiff’s criminal underworld stood me in good stead in dealing with the wretch. As a lawyer, I had often acted in the courts on behalf of the local prosecution department, and even more frequently, I had defended the city’s gangsters. As one-time chairman of the watch committee, I had the duty of supervising the local police.
“The blackmailing cur, therefore, had no doubt that, unless he desisted, I would carry out my threat to ensure he was put behind bars for 10 years; shortly after our encounter he found it was politic to quit the city.”
The Mail forgets to say that Thomas was chairman of National Children’s Home (NCH) in 1983.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 9th, June 2015 | In: Key Posts, Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner scandal day 46: strolling so leisurely
Lord Greville Janner: a look at news on the Labour peer embroiled in allegations that he abused children. He maintains his innocence.
It’s been 46 days since the Crown Prosecution Sevice decided not to prosecute Lord Janner on gounds of his failing health.
We’ve seen the racism, heard Janner’s Commons Address, reviewed the iffy evidence, revisited Ernest Saunders, thrilled and shuddered to stories of alleged murder, piled in on DPP Alison Saunders, dug up Liberal Democrat councillor and convicted nonce Frank Beck – who worked for MI6 and children were bathed like dogs – saw links the Iraq war and fiddling expenses, been treated to the State-serving Goddard inquiry, spotted a Labour MP in Scotland, listened to lawyers for the alleged victims weep for justice, and watched the police focus on the dead.
The mainstream news stopped reporting on Westminster paedos for the General Election.
All we’ve had to go on is:
BBC – May 28: “Leicestershire Police is calling for a review of the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) decision not to charge ex-Labour MP Lord Janner over child abuse allegations.”
Hurrah for the police! Sure, they might have ignored the alleged victims for decades, but they are now working at the vanguard of justice, nicking innocent people as they fly into Heathrow Airport and raiding homes as the cameras of the purified BBC role. Give them a call and you will be believed.
The BBC adds:
The force has sent a letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who said Lord Janner, 86, would not face charges because of his dementia.The request is separate to a review that was granted under the CPS Victims’ Right to Review Scheme.
The CPS has 14 days to respond and the force said it “reserves its right to seek a judicial review of the decision”.
Adding:
The allegations relate to residents in children’s homes in Leicestershire in the 1970s and 1980s.
Tick tock goes the copper’s pension clock.
On May 25, the Express had a photo of Janner looking every one of his 86 years walking in public:
A LABOUR peer who was ruled too ill to stand trial over allegations of child sexual abuse, has been spotted taking a stroll in London.
“Stroll”. Such a loaded term, suggestive of leaisure and insouciance. The man has dementia. He has not had the chance to clear his name in court. His innocence must be presumed.
The mainstream media never did expose any wrongdoing all those years ago. But now everyone is on the side of the angels. Everyone knows. The past is being beaten with sticks, stripped of knighthoods and peerages and buried.
Balls, of course. Rotherham, Rochdale and Blackpool teach us that. Find Charlene Downes. She should have a story to tell.
Lord Janner: 203 votes on the law and police PR with dead Jimmy Savile
Lord Greville Janner: a look at reporting on the beleaguered Labour peer.
Daily Mail: “Labour peer Lord Janner attended the House of Lords 634 times and voted 203 times even after his dementia diagnosis”
Alleged paedophile Lord Janner voted 203 times in the House of Lords even after he granted power of attorney to his children because of his dementia….
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 12th, May 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner: the name is erased, the elite weep for justice but the stench lingers
Lord Janner: A look at Labour peer Greville Janner and allegations that he abused children. He says he’s innocent.
Hinkley Times: “Lord Janner U-turn urged by victims’ lawyers”
Well, they would want a change in the ruling that says Genenr is too ill to stand trial. Their view is predictable. A criminal lawyer without a trial is a useless thing.
Another law firm representing alleged victims of Lord Janner has written to Britain’s most senior prosecutor in a bid to overturn the decision not to bring the former MP to trial over child sex abuse claims.
That’s Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders.
Peter Garsden, whose firm is representing three clients in a civil child abuse claim against Lord Janner, has said he wants Ms Saunders to clarify the reasons for her decision by disclosing the various reports which supported it.
Transparency is all. But she has been pretty clear already.
Liz Dux, specialist abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon, said her firm had written to the DPP to formally request a review of the decision not to go ahead with a prosecution. Ms Dux said all her clients want is “the opportunity to give their evidence and to be heard”.
That can’t be all that they want, can it? You can be heard in the media, where you can also be judged. But you can’t be proven right.
Mr Garsden said the decision not to bring criminal charges in relation to nine victims in spite of the CPS stating there was enough evidence to merit a prosecution had left his clients “outraged”. Mr Garsden added: “We are considering the possibility of judicial review.”
Outrage we can understand.
He is now requesting documentation relating to the criminal investigations into the 86-year-old peer, and also details of the medical reports and legal opinions sought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prior to the announcement of its decision on April 16.
The lawyer has asked for CPS agreement to obtain his own report on Lord Janner’s mental capacity, and wants confirmation there was indeed sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges.
How likely is it that Janner’s health will be tested by representatives fo the alleged victims? The DPP is neutral. The lawyers are not.
In his letter, Mr Garsden has said:
“We would like to see all documents touching and concerning the decision not to prosecute… We wish to discount the validity of an argument that your decision is open to judicial review… Accordingly, the more evidence and documentation you can send to us, in order to justify the decision, the better… We would also like to see all documents surrounding the various attempted, but failed, investigations into Janner in the past.”
Yes. Those past documetns – such as they are – are vital.
Denied a day in court, one alleged victim speaks out.
Hinckley man Hamish Baillie waived his right to anonymity to speak out on his alleged abuse at the hands of Janner. The 47-year-old told the Daily Mail he was molested by Lord Janner during a game of hide-and-seek when he was a 15-year-old resident of a children’s home.
What 15-year-old plays hide and seek with a middle-aged man? Bit odd, no? But we don’t know for certain why, who, what and where because the judiciary won’t alaow the claism to be tested in a court of law.
Hinkley Times: “Lord Janner: Why did the the CPS decide not to prosecute and what are the options for the alleged victims now?”
What can his alleged victims do next?
Defending herself from intense scrutiny, Ms Saunders said: “If somebody wants to challenge my decision, I’m not afraid. The proper way to challenge it is through the right to review or judicial review.”
The law is the law.
Under the CPS’ Victims’ Code, introduced in 2013, the alleged victims have a right to challenge such decisions through a review by a prosecutor who was not involved in the original case. If that does not satisfy victims then they can seek a further independent review.
Finally, the alleged victims could seek a judicial review, which does not assess whether the decision was right or wrong but rather if the process leading to the decision was lawful.
What can the Goddard inquiry do in this case?
Nothing save for a spot of PR.
Justice Lowell Goddard, who heads up the parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse, has announced she will look at the allegations and how institutions acted, probing whether there was any establishment cover up.
While she cannot determine Lord Janner is guilty, her inquiry can call witnesses and alleged victims, make findings of fact about the allegations surrounding them and publish them in public.
Meanwhile, Lord Janner’s name is being erased.
Daily Telegraph: “Israeli school removes plaque honouring Lord Janner, the peer accused of sexual abuse. The plaque honouring the Labour peer at the school in Maalot Tarshiha in Israel’s northern Galilee region was removed. The peer’s family deny the abuse allegations”
How can it be restored if there is no trial?
The Herald: “Calls for review of Lord Janner child sex abuse case”
NEARLY 400 politicians have backed calls for a reversal of the decision not to prosecute Lord Greville Janner over sex abuse allegations. The move follows claims by an alleged victim that he was subjected to serious sexual assaults by Labour peer in Scotland….
The list, which was published by the investigative journalism website Exaro prior to the election, has12 SNP politicians including newly elected MPs Alan Brown, Douglas Chapman, Martin Docherty, Drew Hendry, Paul Monaghan, Roger Mullin, John Nicolson and Tommy Sheppard. Also included is Angus MacNeil, who has been SNP MP for the Western Isles since 2005.
Brown, who now represents Kilmarnock and Loudoun, said: “Regardless of the situation there should always be justice for victims.”
Of course there should be justice for victims. That’s stating the bleedin’ obvious. It’s harder to get justice for alleged victims.
Nicolson, the newly-elected MP for East Dunbartonshire said: “I think the evidence needs to be examined in court – and believe the victims deserve to be heard.”
It all deserves to be heard in court. Now let’s join the dots:
Jon Bird, operations manager for the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC), said they had been aware of allegations about Janner for a number of years, but could not divulge details to protect the confidentiality of victims.
“Allegations about Lord Janner have been made by many people in many different parts of the country, for a very long time,” he said.
It’s the longevity that suggests cover ups. The longevity is key. What we need tio knwo is who around now was also around then. We have the alleged victims, the alleged perpretator deemed too ill to understand ant trial and we have the police.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “The investigation of child abuse, whenever or wherever it has taken place, continues to be a top priority for Police Scotland. This has been highlighted by the launch of the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit last month.
“We would urge any victim of a sexual crime to contact police. All reports are thoroughly investigated by dedicated officers, who provide specialist support to victims and target offenders to bring them to justice.”
But they say they did contact the police years ago. And the police did nothing. Which amneks us wonder if it’s the alleged offence that’s change or spinning of it by an elite under the cosh.
A woman attacked by robbers who targeted lone women has called for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to be better monitored after she claims prosecutors handled her case so poorly it felt ‘like being mugged a second time.’
Barbara Cahalane and her sister Patricia were victims of the gang dubbed ‘the Nappy Valley Muggers’ because they targeted women with children in affluent districts of south London.
Ms Calahane said she had to pressure the CPS at every turn to prosecute the gang. She says that following her experience and recent rows over CPS rulings such as the decision not to prosecute Lord Janner, she believes there should be a watchdog overseeing the work of prosecutors.
Janner has become a symbol of mistrut in high places.
Daily Telegraph: “Parents of autistic man criticise decision to prosecute him – George Ostle’s parents say if Lord Janner was not fit to stand trial then neither was their autistic son who has the mental age of a ten-year-old”
The case:
The parents of an autistic man prosecuted after lashing out at a carer have criticised the Crown Prosecution Service for bringing the case, insisting he should have been treated in the same way as Lord Janner. George Ostle, 22, was found guilty of striking a female care worker at his residential home after becoming distressed and confused following a change in his medical routine. But his parents said he should never have been charged because he has a mental age of ten and was unable to understand to legal process.
Not the same thing at all. Janner is ruled to be no risk to anyone.
Such are the facts…
Posted: 11th, May 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner: Scotland in 1972 and company law and not all Jews in the Daily Mail
Daily Express: “Scots police put on spot in Janner probe”
Why?
One of the Labour peer’s alleged victims claims the MP took him on a tour of Scotland in the early 1970s during which he was subjected to serious sexual assaults. He made a report at an Edinburgh police station in 1991 but the Crown Office yesterday confirmed they have never been notified.
Where is this report?
It raises fears that Scottish officers may have been ordered to drop any investigation into the politician, like their counterparts south of the Border.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 3rd, May 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Westminster paedos: one complaint exposes Lord Bramall of Bushfield to the media’s ‘witch hunt’
Westminster peados: a look at reporting on an alleged cover up of VIP child abuse.
Daily Mirror (page 10): “Retired Field Marshal In Child Sex Quiz”
We meet Field Marshal Lord Bramall of Bushfield. Lord Bramall is 91. He is one of the UK’s highest-ranking veterans. He is Field Marshal Edwin Noel Westby Bramall, Baron Bramall KG, GCB, OBE, MC, JP, DL.
Police probing claims that children were abused by a VIP paedophile ring in the 70s and 80s have quizzed a former head of the British Army. Field Marshal Lord Bramall of Bushfield, 91, was interviewed by Scotland Yard detectives as part of Operation Midland.
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Lord Janner: the State-serving Goddard inquiry is an affront to justice
Lord Janner: a look at reporting on Lord Greville Janner in the media.
The Sun (Page 8): “Paedo probe judge to check Janner claims”
Claims of his innocence?
No.
There is to be an…inquiry into why Lord Janner was never tried in court. An inquiry is the country’s default position for anything the elite want to moralise on. A “panel” will investigate “whether the 86-year-old Labour peeer was protected by an establishment cover-up”.
This way the elite get to bury the ghosts and no-one gets hurt. It is a State-serving affront to justice.
Daily Express (page 2): “Sex abuse inquiry will review allegations against Lord Janner”
Will it be as big as the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking and tabloid journalism? Will everyone who has ever known or worked with Janner be put on the stand? Will we see all the social workers, police and everyone who worked with Frank Beck, the LibDem councillor and convicted paedophile who ran children’s homes and lived in Braunstone, where Janner is titular Lord? Will it be televised? Will there be dawn raids and mass arrests?
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Posted: 30th, April 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner: the Iraq war, fiddling expenses and lies
Lord Janner Watch: a look at Labour peer Lord Greville Janner in the media.
Daily Mirror (page 20): “Janner could still face charges over child sex”
He could. But he won’t. Tom Pettifor has an “exclusive”.
Greville Janner could still be charged with child sex offences after one of his alleged victims challenged the decision not to prosecute the former MP.
It could be changed if the CPS could prove: a) Janner does not have dementia; b) prove he is a criminal threat.
An internal review will be carried out into the ruling it was “not in the public interest” to put the peer on trial, despite evidence he had allegedly been involved in child abuse.
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Posted: 29th, April 2015 | In: Politicians | Comment
Lord Janner: When Frank Beck worked for MI6 and children were bathed like dogs
Daily Mirror, 3rd December 1991
Lord Janner is still in the news. The Labour peer, who won’t face the court for alleged child abuse because his dementia makes him unfit for trial, remains in the media’s crosshairs…
Today’s news round-up:
The Daily Mail: “Home Office chiefs ignored FOURTH warning on Janner: Officials were told of child sex claims in 1995 report”
This goes to the top. Who warned them? What did they warn about?
The Home Office was warned that Lord Janner was abusing young boys two decades ago but did nothing about it.
What should it have done? Surely the Home Office can only act if there is evidence…
An MP passed a dossier of information to the department in the hope it would kick-start a fresh police investigation. But instead the paperwork was shelved by officials until it was discovered in 2013 and belatedly passed to Leicestershire Police.
Which officials? Why didn’t the MP make copies and send them to the Press? As ever, we just get more questions in place of facts. It all stinks. But what’s making the smell?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 28th, April 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner: DPP, FGM and shuffling across the carpet to genital abuse
Lord Janner: a look at reporting on the Labout peer in the news.
The Sun: “CRONY PROSECUTOR”
DPP worked at same firm as peado rap Lord she let off
It’s about Ms Alison Saunders, the head of the Crown Prosection service. The Sun says she “started her career” at 1 Garden Court Chamebers – where Janner…was a top QC.”
Thsi is an “exclusive”. Well, it is to anyone who has never read the Saunders CV or other news sources days ago.
The upper echelons of the judiciary are incestuous places.
Daily Telegraph: “CPS chief’s husbands is member of ‘tax loophole’ film investment scheme”
The knives are out for Director of Public Prosecutions boss Saunders.
Neil Saunders, whose wife is the Director of Public Prosecutions, is a member of a controversial scheme being investigated by the taxman, The Telegraph can disclose.
A lecture from the Daily Telegraph on the wrongs of legally exploiting tax loopholes might make you roll your eyes, but is it valid?
Neil Saunders, a defence barrister, is listed by Companies House as a member of a film industry investment scheme which is being pursued by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
How are the husband’s tax affairs relevant to Sauncders’ decicion not to send Janner to court? We’re not told. It’s just out there. As are these facts:
• DPP Alison Saunders took legal advice on Greville Janner from former colleague of his son
• DPP Alison Saunders spent £7,000 on business class flights while CPS headed towards crisis
The Press Gazette: “‘Eight officers stormed into my bedroom shouting Met Police’: Reporter’s three-year ordeal ‘for writing story about a fox'”
As well as looking at what cases Saunders did not think fit for court, it’s worth looking what what cases she has approved.
The Sun’s online news editor Vince Soodin has has condemned the Met Police for turning Operation Elveden into “a probe into unauthorised leaks to journalists – whether they were paid for or not”.
Soodin, along with former News of the World reporter Lucy Panton, was officially cleared at the Old Bailey yesterday – nearly three years after his initial arrest.
Good.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph today, Soodin, 40, said Operation Elveden has been “pursued without any sense of proportion” by the Metropolitan Police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe and Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders – who he said “must resign”.
On his 7 August 2012 arrest, Soodin wrote: “I was set to go the London Olympics; instead I was woken – at 6.06am – by my doorbell. I was confronted by eight police officers; detectives stormed past me into my bedroom, waking my girlfriend, who was unaware I had gone to the front door, shouting ‘Met Police’ before I was allowed to explain to her what was happening. We were in shock.
“Officers bagged up our computers. Seized our belongings. They went through our clothes and underwear, personal diaries, everything. Almost anything connected to my job was tagged and taken. They still have my Sun contract of employment – as though this is damning evidence that I am a criminal.
“Detectives stood over us as we dressed. Then I was taken away from my girlfriend and thrown into a cell at a north London police station before being questioned by two detectives.”
Snodin then nails Saunders.
“Set alongside the Lord Janner scandal and February’s ludicrous prosecution of a doctor – on charges of female genital mutilation – who had stitched up a woman bleeding after childbirth, Operation Elveden has destroyed confidence in the Crown Prosecution Service under Alison Saunders. There is only one proper course of action now. She must resign.”
The FGM show trial was a disaster for the CPS. It was a victory for the jury which found Dr Dhanuson Dharmasena not guilty of carrying out female genital mutilation on a newly delivered young mother. Another man was cleared of abetting Dr Dharmasena. Both men was used to showcase the authorities’ commitment to combatting FGM.
But what of calling for someone to lose their job? Is that fair?
The Indepedent: “Lord Janner: How the Director of Public Prosecutions should have handled the Labour peer”
In hindsight:
What most angers her critics is that after taking the trouble to consult widely on the decision, Saunders has chosen to deny Janner’s alleged victims any chance of having their day in court.
What angers her critics is that Saunders came to the conclusion they didn’t want.
Lord Janner’s mental capacity – he is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s – is not in question.
It is the question. It is very much the question. And many have sought to answer it. If Lord Janner was well, he would be charged with 14 indecent assaults on a male under 16 between 1969 and 1988; two indecent assaults between 1984 and 1988; four counts of buggery of a male under 16 between 1972 and 1987; and two counts of buggery between 1977 and 1988.
…she seemed to perfectly understand what is at stake by deciding not to prosecute. Saunders explained: “There has been considerable public interest, and media coverage, of the fact of the investigations including identifying Lord Janner as the subject of them. Indeed, concern has been expressed publicly of a cover-up.”
And she went on: “The allegations that have been made against Lord Janner are extremely serious. Those who have made them are, entirely understandably, vociferous in urging the taking of action against Lord Janner.”
But what Saunders woefully failed to address was the possibility of a trial on the facts alone, so that the victims would at least have their allegations tested in a court of law. It would have required Lord Janner to be charged and then for the judge to officially rule that, although he was unfit to plead, a jury could still hear the issues.
No. She did not fail to address that. As David Pannick QC explains:
The critics have also referred to cases under the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964 where a criminal court does decide the truth of allegations against a person suffering from a mental incapacity. But, as confirmed by the Court of Appeal in a judgment, R v Wells, in January, such cases are heard, despite the mental incapacity, because consideration is being given to imposing a hospital order or a supervision order on the defendant for reasons of public protection, or because treatment is required, and it is in the defendant’s interest that the facts are found before such an intrusive order is made. In the present case, and as the DPP has explained, the medical evidence is again unequivocal that Lord Janner poses no current threat to anyone.
Of course the decision is disappointing to the complainants. But the criminal process does not exist to give a platform for the making of allegations against a defendant who is incapable of defending himself. The gravity of the allegations makes it especially appropriate to protect such a defendant from unfairness, particularly when he denied the allegations in the past while able to do so.
The Indy goes on:
This would have been highly unusual, and may have broken new legal ground, but this is a highly unusual case in which the police and CPS have failed three times to do their job.
Saunders’ inability to anticipate the political backlash left her badly exposed.
So. Justice should be dictated by fear of the public mood?
Sir Clive Loader, Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, described the decision as ‘not just wrong’ but ‘wholly perverse’ and ‘contrary to any notion of natural justice’.
The police are now on the side of the angels.
Daily Mail: “The rape of justice: Damning new evidence of Labour peer Lord Janner’s child sex abuse covered up by police and social workers for over 20 years”
Police and social workers were told more than 20 years ago that the peer took a vulnerable boy to Labour Party offices and Parliament before molesting him in his marital bed.
What did the caring. child-friendly police do back then?
A ten-page witness statement details the alleged victim’s harrowing ordeal at the hands of Janner. But all references to the politician were removed from the child’s social services file, according to legal papers obtained by the Mail.
A children’s home manager told bosses she feared he was having sex with the child but her concerns were ‘swept under the carpet’. The scale of the cover-up helps explains how the former Labour MP repeatedly escaped justice.
Over to Guy Adams, who dramatises the story:
The middle of the night at a large family home in one of North London’s most genteel residential neighbourhoods. In one of the upstairs bedrooms, a teenage boy lies awake. It’s eerily quiet, and he’s a long, long way from the children’s institution that has in recent years been home. The house is dark and shadowy. Scary, even. He feels frightened, confused and very much alone.
But this boy is not alone. In the gloom, he picks out an unmistakable figure shuffling across the carpet. It’s the middle-aged father-of-three who owns this house where he is staying…
With sickening inevitability, this vulnerable and frightened child, who only recently reached his 14th birthday, is then subjected to a sexual assault. ‘He touched my penis and asked me to touch his. He then simulated sex with me as I could feel his penis rubbing against my body, but after a while he got up from the bed and went out of the room. I must have fallen asleep, because when I awoke it was morning.’
This attack, carried out in December 1974, is one of several described in chilling detail in a ten-page witness statement prepared several years later by a firm of Leicester solicitors called Greene D’Sa. According to the document, which was passed to me this week, it marked the start of an abusive ‘full sexual relationship’ that endured almost two years.
The attack was also the culination of a lengthy grooming process which had begun when the boy’s abuser, a high-profile MP, visited a secondary school in his Leicester constituency. That MP was Greville Janner, then 46, a Labour backbencher…
Titilated? The story then alleges who knew of Janner and the boy:
It tells how his relationship with Janner was known to everyone, from his friends, to his social worker, children’s home manager and the then-director of Leicester’s social services. Yet nothing was done to stop it….
In a second, 1993 witness statement, again passed to me this week, the same boy recalls in 1989 and 1991 meeting detectives investigating a historic paedophile ring said to have included Janner. The relatively junior police investigators were apparently convinced that this man had, indeed, been ‘buggered by Greville Janner’ during childhood. ‘They needed me to include that information in my statement before they could arrest Janner,’ it notes.
But, soon afterwards, the two junior detectives were forced to drop their investigation into the MP, apparently at the behest of senior figures within the Leicestershire constabulary.The boy isn’t the only person to make this claim. Indeed, his 1993 statement appears to confirm a similar version of events made public last year by one of those two officers, Mick Creedon.
Should you wonder about the veracity of Mr Creedon’s recollection, it is illuminating to learn that he is now Chief Constable of Derbyshire.
Mr Creedon deneis any wrong doing. Lord Grevillw Jannwr and his family deny any wrongdoing.
Right now all we have are stories.
Leicester Mercury: “Alleged child sexual abuse victim will seek review of decision not to prosecute Greville Janner”
A man who alleges he was sexually abused by former Leicester MP Greville Janner says he will seek a review of the decision not to put the politician on trial. Paul Miller claims 86-year-old Lord Janner abused him when he was nine years old during a school trip to the House of Commons.
Mr Miller, 52, from Aylestone, said he had not yet received her letter, but would both seek a review and take up the offer to meet Ms Saunders…
He said: “I will meet her, but she had better pin her ears back because I am an angry man. I will tell her face to face she has got this wrong, and I will be asking for the review. I don’t think I will be the only one.”
Ms Saunders has stood by her decision not to try Lord Janner, despite saying there was enough evidence to bring charges against him in relation to 22 alleged offences between 1969 and 1998.
She said there was evidence that could have seen him charged in 1991, 2002 and 2007, but now he was suffering from dementia so severe he was unfit to stand trial.
Such are the facts…
Posted: 25th, April 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner: the fight to be anti-Establishment, tea and nonce-sense
Lord Janner: a look at reporting on the Labour peer accsued on child abuse. He denies all allegations.
The Sun: Columnist Rod Liddle is bold. Will Lord Janner reply? Will his lawyers?
Is the media biased against Janner? Are we all looking for what we want to find? This is today’s round-up of reporting on the Labour peer:
The Daily Mail, Page 6: “Janner gave his children deeds to his £2m home at height of abuse probe”
It puts the luxury apartment out of reach for potential child abuse victims suing the peer for compensation. His flat, in a gated community near Hampstead Heath, north London, was transferred free of charge to his two daughters and son in March last year – the same month that police raided his Westminster office, and three months after they had swooped on his home.
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Posted: 23rd, April 2015 | In: Politicians | Comment
Lord Janner is accused of a ‘lifetime of noncing’ in The Sun
Rod Liddle has few words to say about Lord Janner, the Labour peer accused of sexually abusing children. Janner won’t be standing trial for alleged offences because the judiciary say his dementia is so far advanced he won’t understand what’s going on in court. Janner, 86, denies any wrongdoing.
So. Here’s Liddle in the Sun:
As we say, Lord Janner denies any wrongdoing. But will he reply to the Sun’s article..?
Posted: 23rd, April 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Lord Janner: Iffy evidence, Jews, Ernest Saunders, victims without question and magic
Lord Greville Janner: a look at reporting on the Labour peer accused of child abuse. His family maintain his innocence.
The Daily Mirror has nothing say on Janner. The paper has been hot on the story of Westminster VIP paedos. But not a word today. And there’s not a not a word on Janner in the Daily Star and Daily Express.
The Sun (page 11): “Did Janner get his senile trick off Saunders?”
That question is asked by columnist Kelvin Mackenzie. Is he saying that Janner, a member of the magic circle, has curable dementia, like Ernest Saunders?
MacKenzie recalls Ernest Saunders:
You may just remember he was the Guinness chief executive jailed for five years for manipulating his company’s share price ahead of a takeover. The reason Mr Saunders became famous in the late 80s was not due to his “crime” but because he was freed by the Appeal Court after serving only ten months of his sentence as he was diagnosed with pre-senile dementia associated with Alzheimer’s…
Miracle upon miracle, the symptoms soon disappeared and in no time at all he was in good enough shape to take up his business career again.
Saunders’ recovery was, indeed, remarkable. But what of Janner, who has Alzheimer’s disease?
[he] won’t ever face a court because that idiot Alison Saunders, who runs (for now) the Crown Prosecution Service, believes that his dementia is too advanced for him to have a fair trial.
It is.
I don’t believe a word of it.
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Posted: 20th, April 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
