Ex-priest Jailed For Historic Child Sex Abuse

The Law Of… following up on historic abuse

A former Catholic priest and children’s home worker has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for historic child sex abuse dating back to the 1970s.

Responding to the details of the case, Peter Garsden – Head of Abuse Claims at Simpson Millar LLP – explains the importance on following up on historic abuse allegations.


Click here to read the full article.

Professor Alexis Jay Appointed As New Chair Of Abuse Inquiry

Following the shock resignation of Dame Lowell Goddard from her position as Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), Professor Alexis Jay has been appointed as the fourth Chairwoman of the abuse inquiry.

Responding to the appointment, and explaining how survivors of abuse may respond to the announcement of the new Chair, is Peter Garsden – Head of Abuse Claims.

Click here to read the full article. 

Allegations of child abuse are ‘inaccurate’ says Janner’s daughter

Marion Janner, daughter of the late Greville Janner, has said in a television interview that she has “never” questioned her father’s innocence and is “absolutely” convinced his name will be cleared.

Child abuse allegations

Allegations of child abuse by the late Lord Janner of Braunstone, QC, first emerged publicly in 1991; however, it was deemed that there was not enough evidence to proceed with a charge. Another investigation in 2002 did not result in a charge, as the Crown Prosecution Service did not receive relevant documents. A third criminal challenge came in 2007, when it was again deemed that there was not enough evidence to press charges.

Click here to read the full article.

Teenage Girls Jailed For Kidnapping Toddler

In a harrowing case of child abduction, 2 teenage girls, aged 13 and 14, pleaded guilty to kidnapping a toddler from Primark in Newcastle and have been sentenced to 3 years and 3 months in custody.

The girls’ lawyer claimed that their actions were influenced by an older, unnamed man, who convinced them kidnap the toddler.

Click here to read the full article.

Sir Clement Freud alleged sex abuse

Prior to a new documentary which airs on Wednesday 15^th June, the BBC has reported allegations of abuse against the late broadcaster and MP Sir Clement Freud between the late 1940s and 1970s.

One of the alleged victims, Sylvia Woosley, who first met Freud when she was 10 told the ITV Exposure programme that he abused her for years.  A second anonymous woman, claimed he abused her as a child and raped her when she was 18.
To read more click here.

Bring back Indeterminate Sentences for sex offenders

For some years Peter has campaigned for a sentence for sex offenders, which meant they could not be released until they could prove they didn’t represent a danger to the community, and had addressed to the satisfaction of experts, their offending behaviour.

 The length of the life sentence imposed by His Honour Judge Peter Rook QC means that Richard Huckle may be released in 23 years’ time i.e. when he is 53 years of age because of the minimum life term ordered.

 To read more click here.

Was the 6 year sentence given to Adam Johnson too long or not?

Yesterday at Bradford Crown Court Judge Jonathon Rose imposed a sentence of 6 years imprisonment upon Adam Johnson, the famous Sunderland Football Player for offences of grooming, and sexual activity with a 15 year old girl, who was previously a devoted fan of his. The question is, was the sentence appropriate to the crime?

To read the full blog click here

Goddard considers next steps in Janner abuse investigation

The first preliminary hearing held by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) took place on 9th March at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. It marks the start of public hearings in the Inquiry’s 13 investigations. Its purpose was to consider the next steps in the investigation into institutional responses to allegations of child sexual abuse relating to the politician Lord Greville Janner.
The public bodies under scrutiny in the Janner inquiry include the Crown Prosecution Service, Leicestershire police, Leicestershire county council, a number of care homes, the Labour party and the Home Office.

To read the full blog click here. 

BBC Savile Report shows the need for Mandatory Reporting

The publication of the report of the Dame Janet Smith Jimmy Savile Report into the abuse committed by him at the BBC, the themes have dealt with many issues but the newspapers have highlighted 2 themes.

 Visit http://www.abuselaw.co.uk/news/peter-garsden-blog/bbc-savile-report-will-show-the-need-for-mandatory-reporting/ to read more.

Can the Met Police be criticised for “believing” an abuse victim?

Sir Bernard Hogan Howe stood up very well to John Humphrys’ cross examination this morning on the Today Programme on Radio 4. He was defending the way in which the Met Police had conducted the investigation of serious sexual abuse allegations as part of Operation Midland.

Peter has been concerned for some time now that the child abuse pendulum is starting to swing against the victims and in favour of the alleged abusers. 

To read more click here.

Should Police spend less on Historic Abuse Cases and more on Terrorism?

Peter has been asked to give my opinion on Radio Ulster about criticism of the police for spending too much money on historic abuse cases, and complaining that they don’t have enough resources to keep the public safe from terrorism.

The interview has been sparked by a comment Edwina Currie apparently made to the same station on Saturday, but more particularly by  Nigel Lawson on various media channels over the weekend. He said ‘Look at how much the police is spending now on chasing up often unsubstantiated accusations of historic sex abuse. That’s got nothing to do with security.

To read more click here.

I'm not surprised by the report into 'failings' by the police in child abuse investigations ..

The BBC have reported on a newly published report by the Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) which accuses the Police in England and Wales of failing to carry out effective investigations into allegations of child abuse and neglect. The report focuses on in excess of 500 cases across eight forces where there was an ‘inadequate’ response in 220 cases.

I appeared on the lunch time BBC news programme to discuss my thoughts.

To read the full article click here

Welcome news that Lord Janner will face charges of historic child abuse

Child abuse lawyer Peter Garsden has welcomed the decision of an independent QC who has overruled the original decision of Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, not to charge Lord Janner over claims of historical sex abuse because of his dementia.

 

To read Peter's comments click through to abuselaw.co.uk

 

 

Will Lord Janner stand trial or not?

As we await the decision on whether the independent QS tasked with the review on whether the decision of Alison Saunders (the Director of Public Prosecutions) not to charge Lord Janner with alleged child abuse crimes was the right decision to make, Peter Garsden looks at the possible outcomes.  Click here to read his views www.abuselaw.co.uk

Mandatory reporting of child abuse - is it the answer to child abuse scandals?

See our blog at www.abuselaw.co.uk which discusses David Cameron's proposals for ending the 'culture of denial' which he says exists amongst social workers and other child care professionals.  Peter Garsden looks at the mandatory reporting of child abuse, and considers why this is a better approach.

Did Jimmy Savile abuse children in Manchester children's homes?

 A report was published yesterday into the abuse carried out by the late Jimmy Savile in NHS hospitals, the main focus being Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Kate Lampard, the barrister tasked with the job of providing independent oversight by the Secretary of State for Health, has come under fire for not addressing how mandatory reporting could have served to prevent much of the abuse from happening. 

I look at the main findings of the report and discuss my aim of being granted another group action allowing me to further represent victims of abuse in Manchester children's homes.

View this blog at www.abuselaw.co.uk

Gary Glitter guilty of historical abuse

Gary Glitter has been convicted of sexual offences, is in custody, and awaits sentence on 27th February. In my blog, I give a summary of the case, and, more importantly, my opinion upon what sort of sentence he should get, and why I think so.

See the Abuselaw website for this most recent Blog

Is the Paedophile Hunter aired on Channel 4 to be congratulated for catching sex offenders?

Stinson Hunter the Paedophile Hunter

If you didn't see the Channel 4 documentary last night about the Paedophile Hunter then you missed some very compelling viewing.

The question is whether this sort of entrapment is correct, legal, and valid, or whether such entrapment should be left to the Police, who do the same sort of thing.

The problem is that there are so many offenders seeking to commit offences via the Internet, that the police cannot deal with them all, so why should an individual who is committed to no violence not collect the evidence himself, and pass it to the Police. It was said that 5 individuals have already been prosecuted as a result of Stinson's work.  To read my thoughts click through to my blog on http://www.abuselaw.co.uk/blog/are-so-called-paedophile-hunters-to-be-congratulated/

Rotherham child abuse scandal - the true horror exposed

Alexis Jay OBE delivering her findings

Following an investigation into child abuse in Rotherham,  Council leader Roger Stone  has announced that he is to step down with immediate effect.  He said: “I think it is only right that I, as leader, take responsibility on behalf of the council for the historic failings that are so clearly described in the report.”

The investigation has found evidence of “appalling” exploitation of at least 1,400 children in Rotherham over a period of 16 years.  A report highlighting the abuse was submitted to the police and the council in 2002, but was “effectively suppressed.”

Independent reviewer Alexis Jay OBE said: It is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that the victims suffered.

“Girls as young as 11 were raped by large numbers of male perpetrators.”

The report highlights a variety of historical and serious child protection failings and concludes the council and other agencies should have done more to protect those at risk.

Rotherham Council chief executive Martin Kimber offered his “sincere apologies” to the victims of child sexual exploitation in the town, branding it a deplorable situation”.  In a news conference he said he wants to “reassure young people that their past experiences will not just shape services in Rotherham, but we will use the independent inquiry report to makes sure that the failings of Rotherham in the past don’t become failings of another town in the future.”

So what are the issues?

1.  At the moment the former councillor in charge of children's services is being blamed for not resigning when the reports of the abuse were produced on his watch. He is remaining adamantly opposed to moving by claiming that he didn't know of the abuse himself. How long he will last is anybody's guess. The topic of mandatory reporting has been raised on more than one occasion in relation to this.
2. Mandatory reporting as envisaged would not catch the head of children's services in this context unless the children were actually in care or being cared for in some other way at the time eg in a school. If, however, it could be proved that they knew about abuse and did nothing about it then there would be an argument in favour of a prosecution, should such a law be in force, which it isn't yet in the United Kingdom.
3. The attitude to prosecution is a familiar story, namely the concentration on the weakness of the complainant as a witness rather than the police undertaking a proactive campaign to search for the perpetrators.
4. Victims of sexual exploitation are bound to be reticent in giving evidence and a lot of work has to be done by the police to make them safe. The police have to go out looking for such a crime. It seems that their reaction to complaints was to say that it was one person's word against another and that evidence was not strong enough to stand up in Court. What they should have done of course is map intelligence and get a group of complainants together in an orchestrated way.
5. The CPS attitude to prosecution arises from the disastrous Home Affairs Select Committee Report of 2003 when "trawling" was outlawed by this committee in a somwhat misguided way even though the findings were rejected by the Home Office - I discussed this in an earlier blog here - Trawling rears its ugly head again
6. The complainants have an interesting compensation case against the Council in negligence in that obvious signs of the abuse were ignored, but are they thus entitled to damages for all the abuse or just that which took place after the report was made. Would the Council have been able to stop the abuse if they had acted. This is certainly true of the police, but what about the Council?
7. Obviously, should there be a criminal investigation which seems likely the victims can go the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority as victims of crimes of violence, which includes any type of abuse. There are now, however, quite strict time delay rules applicable.
8. Could an action be brought against the police? Possibly but there are quite a few difficult cases to overcome such as Hill v Chief Constable for West Yorkshire (1988) HL. Causation again will be an issue.

Rotherham is not the only community to have uncovered such abuse. There have also been arrests or prosection of groups of men in 11 towns and cities, including Oldham, Rochdale and Derby.  An earlier blog I did in May 2012 refers to this.

http://abuselaw.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/is-abuse-of-girls-only-committed-by.html

Will victims voices be properly heard in the new child abuse inquiry?

Teresay May's Parliamentary announcement

In the last few days, there has been prolific media coverage regarding child abuse investigations and inquiries into historical abuse allegations in institutions around the UK. 

The home secretary has announced a wide-ranging, Hillsborough-style inquiry into historic child sex abuse claims, “to consider whether public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children”.  Baroness Butler-Sloss was announced on Tuesday as head of this inquiry, the details of which are still being scoped.

It’s thought likely to be a documentary inquiry rather than hearing from actual witnesses. If this is the case then the victims of abuse will not be heard, which in my experience as an abuse lawyer, is exactly what survivors of abuse desire the most, to be listened to.

In my view, in order to arrive at an ideal format for the inquiry, perhaps they should look at the institutional abuse inquiries in Northern and Southern Ireland.  They should select the best parts of each of these, both of which heard from survivors, who after all are at the core of the matter. I have already blogged about this subject here and here

The Home Office review is an investigation into the handling of documents relating to claims of a paedophile ring at Westminster in the 1980s.  Home Secretary Theresa May has appointed the head of the NSPCC, Peter Wanless to lead an investigation, the results of which is expected within 10 weeks.

When this inquiry was announced I was asked by various radio and TV news programmes for my views on it as an abuse lawyer.

Before it was announced that the inquiry would be led by the NSPCC, it was initially said that it would be a lawyer led inquiry.  I wonder whether the charity will have enough powers to carry out all that is required, for example, being able to demand access to documents held by government.  If the inquiry is to be forensic in nature, as I believe it should be, is the CEO of a charity the right person to deal with it?   Wouldn’t it be better led by a judge who is more likely to have a forensic approach to tracing documents and what has become of them?

Teresa May said she could turn it into a public enquiry if Peter Wanless thought it appropriate. Why not announce a public enquiry straight away? At least then everything would be out in the open, and much needed transparency achieved.

If the enquiry is not public then the chances of a further cover up being suspected are that much more likely.