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Greville Janner affair: Children’s homes inquiry evidence ‘must be released’
Daniel Boffey — The Guardian April 18, 2015
All the evidence given to a 1993 inquiry into sexual abuse at a children’s home to which Greville Janner – now Lord Janner – has been linked should be made public, survivors of child abuse have demanded.
The proceedings of the Kirkwood inquiry, which examined child abuse in children’s homes in Leicestershire in the 1970s and 1980s, were kept secret to avoid the naming of innocent third parties. It followed the trial of Frank Beck, a serial abuser who ran children’s homes in Leicestershire, during which Janner was accused by a witness of abusing him when he was 13 and 14.
A report by Andrew Kirkwood QC, which was made public, did not mention Janner and the evidence has remained inaccessible to the public. Janner was questioned by police after the trial but made no comment and was released without charge.
When Janner, then MP for Leicester West, returned to the Commons after the trial he received a rousing reception. Keith Vaz, the Labour MP who chairs the home affairs select committee, was one of 16 MPs who publicly defended him.
Janner, 86, has been investigated by police in recent months but last week the CPS announced that it would not be prosecuting him because he is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, despite evidence warranting a criminal trial over 22 sex offences.
Peter McKelvie, a former child protection manager whose allegations about historical child sex abuse by a powerful Westminster ring led to the police investigations, said the failure of the Kirkwood inquiry to make evidence public could only have hindered efforts to prosecute Janner. He also urged Vaz to explain his actions. The usually vociferous MP has failed to make any comment and did not respond to inquiries from this newspaper last night.
McKelvie said: “For all the incredibly brave survivors who have come forward with regard to Janner, they deserve at the very least an explanation as to why the Kirkwood inquiry wasn’t made public and they certainly deserve the right to know everything that was heard behind closed doors then. The whole of parliament needs to make a public apology for the standing ovation given to Janner.”
Janner was investigated by three different police inquiries between 1991 and 2007, but none ended in prosecution.
Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, blamed failings within her department and the police for the collapse of previous inquiries. Police said her decision not to prosecute was perverse and are threatening legal action to overturn it.
, Theresa May, the home secretary, said in a radio interview: “I was very concerned when I heard about this decision. It is not my decision, it is entirely a decision for the director of public prosecutions.”
Source: http://www.alternativenewswebsites.com/greville-janner-affair-childrens-homes-inquiry-evidence-must-be-released
