Category Archives: police

Exclusive: Met Police launch nationwide child abuse investigation into Catholic order

Posted on by
National child abuse hero Graham Wilner: Picture reproduced courtesy Rory Wilmer Photography

Campaigning hero Graham Wilmer: Picture reproduced courtesy Rory Wilmer Photography

Over the last two weeks the Met Police Child Abuse Investigation Command  has been  secretly running a new investigation into alleged child abuse involving former schoolboys who went to primary and secondary  schools run by the Roman Catholic Salesian Order in England and Scotland.

Some 23 alleged victims have already contacted in one of the biggest operations since Operation Yewtree  which involved  Jimmy Savile and Operation Fernbridge investigation into sexual abuse at Elm Guest House in Barnes – including tracing people who had left the country for Thailand.

The full story is revealed today in The People (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/paedo-probe-catholic-schools-20-1911825) and Exaro News( http://www.exaronews.com/articles/4979/met-investigates-catholic-order-s-schools-over-child-sex-abuse ). It is known to involve at least 30 victims and 20 priests and teachers, some of whom are now dead, and stretching back some 50 years. Some of the figures were prominent members of the Order which was set up in London in the late nineteenth century and now stretches world-wide.

The impetus for the new investigation comes from one former pupil of  a Salesian school, Graham Wilmer, who was sexually abused himself, and has tirelessly and heroically  campaigned for a full-scale police investigation into the order for decades.

He now runs the Lantern Project (http://www.lanternproject.org.uk) in the Wirral  which counsels victims of child sexual abuse and has managed to pass to the police 50 names of victims and abusers, some of whom had left the country.

The extraordinary decision to launch the investigation was finally prompted – after three false attempts – by a former pupil of a London Salesian school who was a senior colleague of Commander Peter Spindler, now at HM Inspectorate of Constabulary. He knew of the abuse in the order and directly contacted Spindler. His intervention led to Spindler launching the inquiry and the contacting of  victims. (See http://www.exaronews.com/articles/4980/operation-torva-ex-pupil-joined-police-and-triggered-met-probe )

The Scotland Yard codename for the exercise is Operation Torva.

One of the schools where abuse by staff was alleged to have taken place was a Salesian College in Battersea, south London. Famous pupils there include Catherine Tate  who attended the sixth form and Lord O’Donnell, the former cabinet Secretary, who was head boy.

The Met Police said: “The Metropolitan Police takes allegations of sexual abuse very seriously regardless of when they took place. All allegations when reported will be recorded and investigated and where possible evidence will be put before the court in order that offenders will have to answer for their actions. Officers from the Metropolitan Police have been engaging with members of the Lantern Project in order to work in partnership to encourage those who have suffered abuse to come forward.

Graham Wilmer said: “It is a matter of great comfort to us that the response we have had, when talking to the police, has always been very positive, and no one should be concerned about how they will be treated if they report abuse to the police. I would urge any one who has been abused in a Salesian school, or elsewhere, to come forward and make contact with the police in the first instant.

“It has always been a matter of real concern to me that, up until the Jimmy Savile case, it has been very difficult to get justice for victims of sexual abuse, as nobody really wanted to know. Now, everything as changed, and the police, the DPP and the CPS are actively encouraging victims to come forward and seek help.

However, there is still no sign from government that they will provide the funding necessary to support survivor groups, such as the Lantern Project, without which the support that victims who come forward desperately need, will simply not be there.”

The police are taking calls  from victims on 101 or 999 and victims can also contact the Lantern Project on 0151 630 6956 if they don’t want call the police to report child abuse in the Salesian Order.

Exhibit C – the “paedophile”

Posted on by

I have put this excellent blog up to show how important it is to have really good lawyers dealing with child sexual abuse cases – and how plans by the man I dub the ” political mugger ” Chris Grayling, the justice secretary, wants to put this at risk by putting out future legal aided work to the cheapest firms. His package includes encouraging the accused to plead guilty which would have been a disaster in this case. He also wants to put out of business thousands of competent lawyers from taking up cases by excluding them from tendering for work..And incidently if you haven’t got the cash depriving you of your right to have a lawyer of your choice in criminal cases.. I wonder if Grayling would care if the wrong person had ended up in this case in jail – as long as he had saved money.

barristerswife's avatara barrister's wife

This post is one of a series that seeks to dispel the myth that everyone who ends up in court is a scumbag criminal. It is another example of how easy it is for good guys to end up in court. It is another case that illustrates why everyone should be entitled to independent, quality, legal representation and the chance to go to trial and clear their name.

At the moment your rights are under threat from proposals in the MOJ consultation paper Transforming legal aid.  I hope that reading this post will help you understand what these proposals will mean for our justice system.  I hope that once you understand you will want to sign the Save UK Justice petition to have these proposals debated in parliament.

NB this is a true story. Certain details that don’t relate to the factual and legal process have been changed…

View original post 1,407 more words

Police abandon investigation into child sex abuser Sir Cyril Smith MP

Posted on by
Westmonster MP: Child abuser Sir Cyril Smith Pic Credit: dreamcatchersfor abusedchildren.com

Westmonster MP: Child abuser Sir Cyril Smith
Pic Credit: dreamcatchersfor abusedchildren.com

A report by my colleague Nick Fielding for Exaro News ( see http://www.exaronews.com/articles/4961/police-abandon-probe-into-cyril-smith-s-sexual-abuse-of-boys ) reveals the former MP linked to child sex abuse cases at the Elm Guest House in Richmond,London to Rochdale where he was an MP is now off the hook. Full details on the site.

This is despite offers from the NSPCC  charity to provide a dedicated line for victims and growing evidence that Sir Cyril’s illegal activities involving young boys appear  to be on a similar scale to  the late  Jimmy Savile’s abuse of young girls which  are being vigorously pursued by the Met Police ‘s Operation Yewtree.

Greater Manchester police’s decision will add to the considerable disquiet on the internet that there could be yet another Establishment cover up over child sexual abuse cases when it comes to senior politicians. It will probably also calm the nerves of at least three Liberal Democrat peers who started their political careers in the London borough of Richmond in the aftermath of the Elm Guest House scandal which they conveniently would like to forget.

Public trust that the police will properly investigate these  historic scandals is paramount. Great Manchester Police have done people a grave disservice by letting off the hook someone whom they now acknowledge would have been prosecuted for a string of offences. It has been shown by the reactions of dismay, anger and suspicion to this post on Twitter.

Brian Coleman Convicted: A Tory bully and now a thug

Posted on by
Brian Coleman: convicted of assault. No moreexpense account lunches

Brian Coleman: convicted of assault. No more expense account lunches

On the day the purple spots of UKIP started to pop up across the English shires, one former prominent Conservative councillor got even more than just a  drubbing at the polls.

Brian Coleman, former mayor of Barnet, former chair of the London Assembly and chair of the London fire brigade, pleaded guilty to assaulting a  woman cafe owner who tried to  film him breaking his own parking regulations.

Rather than acknowledge that he was breaking the law and the hypocrisy of what he was doing, Coleman resorted to violence that might be associated with a common street brawler. He hit her and grabbed her breast in his attempt to snatch her Iphone..

The representative of the party of law and order ended up with a £1400 fine and restitution for injuries to Helen Michael. For all the gory details of the hearing and the remarkable silence from his fellow Tory councillors in Barnet, read the detailed  and tremendous account by Mrs Angry,   on her very popular  Broken Barnet blog ( http://wwwbrokenbarnet.blogspot.co.uk ).

Frankly after Mr Coleman’s attack on decent firefighters in London, his botched privatisation of the London  fire service through AssetCo and his rude attacks on other Barnet citizens, including a desperate single mum, justice was done.

I am sure it is only a matter of time before Chris Grayling, the justice secretary, feels moved to disown his behaviour. Or perhaps not . it is too embarrassing for  Tory words.

Brave Article, Very Brave Lady.

Posted on by

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is a particularly honest and decent journalist who is prepared to take up causes and issues others might ignore. I am reproducing her article today on the exposure of Stuart Hall via The Needle blog because it is also providing an invaluable archive of child abuse over the last 30 years.Those who are following the Richmond child abuse scandal will find the articles well worth studying as they illustrate the depth of successive cover ups of this issue today and in the past.

gojam's avatartheneedleblog

I think The Independent were brave to publish this article and the lady who wrote the original correspondence which launched the investigation into Stuart Hall was very brave indeed. Please read the entire article.

While most of the media are portraying the crimes Stuart Hall has pleaded guilty to as inappropriate kissing and groping this article betrays the lie to all that and indicates possible collusion with others in the establishment.

I have been waiting anxiously for this moment, the moment when Stuart Hall would either be found guilty or innocent of the sexual abuse of young girls.

Last year I became personally involved in this saga, and that involvement led to the investigation by Lancashire Police which ended with Hall’s confession. His victims must have feared that with his power and money he would fight their allegations and win. He did initially deny all charges and made statements about his “innocence”…

View original post 100 more words

The mad world of Louis Minster- the man who denies he is there

Posted on by

For those following the Richmond child sexual abuse scandal a most extraordinary phone conversation has just taken place between my colleague Mark Conrad for Exaro News and Louis Minster, director of social services at the time.

Mr Minster was in charge of the council’s social services council at the time it is alleged boys from Grafton Close children’s home were taken to Elm Guest House in Barnes and sexually abused by VIPs, including the late Sir Cyril Smith in the early 1980s. He was the boss of John Stingemore, the head of the home, who has already been arrested by the Met police as part of Operation Fernbridge

Mr Minster is in a bit of the trouble. The 81-year-old ex director now living in retirement in Malta first claimed he had never had heard of the scandal when first approached by Exaro. Then it emerged he was briefed by Terry Earland, head of children’s services and now Richmond’s own files showed he twice unusually pulled the file of  a 14-year-old boy in care who had knowledge of child abuse at the time. Yet he knows nothing.

Naturally we would want to ask him about these discrepancies. So when rung up in Malta he pretends he isn’t there and he isn’t Louis Minster. When rumbled he doesn’t want to answer any questions. Listen to the amazing interview at Exaro News (http://www.exaronews.com/articles/4950/ex-richmond-boss-louis-minster-denies-being-louis-minster ).

Perhaps it is about time he was questioned by the Met Police. Then he won’t be able to dodge these questions and pretend he is someone else.

Richmond child sex abuse file ” No further action required”

Posted on by
Richmond Council: Another cover up exposedPic courtesy: http://www.officespaceinlondon.lnet.

Richmond Council: Another cover up exposed Pic courtesy: http://www.officespaceinlondon.lnet.

The latest damning disclosure about both the police and Richmond Council’s handling of the  child abuse scandal  at Elm Guest House and Grafton Close children’s home adds to growing disquiet that both the council and the police were not up to the job.

An article by me and Mark Conrad in exaro news ( see http://www.exaronews.com/articles/4944/richmond-files-reveal-failure-to-pursue-claim-of-child-sex-abuse ) and in the Sunday People ( see http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/elm-guest-house-abuse-scandal-1857494)  reveals yet another example of the authorities turning a blind eye.

Since the incident goes close to any potential trial I am restrained for legal reasons to go into too much detail or identify the file. However a copy of the entry has been sent to me.

The alarming thing is that this happened TWO years after the event and a year after the raid on Elm Guest House in Barnes and yet it appears neither the police – who requested the interview – or the council – took any other action to investigate. Just as they did not pursue the people involved after they raided the guest house in 1982 apart from prosecuting Mr Kasir, then the owner.

What is also very disturbing is the role of Louis Minster, the director of social services now living abroad, who twice requested a copy of this file with the complaints about sexual abuse. Once was when the boy involved was not even in council care. Why? No answer is forthcoming from Mr Minster who claimed earlier he had no knowledge of the  Elm Guest House scandal until it appeared on Exaro News website and in the Sunday People. Really, Mr Minster?

Equally distressing is that our source who requested  the file is ” not surprised” that the record shows the council and police did nothing. How bad is that?

This incident took place in the year Conservative minority rule ended at Richmond and the Liberal SDP Alliance took control. Until the whole story comes out there is now a stain on the record of the original police investigation and the Tories and Liberals in charge of Richmond Council at the time.

Responsibility in Public Office? – Cathy James

Posted on by

I am reblogging this because it reveals an appalling attitude by Cumbria Police to prosecute those who exposed an outrageous expense claim by their new Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner,Richard Rhodes. Such an act is chilling responsible journalism and bullying the staff who rightly disclosed this. Why is there not a proper public log of his use of taxpayers’ money for expenses?

INFORRM's avatarInforrm's Blog

_64200175_richard_rhodesOne cannot fail to be shocked by the way in which the Cumbrian police have dealt with those who leaked information to the press about the excessive expenses of their recently elected Police and Crime Commissioner.  The Commissioner, Richard Rhodes, held a press conference in which he admitted that it was wrong to have incurred the cost of hiring a private chauffeur at the public’s expense, but then said he was not responsible for the decision to prosecute those who put the information into the public domain. 

View original post 713 more words

Investigators under investigation: Met Police inquiry into IPCC over Richmond abuse scandal

Posted on by
IPCC: Under investigation by Met Police over handling of Richmond complaint

IPCC: Under investigation by Met Police over handling of Richmond complaint

Operation Fernbridge – the criminal investigation into a paedophile ring centred round the London borough of Richmond and the shady Elm Guest House – is now turning to the role of Independent Police Complaints Commission over the whole affair.

As reported by my excellent colleague for Exaro News, Mark Conrad,(see http://www.exaronews.com/articles/4936/met-investigates-police-watchdog-over-richmond-paedo-ring) in an amazing turn of events the  Met Police is now investigating the role of the police investigators.

The turn of events is extraordinary. A former local government employee at Richmond and GMB trade unionist put a complaint into the police some 20 years after the police raid on the Elm Guest House. The police while taking down the details did not appear to investigate.

So he complained to the IPCC who also appear to have dismissed the inquiry.He then used the appeal process to complain about the IPCC who again dismissed it.

To be fair most of the complaint concentrated on yet another hushed up  Richmond scandal – the physical abuse of elderly people at another care home – but there is a clear mention of child abuse in the first complaint to the police.

Now 30 years later ( and one has to be careful not to prejudice a future trial) there is enough evidence to justify the arrest of two people in connection with the child sexual abuse inquiry, it logically follows that the police certainly did not do their job and the IPCC appear to have been cavalier about doing theirs.

What is emerging is that the Conservative and Liberal run leafy borough of Richmond – which made the careers of three Liberal Democrat peers, Lord Razzall, Baroness Tonge and Baroness Hamwee – was behind the net curtains not a very savoury place. And it is clear that the authorities and the complaints procedure were found wanting. Watch out for more damaging revelations to come on Richmond once Exaro has fully investigated them.

Now Met Police target Roman Catholic Church in historic sex abuse investigation

Posted on by

The Met Police  has launched a further investigation into historic child sex abuse – this time focusing on the Roman Catholic Church in England.

I understand from good sources that the Met Police are investigating the role of a Roman Catholic bishop – both involving allegations involving paedophilia and whether he protected Roman Catholic priests who were alleged paedophiles.

For legal reasons I cannot say much more since there is an ongoing criminal investigation under Operation Fernbridge where they have already been two arrests and a decision is expected this week by the Met Police whether to charge the two individuals  or extend their bail.

Quite separately I am also told the Met Police may start soon investigating other Catholic institutions in the UK.

A statement from the  Roman Catholic church said: ” “I am not aware of any generic police investigation into sexual abuse linked to the Catholic Church in the UK. Similarly, I am not aware of any investigation into a particular bishop. However, were there to be an investigation, clearly we would co-operate.”

There is a report by me and Mark Conrad, putting it into context with overseas investigations into the Roman Catholic Church on Exaro News at http://www.exaronews.com/articles/4928/met-s-paedophile-unit-starts-investigating-catholic-church-in-uk … and in the Sunday People at http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/catholic-church-uk-faces-child-1830837 ….

The new direction  I am told is very significant. More information on this will be put up in the next few weeks when I can get it verified and properly researched.