The former Elm Tree Guest House Pic courtesy: Exaro

Harry Kasir, the former co manager of Elm Guest House in Barnes, appears to be on the verge of leaving the country.

Mr Kasir, a central figure in the scandal involving investigations into child sex abuse at the guest house, was convicted  with his wife, Carole, of running a gay brothel after the police raid on the place in 1982.

The full story by my Exaro colleague Fiona O’Cleirigh and myself (http://bit.ly/YA42MS)  reveals that Kasir has recently sought  to raise nearly £60,000 from his ex-partner –  part of his share of  their house. He wants the money under a legal agreement by  next Monday. The story also appeared in the Sunday People in a  more shortened form.(http://bit.ly/11V6sMC)

He is also thought to have applied for a residential visa to move to the United States so he can live with his 40-year-old son. Kasir has two passports – a UK and a Pakistani passport.

Exaro has informed the police . Certainly Kasir might have many reasons to move – his home has been raided by the police and he has been pursued by journalists from us, the  Sunday People and Channel Four News. He has reserved his right not to speak to anyone.

However if he does go abroad – given the weakness of the US UK extradition treaty – thanks to  former home secretary Mr David Blunkett, it is going to be difficult for anyone to get him back.

Justice will need to be seen to be done in this criminal investigation and I suspect that Mr Kasir should be telling the police everything he knows.