Why is Labour Peer Lord Janner not being
prosecuted because he has dementia? At least 19 defendants suffering
with the disease have been convicted for sex crimes... and TEN were in
the past year
- CPS boss Alison Saunders said Janner is unfit to plead due to dementia
- But the CPS has pursued other suspected paedophiles with illness
- Two months ago Roy Shaw was unfit to plead but put on trial anyway
- Teachers, fathers, scout leader and others with dementia also convicted
- CPS now accused of ‘double standards’ for not pursuing case
The CPS was today accused of double
standards for not prosecuting Lord Janner after it emerged at least 19
men with dementia have been convicted of child sex offences since 2010,
including ten in the past year.
MailOnline can reveal that some
paedophiles, including several too ill to enter a plea, have still been
prosecuted and in some cases jailed for the rest of their lives because
of historic sex attacks.
On Friday Alison Saunders, Director of
Public Prosecutions, concluded that former Labour MP Lord Janner’s
dementia made him unfit to plead on 22 historic child sex offences
between 1969 and 1988.
She decided there was no public interest
in prosecuting Janner because of his illness, yet the CPS’ latest
prosecution of a dementia sufferer on sex charges came in February.
Two months ago Roy Shaw, 68, was
considered unfit to plead to child sex charges against him but was tried
by a jury anyway for sex attacks dating back to 2013, and detained in a
hospital indefinitely under the mental health act.
Peter Saunders, of the National
Association for People Abused in Childhood said: ‘This is certainly
double standards by the CPS. Of course any right thinking person knows
deep down there is a cover up here.
‘The cases MailOnline has uncovered prove that and I believe there are more. I believe he’s being protected.
‘There is unease that someone as
influential and high profile as Lord Janner will not face trial when Joe
Bloogs has. It is very convenient that the CPS finally admits he should
have been prosecuted just a the time when they say they can’t.
‘People are worried about the beans he might spill should he be brought to trial’.
In January paedophile John Hayford, 84,
who has dementia and Alzheimer’s, was jailed for two years for abusing a
seven-year-old 20 years ago in Stanmore, London.
He was sentenced two months after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a girl, nine, in a supermarket.
In December Swindon pensioner William
Chamberlain, 66, an alcoholic with dementia, was told he may die in
prison after he was found to have abused a girl from the age of five,
threatening to kill her family if she told them.
A judge jailed him for eight years and eight months and told him he stole the girl’s innocence.
Cases: Last year William Chamberlain, 66, left, and
Joseph Birtles, 81, right, both of whom have dementia, were told they
may die in jail for abusing children and given prison sentences
Last August Joseph Birtles, 81, a retired
primary school teacher who abused children as young as eight over 20
years, was convicted of 15 counts of indecent assault on seven victims.
His defence team pleaded for ‘mercy’
because of his dementia and other illnesses but he was jailed for seven
years at the Old Bailey and told he would likely die in prison.
The contrast with Janner’s case has caused
fury among his victims and campaigners and came as it emerged the
politician, diagnosed with dementia in 2009, has claimed tens of
thousands of pounds in expenses in recent years.
HOW COURTS CAN DEAL WITH SUSPECTS WITH SEVERE DEMENTIA
A procedure exists to deal with criminal suspects thought to have mental illness.
In serious cases where a judge rules a
suspect is not fit to stand trial a jury can hear the evidence in the
suspect’s absence and decide if the individual committed the crimes.
A suspect is not found to be guilty, or not guilty, but a jury do rule on if they have committed the crimes.
Often the judge will order them be detained in hospital, often indefinitely.
The patient’s discharge, transfer or leave of absence from hospital cannot be without the consent of the Secretary of State.
He voted in the House of Lords 37 times in
2013 and took a formal leave of absence last October. When asked if he
would consider retiring when the election was called, he responded in a
personally signed letter received just three weeks ago – on April 9 –
asking to continue in office.
Last summer Stephen Turner, who has
bipolar disorder and fronto-temporal dementia, which leads to changes in
personality, was found unfit to stand trial but found to have carried
out a number of child sex offences.
He had performed a sex act on himself in
front of children in a theme park three months after police found a
cache of child porn on his computer, and was sentenced to a hospital
order.
Last March a former director of the Ulster
Museum in Belfast, John Nolan, was convicted of abusing a little girl
but given a suspended sentence.
His defence QC told the judge that sending
his client to prison ‘would be a death sentence and Judge Piers Grant
agreed that although his offending deserved a prison sentence he would
‘exercise considerable mercy’.
In February 2014 David Massingham was
deemed unfit to stand trial back in February because of his memory loss
and confused state.
But a jury at Teesside Crown Court still
heard his case and convicted him of ten indecent assaults and an offence
of a serious sexual assault committed more than 30 years ago. He was
also detained in a hospital.
In 2012 Gerald Longman, now 81, was spared
jail despite sexually and physically abusing his daughters, who waived
their anonymity to say they wished he was dead.
Longman was given an absolute discharge at
Taunton Crown Court as he had been deemed unfit to stand trial due to
dementia – but a jury listened to the facts and ruled he had committed
the crimes.
In 2008 Canadian actor Iain Quarrier was convicted of the attempted abduction of a five-year-old girl in a busy supermarket.
He was given a suspended sentence and
banned from unsupervised contact with children after his defence argued
he was suffering from korsakoff’s syndrome, a form of dementia and was
also an alcoholic, but claimed he was not a paedophile.
Despite these string of cases over recent
years the Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders spoke of her
‘deep regret’ as she announced that Lord Janner will not face trial.
But she also ruled that he should have been charged three times before in 1991, 2002 and 2007 but was left off the hook.
The top QC blamed police and prosecutors
and launched in independent review, but her comments stoked fears that
Lord Janner is the beneficiary of a wholesale cover-up.
Yesterday, calls were growing for a
judicial review of her decision, something which Leicestershire Police
has said it is already considering.
Simon Danczuk, the Labour MP who exposed
Cyril Smith, said the weight of criticism against Mrs Saunders suggested
something has ‘clearly gone very badly wrong’.
He said: ‘Mrs Saunders is now seen as a roadblock to justice and it’s hard to see how her position remains tenable.’
Last night, one of the nine victims who
had been lined up to give evidence against the former Leicester West MP
waived his right to anonymity to say the decision ‘beggars belief’ – and
claimed it points to an establishment cover-up.
Hamish Baillie, 47, said he was unable to
trust adults after allegedly being molested by Lord Janner during a game
of hide-and-seek in a park, when he was a 15-year-old resident of a
children’s home.
But he added that the failure to prosecute
the peer for a fourth time – three inquiries were curtailed by police
or the Crown Prosecution Service – was a ‘complete travesty’.
Last night it emerged the legal adviser to Alison Saunders was a barrister in the same chambers as the son of Lord Janner.
The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed
that the Director of Public Prosecutions consulted Neil Moore – a
barrister at 23 Essex Street where Daniel Janner worked – over whether
to prosecute Lord Janner, The Times reported.
Under pressure: Alison Saunders (right) has said
her job as head of the Crown Prosecution Service was to make the
correct legal decisions in difficult cases, like Lord Janner’s, right,
not the most popular ones
Sir Loader appalled at decision to not prosecute Janner (related)
And senior police officers probing
allegations of child abuse offences against the Labour peer have
reportedly raised concerns about Mr Moore’s involvement in the decision
to not proceed with his trial.
Last night a CPS spokesman said Mrs
Saunders made the decision not to prosecute on her own, and that Mr
Moore told her he had been in chambers with Lord Janner’s son before
discussing the case. He said Mr Moore had acted properly at all times.
Meanwhile it was also claimed that alleged
victims of Lord Janner could launch legal action against Mrs Saunders’s
decision not to charge him.
Top lawyers claim the CPS could now face a judicial review, reported The Daily Telegraph.
The newspaper also reported that
campaigners want full details of Lord Janner’s recent contact with House
of Lords officials – because they claim it could provide more evidence
on his mental state.
Lord Janner is said to have written to
Lords clerks earlier this month to tell them he did not want to step
down as a serving peer.
A CPS spokesperson said: ‘This case was
dealt with according to the Code for Crown Prosecutors, as is every
other case we deal with, but no case can be compared to another as each
brings its own very different circumstances and so is judged on its own
facts and merits.
‘Fitness to plead proceedings, which can
include a “trial of the facts” is most often sought when the accused is
considered to be at risk of further offending or where treatment could
be ordered by the court. Of course such proceedings are also more likely
to be brought if the medical evidence is not compelling and if
proceedings have already begun when mental illness is raised as an
issue.
‘The DPP has made clear already that the
presence of dementia is not a bar to prosecution, but its severity and
impact must be considered. In the case of Greville Janner the evidence
that he is unfit to plead was overwhelming and from four different
medical experts. There is also no treatment for his diagnosed dementia
and no risk of further offending meaning no order would be imposed by
any court.’
LABOUR PEER ABUSED ME AT 15. WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHY HE’S NEVER FACED COURT: VICTIM ALLEGEDLY ABUSED BY LORD JANNER SPEAKS OUT
Father Hamish Baillie (pictured) claims Lord Janner abused him during a game of hide-and-seek in 1983
A father allegedly abused by Lord Janner has called for the top legal official who decided against prosecuting him to step down.
Alison Saunders, Director of Public Prosecutions, concluded dementia made the 86-year-old unfit to plead.
Last night, one of the nine victims who
had been lined up to give evidence against the former Leicester West MP
waived his right to anonymity to say the decision ‘beggars belief’ – and
claimed it points to an establishment cover-up.
Hamish Baillie, 47, said he was unable to
trust adults after being molested by Lord Janner during a game of
hide-and-seek in a park, when he was a 15-year-old resident of a
children’s home.
But he added that the failure to prosecute
the peer for a fourth time – three inquiries were curtailed by police
or the Crown Prosecution Service – was a ‘complete travesty’.
The father-of-three said he turned to
drugs as a result of the abuse, which left him ‘questioning myself and
everyone around me’.
He believes Lord Janner was ‘steered’ in
his direction by the care home’s manager, Frank Beck – a friend who
would later be convicted of a string of child sex offences.
He added: ‘I don’t think anybody other
than the victims and the police involved in the Operation Enamel inquiry
understand how perverted a man Lord Janner is.
‘He has blighted my life … How can they
[the CPS] publicise the fact that there was enough evidence to charge,
yet then say it is not in the public interest to pursue it?’
Mr Baillie, of Hinckley, Leicestershire, added: ‘No disrespect to the public, but what about the interest of the victims?
‘As far as I’m concerned, her [Mrs
Saunders’s] actions are barely any less perverse than the abuse
inflicted upon me as a teenager. She should initiate an inquiry into her
own conduct and then step down because Alison Saunders certainly hasn’t
been doing her job properly.’
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