Wide range of child and adult abuse inquiries

Accusations that Greville Janner, the former Labour MP, sexually abused a number of children are to be tested in court after an independent lawyer ruled the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was wrong not to bring charges.

The Crown Prosecution Service is expected to announce the decision on Monday.

Despite evidence that the frail, 86-year-old politician committed “some of the most serious sexual crimes imaginable”, Alison Saunders, the DPP, chose not to bring criminal charges against him because of the “severity” of his dementia.

Failing to charge Lord Janner meant it was not possible to hold a “trial of the facts”. If a defendant is unfit to plead, the judge can still rule that the jury will hear the issues to decide what actually happened.

There have been calls for Ms Saunders to resign over her failure to give Lord Janner’s alleged victims their day in court and the overturning of her decision will increase the pressure on her to quit.

Liz Dux, a lawyer representing many alleged victims, told The Guardian website that “their faith in British justice is restored. It is a total vindication of why they challenged the original decision of the DPP. All they ever wanted was to give their evidence in a court and have findings of fact established.”


Lord Janner is alleged to have committed a string of sexual abuses dating back as far as the 1960s. Ms Saunders’s decision not to charge him was challenged by alleged victims in a legal process referred to as a right to review.
Read more: Janner allegations 'will be heard in court'
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This is believed to be one of the first times alleged victims have been able to overturn a DPP decision, clearing the way for a trial of the facts.

The trial will mean allegations against him, which have been the subject of three failed police investigations, will now be aired in open court, although the defendant is unlikely to be present.

In April this year, Ms Saunders said there was enough evidence to charge Lord Janner with 22 charges of child sex abuse between 1969 and 1988. However, she claimed it would not be in the public’s interest to charge him because he suffered from dementia and would neither understand the court proceedings nor be able to take part. Her decision overruled Eleanor Laws QC, an expert in child-abuse law, who had recommended Lord Janner be charged.

There was a rift between the DPP and Leicestershire Police force, which had spent two years investigating the allegations for the latest inquiry. The force threatened legal action against Ms Saunders, claiming that the failure to charge Lord Janner was “perverse”.

Yesterday, London Mayor Boris Johnson added his voice to the call for justice for the victims. In an interview for radio station LBC, he said: “I think it’s very important that nobody should be under any impression Greville Janner has had an easy ride from the CPS or has been in some way allowed to escape justice.

“It may be that Alison Saunders can think of some approach that would allow the facts of the case to be tested in some legal way without, as it were, putting Lord Janner on trial.”

Lord Janner’s family continue to insist that the peer is innocent of all allegations.

Lord Janner is to be prosecuted over claims of historical sex abuse after a review overturned a CPS decision.

The Crown Prosecution Service announced in April that the 86-year-old would not be charged because of his severe form of dementia.

An independent QC has now recommended the decision be overruled.

Lord Janner, MP for Leicester West for 27 years, denies any wrongdoing and his family says the peer "is entirely innocent".

The decision follows a review of the case under the CPS Victim's Right to Review Scheme, which allows people to have their case looked at again no matter who in the CPS took the decision not to prosecute.

The review by David Perry QC concluded that it was in the public interest to bring proceedings before a criminal court.

Greville Janner to be prosecuted for child sexual offences

29/06/2015

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Alison Saunders will now bring criminal proceedings against Greville Janner for child sex offences.

This follows a review of the case under the recently introduced CPS Victims' Right to Review scheme, which allows victims to have their cases looked at again, no matter who in the CPS made the original decision not to prosecute.

In the past year the scheme has meant that more than 200 prosecutions have been brought that would not have been brought otherwise.

In April this year the DPP decided that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute, meaning that, in her view, if there could be a full criminal trial a jury would be likely to convict Lord Janner. However, the DPP considered that it was not in the public interest to prosecute. This was because there was undisputed medical evidence that Greville Janner was not fit to stand trial which meant there could not be a full criminal trial and he could not therefore be found guilty of any offence and because he was not a danger to the public. It was also in light of the fact that the DPP sought assurances that the complainants would have the opportunity to give their account to the public inquiry led by Justice Goddard which has been set up to look at cases which may have been mis-handled in the past.

Without the compelling medical evidence the DPP has made clear that she would have brought a prosecution.

In May, six of the complainants in this case requested a formal Right to Review, and at the DPP's request, David Perry QC was instructed to provide advice to inform the CPS review of the decision.

The review concluded that it was in the public interest to bring proceedings before the court.

In reaching that conclusion, the review agreed that although there is sufficient evidence to prosecute, it is right to assume that Greville Janner will inevitably be found unfit to plead and therefore not fit to instruct his legal team and not fit to challenge or give evidence in a trial. Therefore the most likely outcome of a "trial of the facts" would be an absolute discharge, which is neither punishment nor conviction.

Alison Saunders said: "The Victims' Right to Review scheme has brought a much needed voice for victims of crime and this review shows that any decision can be reversed, no matter who has made it. It is a scheme I helped to bring in and it is a process I fully support and am not above. I requested a non-CPS lawyer to advise on this case so that the review would be seen as fully independent. That was the right thing to do, and was a decision I made in the interests of fairness and maintaining public confidence in the criminal justice system.

"I have always said that in my view this was an extremely difficult and borderline case because of the strong arguments on both sides. I have also always emphasised my concern for the complainants in this case. I understood their need to be heard, which is why I contacted Justice Goddard to ensure that they could give evidence as part of the public inquiry. However, the review has concluded that this forum, albeit a public one, cannot substitute for the adjudication of the courts. I accept the outcome of the review and will now be bringing this prosecution to allow for that adjudication to happen.

"The case is first listed at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 7 August 2015."

As there are now active criminal proceedings nothing should be said, commented on, or shared online which may prejudice those. It will be a matter for the court to consider if Greville Janner should appear or be excused on medical grounds from attending court.

The CPS has also received a draft of Sir Richard Henriques' report which the DPP commissioned on the handling and decision making in relation to previous allegations made against Greville Janner in 1991, 2002 and 2007. It is now being finalised, but it is clear that it will confirm the DPP's view that the CPS decisions in 1991 and 2007 were wrong as well as concluding that the handling of the case previously by both police and prosecutors was unsatisfactory.

The DPP, Alison Saunders, said: "It is a matter of real regret that prosecutions weren't brought by the police and CPS in the past.

"We have brought forward this decision as public speculation on this review has brought damaging and unacceptable uncertainty for the complainants in this case. We have now done what we can to inform the complainants of the outcome of the review and I have offered to meet each of them should they wish."

The DPP has demonstrated her personal commitment to tackling the sexual abuse of children - in 2014-15 the CPS brought more charges and delivered more convictions than ever before.

Dee Coy wrote:"They were discussing a madam who had provided a girl of about 15 to Oliver Reed ... the detective sergeant said he had just had a major child abuse investigation shut down by the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] regarding a royal and an MP ... he did not mention names, but he said the CPS had said it was not in the public’s interest because it ‘could destabilize national security.’”

Hmm, Bubblewrapped. Where have we heard that phrase before?