UK ex- politician to face years- old child sex charges
A BRITISH ex- politician has been accused of child sex offences dating back 50 years against boys as young as eight.
The fate of Greville Janner, 86, will now be played out publicly in the courts after the country’s top prosecutor did a U- turn and ordered that he face justice.
After an independent review, Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders admitted her original ruling that he was too ill to face justice was flawed.
Police and abuse victims were outraged when prosecutors announced in April they would not charge Janner over his alleged offences against boys several decades ago, even though there was enough evidence to prosecute him.
Prosecutors said his Alzheimer’s meant he was not fit to stand trial, but with mounting complaints, prosecutors decided “it was in the public interest to bring proceedings before the court”.
The allegations against Janner, a Labour politician from 1970- 97 and who later served in the House of Lords, have now been made public for the first time.
They reveal he is accused of abusing nine boys under 16 for more than 25 years until August 1988, with the youngest alleged victim aged just eight.
At the height of his alleged crimes, he is accused of abusing three victims in one month. Other charges reveal he is accused of preying repeatedly on the same boys over months and even years.
Mrs Saunders said deciding to prosecute had been “an extremely difficult and borderline case because of the strong arguments on both sides”, adding it was “a matter of real regret” that Janner had not been prosecuted sooner.
The U- turn delighted alleged victims, who said it was a “vindication” of their pressure on prosecutors.