Allegations ‘an attack on my children, not just me’

IT is not the first time that John Hemming has successfully defended his reputation in court over the unfounded allegations.

Last year, the father-of-five won a libel action over comments made by two supporters of Miss Baker.

Graham Wilmer, founder of the Lantern Project, set up to help survivors of abuse, posted four comments on social media between September and October 2017.

He agreed to make a £1,000 donation to Birmingham Children’s Hospital in lieu of damages and pay £9,028 – almost all Mr Hemming’s costs. He also apologised.

David Hencke, former head of news at website Exaro, and who now runs his own blog, agreed to pay Victim Support £500 and carry a statement on his website.

The agreement states: “The defendant (Mr Hencke) shall not in future publish anything conveying the meaning (whether expressly, by imputation or innuendo) that the claimant (Mr Hemming) raped Esther Baker.”

It adds: “The defendant agrees not to refer to Esther Baker as a ‘victim’ or ‘survivor’ when the use of such terms in context presupposes the truth of her claims against the claimant (but not, for the avoidance of doubt, against others).”

After that victory, Mr Hemming said: “To protect my family, I had to withdraw from standing for election. I could not give the time commitment that this needed if I was a candidate.

“The people who have campaigned in support of these false allegations should realise it is an attack on my children, not just me. My priority has always been to protect my children, not merely myself.”

The former MP does not criticise the media for publicising the claims.

“In many ways, the media has behaved responsibly,” he said. “The mainstream media has, generally, behaved very well. They behaved in a responsible manner and did not identify me in the early stages.”

In fact, with fingers pointing at him, it was Mr Hemming who decided to identify himself. He is, however, critical of politicians who, he says, “promoted” those allegations.

“Interestingly, that process undermines a police investigation,” he said. “If they were serious, those allegations should have been reported to the police, not aired during a televised Sky report from Cannock Chase. This has been a pressure on everyone involved, having to watch CCTV at your home to see if an attack may occur. It is a very oppressive situation.”

It was in 2017 that Mr Hemming revealed he was the “former MP” questioned by the police over the claim he had abused a girl.

“It was obvious from the start that the allegations were nonsense,” he stressed.

He was never arrested or charged, but lived in fear of vigilante reprisals because of what he described as a “unjust campaign of vilification”.