Inquiry into child sex abuse begins
MARGARET Thatcher’s decision to approve suspected child abuser Cyril Smith for a knighthood helped him maintain close links to children’s services, a new inquiry has heard.
The late politician received the honour in 1988 despite knowledge “at the very highest level of politics” about past allegations, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was told.
Evidence hearings have begun in the national probe to examine how Smith was able to prey on young boys at Cambridge House hostel and the Knowl View residential school in Rochdale, where Smith served as MP from 1972-1992.
But lead counsel Brian Altman QC said the knighthood conferred a “veneer of respectability and power” that afforded influence over child welfare cases at Rochdale Borough Council.
A Lancashire Police investigation into the Liberal MP’s alleged sexual abuse of young boys ended in 1970 when the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) concluded it was unlikely to lead to a prosecution.
Downing Street was aware of both the investigation, based on accusations from eight boys, and two press reports into Smith’s alleged offending, documents from the time indicate.
Mr Altman said: “I mention this knighthood here for two reasons. First, because it demonstrates that the Lancashire investigation and the (Rochdale Alternative Press) article had been considered at the very highest level of politics and seemingly did not prompt more than consideration of the DPP’s decision not to prosecute.
“Second, because it is important to bear in mind the extent to which Cyril Smith continued to involve himself in serious issues related to the welfare of children.
“A knighthood would only have reinforced Smith’s veneer of respectability and power.”
He pointed to a case in 1991 in which Smith apparently played a key role in removing a child from his family home.
“The child in question had behaved sexually towards his eight-yearold sister,” Mr Altman said.
“Rochdale social services were attempting to manage this situation but it is quite clear that it was the involvement of Smith in his capacity as the local MP that was decisive.”
The 29-stone politician, who died in 2010, was the subject of sex abuse accusations and investigations over decades during his career in Rochdale, but never faced trial.
An investigation into the MP in 1970, the year he first ran for national office, concluded he was hiding behind a “veneer of respectability” to target eight young boys at Cambridge House during the 1960s.