Prince ‘refused to provide statement’ on bishop’s abuse

THE Prince of Wales refused to provide a formal witness statement to a child sex abuse inquiry, lawyers told a hearing yesterday.

The inquiry is hearing evidence relating to abuse by Peter Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and of Gloucester, who exchanged letters with the Prince.

Lawyers for the Prince used human rights law to block efforts to compel him to send a witness statement with a formal statement of truth, which is essentially equivalent to swearing on oath. He sent a signed letter instead.

Ball was convicted in 2015 of misconduct in public office after admitting abusing 18 teenagers and young men between the Seventies and Nineties.

The abuse had first been reported to the Church in 1992, but police and the CPS decided to give him a caution.

Fiona Scolding, the lead counsel to the investigation into the Anglican Church, said the inquiry had decided to treat the Prince’s letter as equivalent to a witness statement.

The statement will be read out at the hearing on Friday. It is expected to say that the Prince was “not aware at the time of the significance or impact of the caution that Peter Ball had accepted”, including the fact that a caution involves admission of guilt.