Crown was ‘not told’ of Janner Scottish sex claims
A LABOUR peer accused of child sex offences was reported to Scottish police for abusing a teenage boy – but prosecutors have no record of the case.
Lord Greville Janner is at the centre of a growing scandal over the failure of the Crown Prosecution Service in England to bring him to trial, on the grounds that he has dementia.
It has emerged one of his alleged victims claimed the MP took him to Scotland in the 1970s, during which he claims he was subjected to serious sexual assaults.
He made a report at an Edinburgh police station in 1991 – but t he Crown Office l ast night disclosed that its officials were not told about the allegations.
Police Scotland was unable to say if it had a record of any investigation having taken place.
The Crown Office statement has sparked concern among child abuse campaigners of another possible cover-up, amid mounting evidence the peer’s alleged paedophile activities went unchecked because of his powerful police contacts.
The disclosures come ahead of an inquiry into institutional child abuse by the Scottish Government and coincide with a police probe i nto claims of an Edinburgh paedophile ring involving senior l egal figures, i ncluding former Solicitor General Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, the late Tory MP.
Kelvyn Ashby, a former detective inspector in Leicester, has claimed that senior officers forced him to shelve his inquiry into Lord Janner, who was a Leicester MP for nearly 30 years.
Mr Ashby said the alleged abuse was said to have taken place during a trip around Scotland.
He added: ‘My only recollection is that we verified that the tour took place. I think it was some sort of official tour for the Labour Party.
‘It must have been quite a rarity for an English parliamentarian to be going on a tour of Scotland.’
He insisted his officers would have contacted the r elevant Scottish force to keep it fully updated about any alleged crimes committed within its jurisdiction.
Last month, Lord Janner, 86, was told that if it were not for his illness, he would have been charged with 22 historic child sex offences. The first allegations against Lord Janner emerged during the trial of Frank Beck, a social worker in Leicestershire who was found guilty of child abuse in 1991.
Leicestershire Police began an investigation, but prosecutors said no further action would be taken.
In July 1991, the alleged victim who gave evidence during the Beck trial – then in his thirties – made a report in person at an Edinburgh police station. But no report was ever filed with the Crown Office.
A spokesman said yesterday: ‘We have not received a report in relation to this matter.’
Alan Draper, parliamentary liaison officer for In Care Abuse Survivors, said: ‘ We should know what the Scottish police did with this information. How far did they investigate? Is there evidence to suggest they were leant on?’
Lawyer Liz Dux is representing the man who made the allegations relating to Scotland. She said: ‘I’d be keen to see every allegation that has not been properly investigated looked at again.’
Police Scotland said the force would attempt to uncover further details of the allegation, which was l odged with the now- defunct Lothian and Borders Police.
Lord Janner’s family have issued a statement insisting he is ‘entirely innocent of any wrongdoing’.
‘Were the police leant on?’