‘Victims’ devastated as Janner sex abuse trial is scrapped
ALLEGED sex abuse victims of the late Lord Janner were said to be devastated yesterday after the criminal case against him was dropped.
He had been charged with 22 sexual offences dating back to the 1960s against nine alleged victims, who were mostly under 16 at the time.
But legal proceedings were left in limbo when the 87-year-old Labour peer died on December 19, days after he was found unfit to stand trial. He had been suffering from dementia.
Announcing the decision not to press ahead with a trial of facts scheduled for April, prosecutor Richard Whittam QC told the Old Bailey yesterday that more charges had been due to be brought. He added that a copy of Lord Janner’s
‘They have been denied justice’
death certificate had been produced for the court file, bringing an end to the criminal matter.
After the short hearing, Liz Dux, a lawyer for eight alleged victims, said: ‘My clients are obviously devastated that they are no longer able to give their evidence in a criminal court.
‘They understand the reasons why but that doesn’t make up for the real travesty – that many gave their statements decades ago and have been denied justice through a failure to prosecute earlier when Janner was alive and well.’
She said her clients hoped the Goddard inquiry into child sexual abuse, which is resuming its investigation into Lord Janner, would let them give evidence in person and make findings of fact.
‘It is vital that all the evidence that has painstakingly been gathered over the years is carefully considered by the independent inquiry and that findings of fact are made public,’ Miss Dux added.
A spokesman for the inquiry said it would seek evidence from all relevant parties and make findings of fact where appropriate.
‘If allegations are found to be true, the inquiry will then consider the extent of any institutional failures to protect children from abuse and make recommendations for the future,’ she added.
The inquiry will look into Leicestershire County Council, a number of care homes where the former MP for Leicester West is alleged to have abused children, the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Labour Party.
A description of the scope of the investigation will be published on Monday and there will be a preliminary hearing on March 9.
Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders had originally decided Lord Janner should not be charged with alleged child sex crimes because of his ill health, but that was overturned by an independent review last year.
Last month, the peer was formally declared unfit to stand trial due to his ‘deteriorating’ dementia.
After the announcement that the criminal case had been closed, the CPS said yesterday that the findings of retired judge Sir Richard Henriques’s review of its handling of sex abuse allegations against Lord Janner would be published ‘at the earliest opportunity’.
Lord Macdonald, a former DPP, said it was a ‘matter of huge regret’ that a case had not been brought against the peer in the past.
He told Radio 4: ‘It highlights the really abysmal performance of the criminal justice system, in this case over a number of years, including of course during the time I was DPP between 2003 and 2008.
‘It appears that numerous opportunities were lost, or not properly investigated, to bring a case.’
Lord Janner’s family have protested his innocence and described him as a man of ‘great integrity’.