Pressure mounts on sex probe judge
THE controversy over the retired judge leading an inquiry into historic sex abuse took a new twist last night.
Baroness Butler- Sloss has been under fire all week over her suitability to lead the Government’s probe into abuse by politicians and other powerful figures.
Critics said it was inappropriate for her to keep the post given that her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was Attorney General in the 1980s when much of the alleged abuse is said to have occurred.
Now, fresh concerns have been raised over the appointment of the Barnoness to investigate a previous scandal.
In 1987, she shot to public attention when she led an inquiry into claims of widespread child abuse in Cleveland, Teeside.
It was ordered after 121 children were removed from their homes by social workers on the basis of a diagnosis by a paediatrician.
All but 27 were later returned and received compensation.
In an interview about her career, when asked who had instigated the inquiry, Lady Butler- Sloss admitted it was her brother.
She made the remarks during a public lecture series at Gresham College in London in 2003.
She went on to describe how Margaret Thatcher said the situation in Cleveland, where many children had been admitted to the local hospital on suspicion of abuse, had gotten “out of hand”.
Lady Butler- Sloss added: “I think my brother said ‘well I think you’d better have a woman judge’ and there were only three women judges and by a process, I have to tell you, of elimination, because the other two were not available, I found myself doing it.”
It was also claimed yesterday that Baroness Butler- Sloss refused to go public about a bishop implicated in a scandal.
According to reports, she told a victim of alleged abuse she did not want to include the allegations in a review of how the Church of England dealt with two paedophile priests because she “cared about the Church”.
The peer allegedly made the remarks in a meeting with Phil Johnson, who was abused by priests when he was a choirboy, during a private meeting in the House of Lords in 2011.
It puts fresh pressure on the former High Court judge, who has faced calls to step down.
In a statement, Lady ButlerSloss insisted she has “never” put the reputation of an institution ahead of justice for victims.
She said:“Throughout many years of public service I have always striven to be fair and compassionate, mindful of the very real suffering of those who have been victims of crime or other injustice. I have never put the reputation of any institution, including the Church of England, above the pursuit of justice for victims.”
The Home Office again insisted it stands by the peer’s appointment “unreservedly”.