How much evidence is there of long term high level UK paedophile ring?

[Dillinger4]

I bought a copy of 'Smear! Harold Wilson and the Secret State' the other day but I am yet to start it because I am reading a book about corruption in Italy. I might bring it forward.

 

[DaveCinzano]

I bought a copy of 'Smear! Harold Wilson and the Secret State' the other day but I am yet to start it because I am reading a book about corruption in Italy. I might bring it forward.

I would say it's a pretty good read, and invaluable in bringing material together on a number of topics, but it does suffer a little from what appears to have been the unexpected departure, about one-third in, of the proofreader. Thereafter there is an embarrassingly large number of typos. This does lead the reader to wonder whether there are more grave errors in the substance of the text.

However, it is so extensively annotated that you do at least have the opportunity to double-check sources much of the time, or at least have pointers to where one might corroborate an assertion.

I read it straight after the David Leigh book, which meant I did skip over some of the main body of material covering Frolik, Wigg etc (all amply covered in the Leigh book), as that wasn't my primary interest anyway. The notes at the back were very useful, though.

 

[Betsy]

That would be the same Edwina Currie who gave Jimmy Saville the keys to broadmoor.

Savile charity 'to fight against payouts for victim.

A charity set up by Jimmy Savile is to challenge any payouts of compensation to victims of the sex attacker.

The Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust will take its case to the Court of Appeal later this year, victims' lawyers said.

It wants to overturn an agreed settlement scheme, in which the Savile estate, the BBC and the NHS are responsible for paying compensation.

Liz Dux, who represents 176 of the late DJ's victims, said her clients would be "angry and disappointed" by the move.

The charitable trust controls £3.7m and is separate to the Savile estate.

Ms Dux said the estate had its own pot of funds, which is where its share of payouts are to come from.

The victims deserve redress and closure. They have suffered enough.”

She said she could therefore not understand why the trustees were taking the legal action.

"For one, it's going to mean that more precious funds that should have gone to victims are being spent on legal costs, which is exactly what the settlement scheme was designed to avoid," she told the BBC.

"And secondly, the charitable trust is not even responsible for compensating victims - that is for the estate to do."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28558442

 

[brogdale]

The petty way in which the CPS appears to have deliberately released the information to other outlets before Exaro - which fought for the documentation - would seem to amply illustrate how, regardless of the particulars of a case, the state views the public right to know as an imposition, and one to be either obstructed or punished.

It sure does.

 

[elbows]

A former aide to the Duke of Edinburgh has been accused of sexually assaulting a girl in the 1970s.

Benjamin Herman, 79, is charged with three indecent assaults between 1972 and 1974, during which time he served as an equerry to Prince Philip.

Prosecutors say the alleged victim was aged about 12 at the time.

Mr Herman is due appear before Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Monday. A spokesman for Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

The Lieutenant-Colonel was the duke's personal assistant between 1971 to 1974, attending to his engagements and private matters.

He later went on to become head of the Princess Royal's household in 1974.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28579148

 

[Betsy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28579148

I am not your biggest royalist but I think it unfair to have a (big) picture of the Duke of Edinburgh on that news piece. It should have a picture of the accused.

 

[brogdale]

I am not your biggest royalist but I think it unfair to have a (big) picture of the Duke of Edinburgh on that news piece. It should have a picture of the accused.

The concept of Monarchy is not founded on notions of "fairness". Almost certainly an error by the normally supine state broadcaster, but funny nonetheless.

 

[Betsy]

The concept of Monarchy is not founded on notions of "fairness". Almost certainly an error by the normally supine state broadcaster, but funny nonetheless.

Which is all the more reason for others to be scrupulous in theirs.

 

[laptop]

I am not your biggest royalist but I think it unfair to have a (big) picture of the Duke of Edinburgh on that news piece. It should have a picture of the accused.

Unless the "error" were to be* illustrative of something the picture editor knows but we mustn't know



* Counter-factual subjunctive, Your Honour. Says what follows is false. I plead insanity, claim asylum in Sweden and ask that Beefeater to stop twisting my arm now, please.

 

[1%er]

Paedophile Jimmy Savile ‘Fixes It’ For Young Girl To Meet Prince Philip.
Question: How did paedophile Jimmy Savile sneak a young girl into Buckingham Palace without her parents?

 

[1%er]

 

[brogdale]

Which is all the more reason for others to be scrupulous in theirs.

Talk like that sees them keeping their heads.

 

[Lurdan]

Kincora abuse investigation stopped by MI5 says ex-army officer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-28597343

Brian Gemmell said a senior MI5 officer told him to stop looking into claims of abuse at Kincora Boys' Home in east Belfast.

He said he presented a report on the allegations to the officer in 1975.

In 1981, three senior care staff at the home were jailed for abusing 11 boys.

It has been claimed that people of the "highest profile" were connected to abuse at the home.

Mr Gemmell, who worked as an intelligence officer in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, has called for a fresh investigation into the home.

He has previously spoken anonymously about his investigations into Kincora, but said he had decided to go public because he feels the allegations need to be investigated again.

The former intelligence officer said that he learned details of what was happening inside the home while gathering information about loyalists.

He said he was told about the abuse by two contacts, one an agent known as Royal Flush.

However, after presenting his report to a senior MI5 officer, Mr Gemmell said, he was told to cease his investigation.

He said: "I was summoned to go and see him. I went up thinking he was going to be pleased with me.

"He bawled me out. He was rude and offensive and hostile.

"He told me not just to stop any investigation into Kincora, but to drop Royal Flush."

Mr Gemmell said Kincora should be investigated again but said "there is not a lot of hope" that it will happen.

"I think there's more hope than there has been in the past. Although there's not a lot, there is more than in the past."

Don't recall this guy speaking publicly before this. (?)

ETA: Another short interview in the Irish Mirror

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/crime/former-mi5-officer-says-agency-3944741

 

[Lurdan]

Rather grim detailed BBC story :

A survivor's story: Trapped in a subculture of child abuse

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-28228902

His account of abuse spans several years at different locations. On the surface these episodes of abuse might appear unrelated, but Michael believes they were connected in that an abuser who knew an abuser knew an abuser. And he was effectively passed along that chain.

"It wasn't quite a paedophile ring," says Michael. "More an affiliation of abusers who all knew each other."

 

[bluescreen]

Sometimes I think we should have a thread entitled "How much evidence is there of long term high level UK paedophile coverup?" To which I'd have originally answered: "not a lot. The default mode back then was to disregard complaints from children, especially those in care. It wasn't so much conspiracy as a habit of thought."

Now, I'm not so sure. I don't want to get into lizard territory but it's worth re-examining, particularly wrt Kincora. And Cyril Smith was first accused before he was even an MP, so what is it about the failure to prosecute - or rather, not just the failure but the prevention of prosecution?

Another thing that bothers me is "back then". As if this sort of thing doesn't happen now. I mean, the alleged resort/party disposable-boys-on-tap for toffs sort of thing. Did it ever really happen, and if so, have people lost their taste for it? Do they now go abroad to find boys with "a sweet air of corruption"?

 

[Betsy]

It just goes on and on......very depressing.

Child abuse probe investigates former Underley Hall School


Police investigating allegations of historical child abuse are probing activities at a former school in Cumbria.


Underley Hall School, a residential boarding school in Kirkby Lonsdale, closed in 2012.


Cumbria Police confirmed it is looking at the establishment as part of an investigation into abuse claims in residential schools across the county.


The allegations date from the 1970s to the 1990s.


A spokeswoman said detectives were "investigating these reports thoroughly" as part of Operation Tweed.

'Get to the truth'
Cumbria County Council said it was one of a number of local authorities from across the country which used the school and said it was "working with police to review any files relating to Underley Hall".


A spokesman said: "Underley Hall was a private school.


"It closed in 2012 following an Ofsted inspection which judged it to be inadequate.


"All children placed at the school by the county council were removed following the inadequate judgement."


Lib Dem MP Tim Farron, whose Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency the school was in, has contacted the Home Office to call for an inquiry after being approached by a former pupil.


He said: "We must get to the truth about what happened at Underley Hall to make sure that victims receive justice, any perpetrators are held to account for their crimes and that children are protected in the future."


MP Graham Stringer, who represents Blackley and Broughton in Greater Manchester, has also written to the Home Secretary, Theresa May, after he too was contacted by a former Underley Hall pupil who lives in his constituency.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-28600858

 

[elbows]

Don't recall this guy speaking publicly before this. (?)

Wording of some press articles about this suggest he may have spoken before, but anonymously.

Anyway....

First Minister Peter Robinson has said that child sex abuse at Kincora boys' home is a "national scandal" that needs to be fully investigated.

He said he has written to the prime minister to urge that the east Belfast home is included in the ongoing Westminister child sex abuse inquiry.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-28613042

 

[Quartz]

The truth must out.

 

[1%er]

Cabinet Office Worker One of 660 Arrested (not Patrick Rock)

A former Cabinet Office digital expert is facing jail after being caught with a huge stash of nearly 400 child porn images.

Sebastian Crump amassed depraved images of child abuse while working as digital communications manager advising the Government on its own website.

Now questions are being asked about why it took six months to emerge that a government official had been arrested over child pornography allegations.

Police discovered indecent images were being streamed from Mr Crump’s home computer IP address in April last year.

But incredibly last November – while he was still being investigated – he received a promotion at the Cabinet Office, where he had previously worked in internal communications.

When Crump, 39, was arrested in January this year Scotland Yard did not publicise the arrest. He was only named when he was charged last month, but even then the Metropolitan Police did not reveal his role at the Cabinet Office.

Details can only now be revealed after he pleaded guilty to four charges of making and distributing indecent images of children.

 

[1%er]

Operation Hydrant

A national police group is being set up to explore possible links between child sex abuse investigations involving celebrities, elected officials and institutions such as schools and care homes.
43 Police forces across the UK have been asked for details of their inquiries.

The new body has been set up by the Association of Chief Police Officers and will collate and share information, Chief Constable Simon Bailey said.

It is due to meet in September.

While it will not lead any investigations itself, it will gather information involving well-known figures and organisations such as hospitals, children’s homes and parliament.

Mr Bailey, who will chair the group known as Operation Hydrant, said: “This is likely to involve all police forces in the UK, and we have included Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland in our remit.”

If you want to get rid of a problem, set up an inquiry

 

[Dillinger4]

"A Hutton style enquiry"

 

[elbows]

Nah. Operation Hydrant may turn out be flawed in some ways, but it simply isn't appropriate to attach the same criticisms to it that we have towards public inquiries. It's a police thing involving ACPO, and such things come with quite a different set of baggage to inquiries.

 

[taffboy gwyrdd]

So, Denning has gone guilty on a range of offences related to abusing kids.

He was a frequenter of Elm Guest House, so if plod has been diligent they will have quizzed him on that.

Perhaps they've put the details in a nice big dossier for MI5 to spirit away, or to be otherwise "unfortunately" mislaid. No matter, such a vanishing could probably be investigated within mere decades.

 

[brogdale]

Another example of investigative journalism championing the victims of abuse from Exaro.

http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5339/cps-to-reinstate-key-charges-after-error-over-elm-guest-house

...and Danczuk.

 

[1%er]

Detectives investigating a Labour MP over child abuse allegations more than 20 years ago were stopped from arresting him, The Times has learnt.
Greville Janner, now Lord Janner of Braunstone, was interviewed by appointment in the company of his solicitor as part of a major investigation into the abuse of boys at homes in Leicestershire in 1991.

A number of sources with knowledge of the case have confirmed that officers had wanted to arrest the Leicester West MP, which would have given them the power to search his home and offices. Legal advice was sought on taking the rare step of arresting an MP and it is understood that the advice from senior counsel was that it was an appropriate course of action. At the last minute the planned arrest was blocked. Arrangements were made instead for Lord Janner to attend a police station by appointment with his solicitor, Sir David Napley.

The decision-making process is being re-examined by Leicestershire police as part of Operation Enamel, which is looking into allegations against Lord Janner and others.

Kelvyn Ashby, the retired officer who was senior investigator on the original case, confirmed that he was in contact with the Operation Enamel team but declined to comment further.

Police executed search warrants at Lord Janner’s home in Golders Green, north London, in December and at his office at the House of Lords in March. A partial file of evidence has been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, which is providing the police with “investigative advice”.

The peer, now 86 and said by friends to be in very poor health, has not been arrested. He has strongly denied the allegations against him in the past.

The new investigation into Lord Janner and others is one of dozens of historic abuse inquiries which come under the umbrella of Operation Hydrant, a nationwide steering group headed by senior police officers and set up to ensure consistent approaches to cases involving “persons of public prominence”.

 

[1%er]

Bishop of Gloucester questioned by police over indecent assault allegations

A senior bishop has been questioned by police on suspicion of indecently assaulting a woman and a girl – days after suddenly stepping down from his post.
The Rt Rev Michael Perham, 66, was due to retire in November after almost a decade as Bishop of Gloucester but withdrew from his role last weekend citing “personal reasons”.

On Tuesday Scotland Yard confirmed that Bishop Perham attended a police station in Gloucestershire to be interviewed over allegations dating from 1980 and 1981.
The investigation is into an alleged indecent assault of a child aged under 18 and indecent assault of a second female aged over 18.

 

[brogdale]

Bishop of Gloucester questioned by police over indecent assault allegations

A senior bishop has been questioned by police on suspicion of indecently assaulting a woman and a girl – days after suddenly stepping down from his post.
The Rt Rev Michael Perham, 66, was due to retire in November after almost a decade as Bishop of Gloucester but withdrew from his role last weekend citing “personal reasons”.

On Tuesday Scotland Yard confirmed that Bishop Perham attended a police station in Gloucestershire to be interviewed over allegations dating from 1980 and 1981.
The investigation is into an alleged indecent assault of a child aged under 18 and indecent assault of a second female aged over 18.

Relates to Perham's time as curate in Addington, Croydon during the late 1970's & early 1980's...

http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/...n-questioned/story-22122629-detail/story.html

At the time of the alleged incidents, in 1980 and 1981, the Bishop was curate at St Mary’s Church, in Addington - his first full-time post.

The married father of four was questioned by officers just days after he stood down from his Gloucester post, citing “personal reasons”.
The investigation is being run by the Metropolitan Police Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command.

Can't see any reference to any connection with the nearby Shirley Oaks abuse story.

 

[DocRichard]

There is a wiki here vipcsa.wikidot.com/here which is drawing together all the information about child sexual abuse by "persons of public prominence" in an orderly way. Pages on cover-ups and police link to 37 events where investigations were frustrated.

 

[Libertad]

For your convenience:

http://vipcsa.wikidot.com/

 

[Lorca]

more allegations about cyril smith in birmingham here...

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/cyril-smith-investigated-police-after-7588694