Archive for home affairs select committee
For further information about this conference contact Garden Court North Chambers 0161 236 1840 or
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An alternative view of historic child abuse by Iris Jensen
In this article Iris Jensen given an alternative view of historic child abuse in which she suggests there are four categories of complainants each having a distinctive lifestyle which impacts on their reasons for making allegations.The categories are those residents:-
who suffered abuse in children’s home
who suffered abuse in children’s home but not at the children’s home or by staff
who had not suffered abuse but had been peripherally involved in some way
who had neither suffered abuse nor been peripherally involved in some way – but were ‘hired’ by the perceived opportunities to make false ...
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Some issues to highlight
Firstly, explain that you are writing about the issue of false allegations and not about an individual case – if you omit to state this you will be referred your constituency MP.
Many of these points were recommended by the Home Affairs Select Committee in their October 2002 report ‘The conduct of investigations into past cases of abuse in children’s homes’.
Some points to consider are:
Time lapse (historic nature) of reporting the alleged abuse and difficulties in mounting a defence due to problems of delay.
Given that the word of the complainant is the prime and only evidence, the interviews ...
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Making the most of European Convention of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998 by Ingrid Kamark
I welcome the efforts of individuals in the UK who are trying to persuade the British Government to reconsider and accept the recommendations as set out in the Home Affairs Select Committee Report: ‘The Conduct of Investigations into Past Cases of Abuse in Children’s Homes’ 2001-02. The Report was at that time a ray of hope to all who suffered injustice, firstly by those who have made false allegations, and secondly, injustice caused by the State itself which assumes that the accuser(s) are always ...
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advice and support ¦ raise awareness ¦ campaigning ¦ lobbying
F.A.C.T. has three main objectives.
to provide advice and support to those who have been falsely accused or wrongly convicted of allegations of abuse or misconduct in a work setting, and to their families.
to raise awareness of issues concerning false allegations and investigative malpractice.
to campaign and lobby on their behalf.
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Home Affairs Select Committee and the work of the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
This submission was made in October 2006.
Memorandum to the HASC_CCRC – Upload a Document to Scribd
For a full understanding of the issues it is important to read the document above, in full, including in particular comments made by the Chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, Professor Zillick, regarding criticisms made by F.A.C.T.
The Select Committee’s report (in full) can be found here. F.A.C.T’s submission is dealt with at question 47 onwards.
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Impact of false accusations on care workers is great
Being caught in the tangled web of false allegations is a nightmare that many struggle to recover from.
Of all the bogey men that haunt teachers’ nightmares, none is more dreadful than that of the false, malicious allegation.
F.A.C.T. (Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers) was initially formed to support staff who had been falsely accused or wrongly convicted of child abuse. It campaigns for reform in the criminal justice system to prevent miscarriages of justice, and for improvements in investigative practices to remove the presumption of guilt.
Those who abuse children should face the severest punishment. ...
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The following Press release (here) has been issued by the States of Jersey Police The States of Jersey Police can now confirm that they have now had contact with around 60 victims and witnesses who have contacted them following the launch of the historical abuse inquiry at Island institutions last week. Around 33 calls have been made to the Jersey-based historical abuse enquiry team, while 20 calls have now been made to the UK based dedicated NSPCC helpline. There have also been contacts made by letter and email.From next week, more staff will be working with the dedicated historical abuse ...
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One of the UK’s leading experts on child abuse has raised doubts about the conviction of a social worker after an investigation into a residential school in Ayrshire. Ray Wyre, who works as a consultant to police investigations and public inquiries into child abuse, said staff at Kerelaw School found guilty of physical assaults were judged by standards which did not apply at the time the offences were said to have happened. The trial of Matt George and John Muldoon, two former staff members at Kerelaw, took place in early 2006. There were 85 charges against them. Mr Wyre was ...
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Did you notice that Peter Garsden was chosen as Lawyer of the Wekk in the Times Law Section (here) and that he stated that his worse day as a lawyer was …..being cross-examined by a sitting of the Home Affairs Select Committee into alleged false allegations in child abuse cases for two and a half hours in 2002. I thought my professional opinion would be sought on ways to improve the law. Rather, the committee was more interested in attempting to impugn my credibility in a wholly unexpected way. It reminded me of the Court of Star Chamber …There can be ...
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The following article by Linda MacDonald appeared in the Guardian on 29th November Linda MacDonald reviews some controversial csare home cases1989Child abuse investigations in Staffordshire, in north Wales, and in Leicestershire were marked by a new form of police inquiry: the trawling operation. Used by as many as two-thirds of the country’s police forces to convict dozens of alleged abusers, instead of starting from a crime and setting out to find the criminal, the procedure starts with the suspect – or an allegation – and then attempts to find the crime. Police forces collected allegations against 5,000 former care workers and teachers, ...
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The Home Affairs Select Committee have published their uncorrected transcript of their meeting with the Criminal Cases Review Commission which you can access here issues raised by FACT are dealt with from Paragraph 47 onwards
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The September edition of FACTion can now be downloaded from hereIn this edition you will find news about:-Successful Appeals New Scotland Shows Old Scotland the Way – the Novia Scotia Experience Life as Abuse Falsely Accused North Wales Man Awarded £89,000 Coventry Teacher Unfairly Sacked Why Did These Two Men Have to Go to Prison? Kerelaw Schhol – an alternative View Honoured Head Teacher Calls for Change in the Law Home Affairs Select Committee to Review Workings of the Criminal Cases Review Commission Northern Ireland’s Childrens’ Commissioner Rapped for Misleading Reporting of AccusationLetter Page – Megan’s Law In My Opinion ...
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The Home Affairs Select Committee have announced that they require the chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission to give evidence before them on Tuesday 10th Oct 2006. The HASC is seeking short written submissions from interested parties, highlighting issues which should be raised at this meeting. Such evidence should not exceed 1,000 words and should be submitted no later than Monday 4 September. F.A.C.T. will be submitting evidence on behalf of its members. We would urge everyone who is concerned about the working of the CRCC to do likewise. You can find details of how to do so here
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We are delighted to announce that John Siddal and Ian Brooke have been acquitted by the Court of Appeal of allegations that they sexually abused children in their care. The case was referred back to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. A full report appears in the Yorkshire Post (here)The following press announcement has been released by F.A.C.T. Press ReleaseF.A.C.T. (Falsey Accused Carers and Teachers) welcomes the news that John Siddall and Ian Brooke have both been cleared in the Court of Appeal of allegations of sexual abuse which were said to have been committed when they ...
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The following article by Gregg Lewis appears in Sec EdIncidents of suicide and attempted suicide by accused teachers, including some just days ago, have been highlighted at a conference addressing the subject.Members of Falsely Accused Teachers and Carers are demanding fresh safeguards and the anonymity of the accused up until conviction.They say urgent measures are needed to protect teachers from the “life-threatening” trauma of being accused of abuse. Speaking at the organisation’s spring conference on Saturday, Mike Barnes, national secretary of FACT, highlighted the number of teachers harming themselves after accusations.He pointed to high profile cases such as those of ...
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News has just come through that George Anderson and Margaret Hewitt have finally heard that they would not face any re-trial for historical allegations of abuse said to have occurred when they were carers at the Macedon Home in Northern Ireland. George originally faced 34 charges and Margaret 99 charges and were sentenced to a total of 29 years in what has been described as Northern Ireland’s biggest sex abuse case. In given their decision the Northern Ireland Appeal Court were highly critical of the prosecution case and considered the evidence in the case entirely unreliable especially after one complainant admitted lying in writing after the trial. This case ...
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Following intense lobbying by Clare Curtis Thomas and Earl Howe of the All Party Group on Abuse Investigations the Home Affairs Select Committee have indicated that they are prepared to review their findings in their report on past abuse in children’s homes. We do not know at this stage how this review will take place, however we expect the Committee to call for further evidence from those who have been falsely accused or wrongly convicted. As soon as we have more details we will let you know.
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We are often asked where one can find reliable statistics about the number of false allegations made against carers or teachers?
It is very difficult to get hold of reliable statistics regarding the numbers of allegations made against teachers and/or the number who were subject to disciplinary action or dismissal because relevant agencies do not keep such statistics.
To compound matters there are also serious problems of definition regarding the word abuse and allegation. Abuse can mean some thing quite minor such as rudeness or something very serious e.g. a criminal assault such as physical abuse or sexual abuse. Allegation can mean ...
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This item first appeared on the F.A.C.T website on 17th March 2005Author: Richard Webster. Published by Orwell PressRichard Websters long awaited book the Secret of Bryn Estyn was pre-launched on the 10th Match at a packed meeting at Portcullis House. Earl (Freddie) Howe announced that the book would be launched shortly and praised Richard for his courage and achievement.Text of Earl Howe’s Speech The first thing I’d like to do is to congratulate Richard on what is by any standards a most impressive achievement.You were kind enough, Richard, to send me a prepublication copy of the book some weeks ago; and let me ...
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Richard Webster’s investigation into the North Wales children’s home scandal raises crucial questions about how our society deals with allegations of child abuse.The Secret of Bryn Estyn: The Making of a Modern Witch Hunt , Richard Webster, Orwell Press.The Secret of Bryn Estyn, the former children’s home in North Wales that became the focus of one of the biggest child abuse scandals of recent years, is, according to Richard Webster, the very opposite to the version of events supplied by the police, the media, the courts and the government. In a 700-page book, the result of nine years of research, ...
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In a move that will bring hoirror to all those who maintain their innocence and have been wrongly accused the Sentencing Commission chaired by Lord Woolfe have recommended that early guilty please might attract a discount. A report in todays Guardian states:”Defendants facing murder charges will be encouraged to plead guilty early to cut a third off their prison term, under draft guidelines unveiled yesterday by the lord chief justice, Lord Woolf.In exceptional circumstances, judges should consider a reduction of even more than a third, says the guidance, issued by the Sentencing Guidelines Council, which Lord Woolf chairs. Examples ...
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SEVEN Welsh carers and teachers serving a total of more than 80 years in jail for child abuse believe they are closer to proving their innocence.Lawyers acting for the men believe they have taken a major step forward in persuading miscarriage of justice investigators there may be questions over a number of convictions.The move could have far-reaching consequences for controversial police ‘trawling’ inquiries into allegations of abuse at children’s homes and approved schools stretching back to the 1960s.There has long been concern about police trawling, in which detectives contact former residents of children’s homes from the 1960s and 1970s to ...
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The conclusion of John Leslie’s criminal prosecution comes at an apposite time: the sexual offences bill currently before parliament has been amended in the Lords to give people suspected of sex offences anonymity right up to conviction. The home affairs select committee proposed last month that sex suspects should have anonymity up to being charged. The lord chief justice conceded yesterday there was a “fine balance” on whether people accused of rape should be exposed to publicity, but rightly insisted that this was an issue for parliament, not judges, to resolve.
Guardian
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“The recent Home Affairs Select Committee report into “historical child abuse cases”, made some sensationalist claims of “a new genre of miscarriages of justice” from what it perceived to be “the over enthusiastic pursuit” of abuse allegations in children’s homes, many relating to incidents said to have occurred twenty or thirty years ago.If we look into the facts on which the Committee’s claims are made, an entirely different picture is painted.”
Merseyside Police
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