Son of Greggs bakery founder, 76, who was convicted of indecently assaulting boys over three decades has five years slashed from jail sentence
Colin Gregg from Newcastle had been jailed for 13-and-a-half years in March
He had been found guilty of nine counts of indecent assault against four boys
Gregg, 76, appealed his conviction and sentence over the historic sex abuse
Appeals court judges in London reduced his jail term to eight-and-a-half years
19 December 2017
The son of the founder of the Greggs bakery empire has had his jail sentence for indecently assaulting young boys cut by five years.
Colin Gregg, 76, of Home Steadings, Gosforth, Newcastle, was found guilty of nine counts of indecent assault committed against four boys over three decades and was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in March.
Gregg, who helped build up the family business and also worked as a social worker, teacher and headmaster, lost a bid to have his convictions overturned at London‘s Court of Appeal on Tuesday.
But senior judges said his jail term, imposed at Newcastle Crown Court, was ‘too long’ and reduced it to eight-and-a-half years.
Gregg, who watched the proceedings over a video link from prison, was said to have played a ‘significant part’ in the expansion and success of his family’s business.
He was also a well-respected member of the community and had raised thousands of pounds for charitable causes before his convictions.
Allegations were first made against Gregg by a young boy in the 1990s and he stood trial, but was cleared at that time.
During his trial earlier this year he denied all the charges, claiming he was the victim of a ‘witch-hunt’ and the complainants wanted compensation.
Sasha Wass QC, representing him at the Appeal Court, argued his sentence was excessive in light of the fact his offending was not in the most serious category.
Lord Justice Davis, sitting with Mrs Justice Nicola Davies and Judge Nicholas Dean QC, said the appeal against sentence must be allowed.
He added: ‘Having reflected upon the matter, the view of this court is that a total sentence of eight-and-a-half years is appropriate for this offending and for this offender.’
DS Chris Wilson, who led the investigation, said: “The victims in this case showed immense bravery to come forward and stand up in court to give the evidence that ultimately put their abuser through court.
“It was a terrifying ordeal for them but their actions have helped convict a predatory paedophile and I am sure that convictions such as this will help encourage other victims of sexual abuse to come forward.
Colin Gregg: Charity champ, abuser and pals with royals – now then now then – who does that remind me of?
L: Colin Gregg, in 1986 at King’s School and R: Top – Colin Gregg going to court and bottom 1990 – Gregg left the then private King’s School to become the full-time administrator of the Yellow Brick Road FundColin Gregg was an administrator at Yellow Brick Road, and received an award for his work in 1992.
The Children’s Foundation is perhaps better known as the Yellow Brick Road Appeal and was launched by its patron The Duke of York in 1990.
Yellow Brick Road charity name changed to the Children’s Foundation
His reputation as a pillar of the community brought him many benefits – he even rubbed shoulders with royalty when the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, came to the North East in January 1993
20 January 1993
The Duke of York, Patron, visits Newcastle, North Tyneside; visits the Yellow Brick Road Appeal at the Royal Victoria Infirmary; as Patron of Children-North East, visits the Battle Hill Family Centre; tours the electronic Bi-Media News Room and the Television Studio; meets families involved in the ‘Rural Action with Families in Tynedale’ project and, as Patron, meets members and staff of the Newcastle Weston Spirit Centre, at the BBC Broadcasting Centre; and visits Parsons (Rolls-Royce Industrial Power Group), Heaton.
Professor of child health Alan Craft (left) at the Yellow Brick Road building which is officially opened tomorrow, pictured with Yellow Brick Road administrator Colin Gregg (right). 17th May 1995 (Photo: NCJ Archive)
Colin Gregg, administrator to the Yellow Brick Road Charity.
22nd June 1995.
Gregg said” From the very beginning the Yellow Brick Road has been a real partnership – between Newcastle University’s Department of Child Health…”
Gregg was at the forefront of the Yellow Brick Road charity and was instrumental in raising £12m for a world class children’s Medical Research Centre in Newcastle.
Gregg stood down from his role as administrator of Yellow Brick Road in 1996.
July 1996 – arrested
“Gregg quit the charity in September 1996 to set up a business management consultancy.”
FERGIE CHARITY MAN CHARGED.
7 July 1996
The former boss, Colin Gregg, of one of Britain’s biggest Royal charities has been charged with indecently assaulting a boy of 14.
Colin Gregg, 55, ex-administrator of the Yellow Brick Road charity, was arrested after the teenager told his parents he’d been interfered with following a golf club trip.
He has been bailed to appear before magistrates at Newcastle upon Tyne next month.
The married father-of-three, who was arrested on April 25, had his home in Newcastle searched and a computer disc removed by members of Northumbria Police’s Child Protection Department.
The boy is believed to have told police he was also interfered with in a sauna by Mr Gregg after a cross-country run.
Also in the 1996 time frame:
Colin Stuart Gregg
THE CHILDRENS’ FOUNDATION LIMITED (02528291)
Appointed before 6 August 1991 Resigned on 25 July 1996
THE CHILDRENS’ FOUNDATION TRADING LIMITED (02591794)
Appointed before 14 March 1993 Resigned on 12 March 1999
Feversham Special School Hexham Road in Walbottle, Newcastle, which closed in the late 90s
1996 -2000 – Director – Gregg at Feversham School/name changed to Talbot House School – set up by MIND, the mental health charity, in the late 1960s–
Chilling report of abuse and cruelty at Feversham School
SECRET papers today reveal the harrowing world of the Tyneside special school at the centre of an abuse probe.
THE charity responsible for a Tyneside school at the centre of a child abuse scandal says it does not know who was in charge of the youngsters.
As revealed in the Chronicle, two former care workers were jailed for abusing their positions to steal the childhoods of vulnerable pupils at Feversham Special School.
The charity Mind was the residential school’s custodian trustee, looking after assets but not running the facility for emotionally and behaviorally-disturbed children, aged from six to 19.
And Mind boss Paul Farmer has admitted he has no idea who was actually in charge of the now-closed special school, where predatory paedophiles Kevin Brown and John Leslie Duncan worked as carers.
The Duke and Duchess of York, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, have been affiliated with another convicted establishment paedophile – Jeffrey Epstein
Roberts has claimed she had sex three times with Andrew in 2001, including during a group sex session with eight other girls at Jeffrey Epstein’s home in the Virgin Islands.
Roberts has alleged that girls as young as 12 were regularly flown on the £30 million jet to locations around the world where Epstein (and other members of the elite) would abuse them.
Prince Andrew sits on a yacht in Thailand back in 2001, during a holiday at a £2,300-a-week resort which is thought to have come courtesy of Jeffrey Epstein
Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein pictured strolling through Central Park together during a four-day break in New York at the start of December 2010 within days of the billionaire giving Fergie the £15,000 payment
Fergie:’I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me,’ she said.
‘I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf.
‘I am just so contrite I cannot say. Whenever I can I will repay the money and will have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again…
Prince Andrew was expected to hold crisis talks with the Queen today as he returned to Britain from a holiday in the upmarket Swiss ski resort of Verbier with his ex-wife Fergie, Sarah Ferguson
Multiple listings for Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York and Prince Andrew, Duke of York in convicted establishment peadophile, Jeffrey Epstein’s black book
The Duke of York, Prince Andrew, Patron, visits Newcastle, North Tyneside; visits the Yellow Brick Road Appeal at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.
21 January: The Duke of York, Patron, this morning visited the Yellow Brick Road Appeal, Newcastle University Medical School, Newcastle, and was received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Tyne and Wear (Colonel Sr Ralph Carr-Ellison).
Jimmy Savile meets seven year old Lee Claffey of Eastwood Gardens Kenton Newcastle who was visiting the Royal Victoria Infirmary to have his broken arm checked.7th June 1986
‘Jimmy Savile visited the children’s wards of the Royal Victoria Infirmary in 1986/1987 and 1991.
He (Savile) also visited Newcastle General Hospital in the early 1990s but witnesses were unsure of exact dates
Nurse Phil Brown remembers encountering the disgraced radio and TV presenter in May 1987 at ward 16 south where youngsters were receiving treatment for leukaemia. Today he is calling on hospital chiefs at the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to let the public know the exact dates of his visits.
He also claimed Savile was formally invited into the building.
A spokesperson for the trust said senior staff were taking the disgraced star’s alleged visits to the Royal Victoria Infirmary very seriously.
However, on Saturday a statement from Sir Leonard Fenwick, trust chief executive, said no concerns had so far been expressed by staff working at the time.
Mr Brown, a nurse for 37 years, said: “Jimmy Savile visited ward 16 south where children had leukaemia.
“It was in June 1987 and a pivotal weekend because it was the Great North Run.I have rung the NSPCC and police involved in Operation Yewtree as speaking as a nurse, I am dismayed. I’m not the only one who remembers him visiting.
“The moment it came out that he had been in Newcastle I informed the RVI. So far I think they’ve got their dates wrong. People need to be aware he visited in 1987.
“He appeared to be in Newcastle for the Great North Run but for whatever reason he was able to visit the RVI.”
Jimmy Savile visited ward 16 south where children had leukaemia.
Have police questioned who was in charge of that ward when Savile was invited to RVI?
Professor of child health Alan Craft (left) at the Yellow Brick Road building which is officially opened tomorrow, pictured with Yellow Brick Road administrator Colin Gregg (right). 17th May 1995 (Photo: NCJ Archive)
Dr Alan Craft specialised in paediatric oncology / childhood leukemia
Professor of child health Alan Craft (left) at the Yellow Brick Road building which is officially opened tomorrow, pictured with Yellow Brick Road administrator Colin Gregg
Alan enjoys filling his spare time with running (31 marathons and 106 half marathons so far), orienteering and doing crosswords. He is happily married with one son and a delightful granddaughter aged 18 months.
Sir Alan Craft – ambassador for the North East Children’s Cancer Research Fund:
Seahouses Middle School was last week given an award for its outstanding contribution to the North East Children’s Cancer Run by Sir Alan Craft.
Headteacher Julie Harris said: “As an ambassador for the North East Children’s Cancer Research Fund, Sir Alan came to present us with an award for our outstanding contribution to the North East Children’s Cancer Run.
Professor Sir Alan Craft with some of the fund-raising pupils at Seahouses Middle School.
Prof Sir Alan Craft launches scathing attack on new North East hospital
26 Jun 2013
ONE of the country’s leading experts on childhood medicine has launched a scathing attack on plans to build a specialist emergency hospital in the North East.
But in an unprecedented attack Prof Sir Alan Craft, former president of Royal College of Paediatrics, said the proposals for the restructuring of children’s services in the region was concerning.
Prof Craft, a consultant paediatrician based at the RVI, and his wife, Anne, children’s nurse and director of nursing and former health visitor for North Tyneside, sent a letter to The Journal outlining their views.
Professor Sir Alan Craft Consultant Paediatrician North Tyneside 1978-86 Professor of Child Health Newcastle 1993-2007 President of Royal College of Paediatrics 2003-2006
Lady (Anne) Craft Former health visitor North Tyneside Children’s nurse and Director of Nursing (Matron)
Lazaro began work as a forensic paediatrician at the Lindisfarne Centre in the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle in 1989 following the Cleveland sex abuse inquiry. This was the first post of its kind in the country.
She’s still in business despite being “completely discredited”??…
We hope that everyone who finds themselves relying on the medical services that Dr de San Lazaro is still allowed to provide is told of her track record.
Lord Justice Kennedy told the court that in the 2002 libel trial, the doctor had been “completely discredited” in relation to her handling of a number of allegations of sexual abuse prior to February, 1995.
Calls were today made for a review after a North East man had his conviction for raping a boy overturned because of the evidence of Dr Camille San Lazaro.
Dawn Reed and Christopher Lillie
Dr Lazaro, senior lecturer and consultant paediatrician at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary and Newcastle University was criticised for her role in the investigation into” false” claims of abuse at a Newcastle nursery by Dawn Reed and Christopher Lillie.
The pair were accused in a Newcastle City Council report of systematic sex abuse of dozens of children at a Newcastle nursery. But Mr Justice Eady declared them innocent of all charges and condemned the report as a legal `shambles.’
...supplying children to a paedophile ring whose members had raped and abused their young victims, and used them in the making of child pornography.
Her evidence has been blamed for Kevin Brown’s conviction. He has served his seven-year sentence for raping the five-year-old boy.
Brown’s first appeal was dismissed in 1997 but his case was referred back to the Appeal Court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission which investigates claims of miscarriages of justice. The CCRC obtained three medical reports, including one from a doctor at the forefront of the 1987 Cleveland Child Sex Abuse Inquiry, that suggested injuries to the boy may not have been caused by a sexual act. Ruling the conviction unsafe, Lord Justice Kennedy said medical evidence at the trial had been oversimplified to the detriment of the defence. He added that a large part of the prosecution case at trial had been reliant on evidence from Dr San Lazaro.
The Yellow Brick Road charity became The Children’s Foundation – headed by Prince Andrew as Patron
“We have not received any evidence since the conviction that there are any further victims of Colin Greggs who have not yet reported abuse to us.
“However, if there are victims out there then we will listen to them and we will believe them regardless of whether the abuse is recent or of a historical nature.
“These sorts of offences are not, and nor have they ever been, acceptable behaviour and national media stories over the last few years should provide reassurance of that to any victims out there.
“Safeguarding vulnerable victims of crime is our absolute priority and if there are other victims out there then we would encourage them to come forward. We will believe you.”
Gregg helped set up the family business and also worked as a charity fundraiser, a social worker and as a headteacher at a prestigious North East school.
Gregg, of Homefarm Steading, in Gosforth, Newcastle, claimed he was the victim of a police witch-hunt and alleged the complainants were looking for compensation.
But last month a jury at Leeds Crown Court found him guilty of sexually abusing young boys.
As well as 13-and-a-half years in prison, Gregg has been banned from working with children and was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.
Colin Gregg was employed in the children’s department of Newcastle Council as a social worker where csa was rampant.
Gregg taught at Durham School, a school in Newcastle’s west end before moving to Newcastle City Council’s children’s department as a social worker. He then became the headmaster at Tynemouth King’s School.
Professor of child health Alan Craft (left) at the Yellow Brick Road building which is officially opened tomorrow, pictured with Yellow Brick Road administrator Colin Gregg
Alan enjoys filling his spare time with running (31 marathons and 106 half marathons so far
In 1989, Gregg became the director of children’s charity the Yellow Brick Road Fund.
Gregg quit the charity in September 1996 to set up a business management consultancy.
Sasha Wass QC, defending, asked Carol Gregg: “Knowing the allegations, has it caused you any concern that Mr Gregg has contact with your grandchildren?”
The former nursery nursereplied: “Not at all.”
When asked if Gregg’s three daughters have concerns leaving him with their children, Mrs Gregg replied “no”.
The court also heard from Gregg’s former colleague Andy James, who he worked with at Talbot House school in Newcastle.
When asked how the former head teacher interacted with the pupils, Mr James said: “He was highly regarded by the boys who thought the world of him.
“The staff thought he was an innovator with new ideas, which all the children seemed to respond to very positively.”
Ms Wass then asked Mr James if he was concerned by Gregg’s behaviour towards the children.
He replied: “No, not at all.”
Mr James went on to say: “He is very dedicated to young people becoming better people, particularly those coming from deprived backgrounds.”
Doing the math….abuse happened approx 47 yrs ago – 47 yrs ago was 1970 – so Colin Gregg was probably involved in the TOC H charity in the 70’s – when Jimmy Savile was also involved.
ement. is a reg
Toc H archives
istered charity no. 211042 and SC045491
Toc H archives – Jimmy Savile
pg 135
PUBLIC RELATIONS. With Jimmy Savile
pg 77
‘How to Organise a Jimmy Savile-Handi Dance’,
Huw Gibbs, 1972
Jimmy Savile and Toc H 1973
pg 97
Photographs, pictures and related material
Queen At Toc H Garden Party (1939)
The Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII, seen here lighting the Lamp of Maintenance at a meeting of the Toc H organisation
Various images of Tubby Clayton. Includes pictures of the Queen Mother,
Angus Ogilvy and the Prince of Wales (future Edward VI
i was passed the foto of the rear of this Lp by a friend in the UK who was disturbed to find “Sir Jimmy Savile” on the rear with the vicar of All HallowS Church, London at the time “Tubby” and also at least one disturbing foto of “Tubby” putting his finger into the mouth of some poor little boy.
Regarding the criminal pedophilic past of SJS having been partially exposed these fotos are more than disturbing.
Savile had a relative living at Marsden so was often there- he used to park his car in the carpark of The Marsden Inn.
The Great North Run route in the final stages takes you down Marsden bank
Marsden and Jarrow he visited a lot due to relatives or friends of his mother living there, and Minchellas ice cream parlour in South Shields he was seen in a lot in the 60’s…and then Consett of course, as his mother originated from there He certainly knew the entire area well.
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall enjoy a cup of tea when they visit a community based charity TocH on November 8, 2006 in Newcastle, England.
Charles and Camilla score with Geordies
The royal couple’s final engagement of the day was to take afternoon tea and cake with local people in Jarrow, South Tyneside as guests of the Toc H charity.
From Stocksfield Primary the couple went on to visit crowds of people in Greenhaugh in Northumberland and went for tea and cake at community project, Toc H.
The couple began their tour of the region with a visit to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary to help celebrate the hospital’s 100th anniversary.
Professor of child health Alan Craft (left) at the Yellow Brick Road building which is officially opened tomorrow, pictured with Yellow Brick Road administrator Colin Gregg (right). 17th May 1995 (Photo: NCJ Archive)
Brian Roycroft, Newcastle City Council’s Director of Social Services, stood by the worker and refused to dismiss him. He said there would be disciplinary action “but not of a serious nature”. A slap on the wrist for standing by and allowing 55 children to be abused.
Brian Roycroft was also the Secretary of the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS), and took part in the decision not to create a ‘blacklist’ of social workers who had committed similar offences.
NOT so long ago, Jane Gregg was married to the multi-millionaire founder of Greggs the Bakers. It was a life of privilege afforded by the riches the bakery empire bestowed on her family.
Ian Gregg – brother of convicted paedophile Colin Gregg
Married at the time to Ian Gregg – retired founder of the Greggs bakery chain, with a personal worth estimated at £94m
“I used to sit on the Greggs Trust charity”… the helpline she is now funding – Lifeline For Anyone Who Cares – here in Manchester. It is part of the national drugs charity Lifeline.
Royal Charity – The Children’s Foundation – paedophile-linked
The Children’s Foundation Directors/Patron Prince Andrew – friend of convicted billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein
Convicted paedophile Colin Gregg and Brian Roycroft – Directors
Brian Roycroft, Newcastle City Council’s Director of Social Services, stood by the worker and refused to dismiss him. He said there would be disciplinary action “but not of a serious nature”. A slap on the wrist for standing by and allowing 55 children to be abused.
Brian Roycroft was also the Secretary of the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS), and took part in the decision not to create a ‘blacklist’ of social workers who had committed similar offences.
Gregg molested a young boy while he worked as a running coach, a court has heard
In 1989, Gregg became the director of children’s charity the Yellow Brick Road Fund.
During this time he operated a running club from his home at Homefarm Steading, Gosforth.
The runs would start and finish at Gregg’s house at the time, on Linden Road in Gosforth.
Gregg started the now famous run Greggs Children’s Cancer in 1982 Run –
Colin Gregg launched the Greggs Children’s Cancer Run, after pupil Chris Peacock was diagnosed with kidney cancer
Chris Peacock’s cancer was treated by Professor Alan Craft and this year (2013), as in the 20 previous years, he will be taking part in the Children’s Cancer Run.
Chris bounced back from his brush with death and went to The King’s School in Tynemouth, where, at the age of eight, he discovered a passion for running. The then headmaster, Colin Gregg, a member of the famous bakery family, found out about his cancer and decided to set up a fundraising run in Gosforth Park in which his school and others could take part.
RVI Children’s Cancer Research Unit/Run Dr Alan Craft sponsored by Greggs
FEB 2013
As well as the five-mile run there will be a Mini one-mile run for the under sevens who must be accompanied by an adult.
The Children’s Cancer Research Unit at the Royal Victoria Infirmary has just taken on two new recruits, pathologist Dr David Ellison, and cancer expert Dr Steve Clifford, to find ways of improving survival rates.
But the pair will only be able to carry out the research if this year’s Children’s Cancer Run is a success and raises at least #150,000. (extortion)
“The staff on Ward 12 are second to none and we owe them – especially Prof Alan Craft – everything.”
The run is on May 13, at Gypsies Green, the Leas, South Shields.
The event is being sponsored by Greggs the Bakers which will provide a picnic for all runners.
“I was once at a Vaux dinner/awards function at the Gosforth park hotel about 20 years ago and was sat at the same table as the hotel manager, we got talking about celebs that stay there, and i asked who was the worst, he said Savile but would not go in to further detail why but the disgusted look and way he said it was easy to read.”
Sacred Heart Church in Gosforth to celebrate centenary
8 May 2012
The church was given a major refurbishment after the arrival, in 1984, of Irishman, Father Tom Cass and while the works were carried out, services were held in a prefabricated building, which became known as Uncle Toms Cabin.
On one occasion, Father Cass persuaded Jimmy Savile, still wearing running gear after completing the Great North Run, to appear at the summer fair. He also once recognised the Irish singer Dana in the congregation and brought her to the altar to sing the final hymn.
The church has a link with Newcastles St Cuthberts boys school, now called now St Cuthberts High School, which itself celebrated its 130th anniversary last year. The present Parish Priest, Father Jim Dunne, was the last of several members of the clergy to teach at the school.
Sir Jimmy was initiated into the Great North Run Hall of fame in 2009
The Jim’ll Fix It host was inducted into the Great North Run Hall of Fame in 2009 and is described on the Nova website as a “universally popular” figure who “was recognised for the vast contribution he has made, particularly with the highly-popular junior runs”.
Savile was a regular visitor to the Great North Run
Jimmy Savile at the Great North Run in 2000
26 Jun 2014
JIMMY Savile visited hospitals on Tyneside on three occasions, visits which coincided with the celebrity’s regular appearances at the Great North Run.
But a report found no evidence of any inappropriate behaviour during Savile’s time in Newcastle’s hospitals.
An investigation by the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was triggered by a former member of staff, who contacted Operation Yewtree detectives after recalling seeing Savile at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in 1991.
The investigation found that Savile had visited the RVI’s children’s wards twice between 1986 and 1991 and had also visited Newcastle General Hospital during the early 1990s.
Trust chief executive Sir Leonard Fenwick said: “Jimmy Savile visited the children’s wards of the Royal Victoria Infirmary in 1986/1987 and 1991.
“He also visited Newcastle General Hospital in the early 1990s, but witnesses were unsure of exact dates.
“…these presentations appeared to coincide with the Great North Run. ”.
Savile, famous for his charity fundraising, took part in the Great North Run at least 18 times and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2009.
Asked by The Northern Echo in 2000 if he had a message for the people of the North-East ahead of the run, Savile said: “Lock up your daughters, girlfriends and wives. I don’t want to misbehave b 2007 with ut I can’t help it once I arrive on Tyneside.”
Jimmy Savile at the 2007 GNR with Alastair Campbell (Tony Blair’s former spin doctor)……and former sports minister Richard Caborn.
Sir Jimmy Savile has become a virtual mascot for the race
Alastair Campbell – a runner too…
His main hobbies are running, cycling, bagpipes and following Burnley FC.
He took up running nine years ago has since run the London Marathon, the Great North Run, and the Great Ethiopian Run, and completed several full triathlons, all for Leukaemia Research Fund. He is the charity’s chairman of fundraising.
“Both George Bush and Tony Blair sponsored me in the London Marathon.”
Alastair Campbell friends with Alan Clark MP who was involved in a scandal with two 14 yr old girls –
Clark is involved in a sex scandal with a woman and her daughters — ‘the coven’ — and phones Campbell for advice.
Alan Clark was mates with Alistair Campbell and talked to him about the sexual allegations regarding him having sex with Judge Harkness’s 14 year old daughters.
The Trouble with BBC ‘Children in Need’ Ambassador Max Clifford and Tory MP Alan Clark
In the leaked video Clifford, the legendary PR Guru to the stars and elites let slip that he had successfully hid away the sins of one Tory MP, and ‘diarist’, Alan Clark.
^ Tony Blair, Alistair Campbell and Bill Clinton- both Blair and Campbell were in billionaire convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s black book (Clinton took many trips on Epstein’s “Lolita Express”)
Epstein had assembled a powerful network of contacts encompassing the worlds of politics, business, royalty and celebrity and even Bill Clinton.
The inclusion of Lord Mandelson and an office address for Tony Blair has raised questions about the extent of his relationship with the Labour government.
But last night – some 48 hours after the link between Epstein and Lord Mandelson emerged – the former Labour spin doctor was still refusing to comment about his dealings with the disgraced billionaire.
I bet Alastair Campbell knows a thing or two about Vaz!
‘He (Alan Clarke) said he had hired George Carman QC,’ writes Campbell in his diaries. ‘I said these people are really just posh Max Cliffords.
Brilliant, he said, posh Max Cliffords! I said be careful, because your interest is in getting this thing buried and forgotten. A lawyer might see the benefit of getting the whole thing to court. Good advice, he said, toodle-pip, and off he went. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/sep/27/alan-clark–
Clark scandal descends into tales of blackmail and lechery
1994
THE SEX SCANDAL involving Alan Clark, the wife of a former judge and her two daughters degenerated further last night with allegations of blackmail and indecent exposure.
Jane Clark, wife of the former defence minister, accused Valerie Harkess, 57, and her daughter Josephine, 34, of demanding pounds 100,000 to keep allegations that Mr Clark seduced them and Josephine’s sister, Alison, out of the newspapers.
Mrs Harkess and her 64- year-old husband, James, a former deputy circuit judge, denounced the blackmail allegation as ‘an absolute lie’. Her daughter accused Mr Clark of betraying her family’s trust by indecently exposing himself to her and Alison when they were 13 and 15.
Fry’s lurid details of the sex act with the young man and what he would or would not perform was too much for some guests. ‘Fry’s speech was deeply distasteful
Stephen Fry, Alastair Campbell and Lord Melvyn Bragg – Savile
Mental health charity Mind photocall
Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said that the charity was horrified to have given “any sort of platform to such a despicable organisation as the Paedophile Information Exchange”.
He said: “Mind does not associate with, condone or endorse any pro-paedophilia organisations or individuals.”
Rosa Monckton – Rosa Monckton is a friend of convicted, establishment, paedophile ( friend of Prince Andrew) Jeffrey Epstein
“He’s very enigmatic,” Rosa Monckton told Vanity Fair in 2003. Monckton was the former British CEO of Tiffany & Co. and confidante to the late Princess Diana. She was also a close friend of Epstein’s since the 1980s. “He never reveals his hand . . . He’s a classic iceberg. What you see is not what you get.”
08/11/12 NAMES PIXILATED TO CONCEAL IDENTITY,… the alleged paedophile ring in Westminster (Phillip Schofield handed him a list of names …. Cameron said he was worried it could turn into a “witch-hunt” against MP’s, particularly those that are gay.
Sally Clark died unintentionally on 16 March 2007 from acute alcohol intoxication.[30]She never recovered from the serious psychological trauma resulting from the experience of the deaths of two children, then being unjustly convicted of their murder with subsequent imprisonment leading to her being separated from her third baby.[31]
Professor Alan Craft, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Next week we publish a report, jointly with the Royal College of Pathologists and chaired by Baroness Kennedy, which gives clear guidance on how infant deaths should be investigated.
This Fellowship in Coimbatore, India was established in memory of Mr Bruce Bailey, Plastic Surgeon at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, in recognition of the training that Mr Bailey provided for many Indian plastic surgeons, including Dr S Raja Sabapathy at the Ganga Hospital in Coimbatore.
The fellowship is for a period of two months, probably best taken at the end of the year in November and December. The Fellowship is designed for surgeons in the middle or late part of their training and is undertaken in a private hospital with orthopaedic, plastic surgical and hand teams, with a large volume of work related to trauma. The unit also does a lot of work on soft tissue cover for lower limb injuries.Included in the fellowship is a one-week laboratory microsurgery course at the hospital and a trip to the Indian Society for Surgery of the Hand meeting or to attend the annual meeting of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India. The salary for the duration of the fellowship is £750.00 to include food and accommodation…
Bruce Bailey Fellow – 2005
Dr Patrick Gillespie MA, BM BCh, FRCS (Plast)
Specialist Registrar
Plastic Surgery Dept of Plastic Surgery Addenbrookes Hospital
Cambridge, CB2 2QQ
United Kingdom
^^ that’s where convicted paedophile Dr Myles Bradbury abused children
Bradbury, who used a “spy pen” to secretly capture pictures of his partially-clothed victims, was arrested in December 2013. He admitted 25 offences dating between 2009 and 2013
Greggs’ CEOs involved with Prince Charles…via BITC and through the Prince’s trust
(Sir Michael Darrington)
Sir Michael Darrington ex-CEO of Greggs (ran it for 24yrs) works with the Prince’s Trust
& another Gregg CEO
Kennedy McMeikan was appointed as HRH The Prince of Wales Ambassador for the North East
1996
FORMER Castle Morpeth Mayoress, t , from Ponteland
She particularly enjoyed meeting children at schools and was tireless in her fund-raising efforts for local charities, particularly the Yellow Brick Road Appeal of the Children’s Foundation.
GUILTY: Colin Gregg trial jury returns guilty verdicts to nine counts of historic sex abuse
Former head teacher Colin Gregg has been found guilty of nine counts of indecently assaulting four boys.
A jury at Leeds Crown Court deliberated for 11 hours and 43 minutes before reaching eight majority verdicts and one unanimous verdict.
Gregg, of Homefarm Steading, in Gosforth, Newcastle, remained emotionless in the dock as the verdicts were read out by the jury foreman.
Judge Robin Mairs told the married grandfather that he would be sentenced at a later date.
Prosecutors said on the surface Gregg lived a life of decency but in reality he “concealed his true nature beneath a veneer of respectability” and he “exploited his position in society to perpetrate abuse”.
Gregg was granted bail and will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on March 30 at 2pm.
The jury found Gregg guilty by a majority on eight of the counts and unanimously on the ninth.
Judge Robin Mairs told him that the fact he was granting bail was no indication of sentence.
He said: “These are serious matters and a custodial sentence is inevitable.”
The trial at Leeds was a retrial.
A jury failed to reach a verdict when Gregg was tried last year in Newcastle.
Colin Gregg was a well-known figure in the North East.
He helped raise millions of pounds for various children’s charities and even hosted royalty when promoting the Yellow Brick Road fund for children.
Children’s Foundation – Patron Prince Andrew The Duke of York
The Duke, who has been Patron of The Children’s Foundation (formerly The Yellow Brick Road Fund) since its foundation in 1990, attended a Reception to mark the charity’s 25th anniversary.
Colin Gregg became the fulltime administrator in 1990 of the Yellow Brick Road Fund.
Charity boss, Colin Gregg, of Yellow Brick Road which raised money for a child health department at Newcastle upon Tyne Royal Victoria Infirmary
Sex case charity boss Colin Gregg cleared in 1997 of assaulting a 13 yr-old boy
Through its Yellow Brick Road Appeal, the foundation has raised money to build the Sir James Spence Institute of Child Health at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary.
The son of Greggs bakery founder John Gregg, he took up teaching at the prestigious Durham School, his former school, in 1964.
Three years later (1967) he joined his brother to build up the family business
He later became a social worker for Newcastle City Council, before returning to teaching and eventually becoming a headteacher at the former Kings School in Tynemouth in 1978.
Formerhead teacher, employed in the children’s department of Newcastle Council as a social worker, charity boss Colin Gregg, denies 26 indecent assault charges dating from the 1960s to the 1990s, relating to nine complainants aged between 11 and 15.
Assault said to have taken place between January 1963 and December 1991
on the premises of schools where he worked, in a dormitory and in a school swimming pool.
Newcastle Crown Court was told the married father-of-three, who became wealthy after helping the family business to grow, has a ‘strong determination to sexually abuse little boys’ and there was a pattern to his offending.
A court heard Gregg, son of the founder of Gregg’s the bakers, was a biology and chemistry teacher at prestigious Durham School and the complainant was a pupil.
He told jurors at Newcastle Crown Court he was molested in Gregg’s study at the school and in his car.
Gregg, of Gosforth, Newcastle, denies all the charges, and his position is that ‘each and every one of the complainants is telling calculated and deliberate lies’, Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, told the jury.
Gregg trained as a teacher and taught at prestigious Durham School, which he had attended as a boy, the court heard.
A FORMER pupil at a school where Colin Gregg taught told a court he was sexually assaulted by him in a swimming pool.
The man, now in his 60s, says Gregg put his hand inside his swimming trunks while helping him to improve his breast stroke at prestigious Durham School.
Jurors were told the alleged offence in the swimming pool on the grounds of the school is said to have happened in the 1960s, when Gregg was a biology teacher.
Early days:
In 1967 he joined the family business which was started by his father John Robson Gregg (freemason) in 1939, when it was still a ‘modest outfit’
Gregg worked with his brother Ian Gregg for three years and the pair ‘created a very successful and large business which, in due course, became the public limited company Greggs plc‘, Mr Greaney said.
‘As a result of the growth in his family business, the defendant became a wealthy man.’
1969: Gregg returned to teaching, taking a job at St Aloysius, after realising “business wasn’t really for me”
St Aloysius a Roman Catholic -boys-only state school in the London Borough of Islington, North London.
The prosecution said Gregg will claim the allegations against him were motivated by people trying to win compensation.
In 1970 he returned to working with children but continued to work for the bakery during the holidays and remained a board member.
The following year he became a social worker (1971), then became head of Talbot House, (formerly Feversham), a school for what he termed ‘delinquent children’, the court heard.
Feversham Special School- name changed to Talbot
Talbot House Trust
TALBOT HOUSE TRUST NORTH EAST (03069213)
Hexham Road, Walbottle, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE15 8HW
Role Director
Appointed on 15 November 1996 Resigned on 31 March 2000
Dr Michael Toman – principal of Feversham in 1996 – Feversham closed in Mar 1997
Talbot House (formerly Feversham Special School in Walbottle)
Fears Feversham School abuse victims will be forgotten in child sex abuse inquiry
Vile abuse of children at a Tyneside special school has not been included in the first phase of investigations planned by an independent inquiry into child sex abuse.
A former social worker who worked at Newcastle’s Feversham school has today told of his anger that the horrors he witnessed at the Throckley establishment might never be made public.
Talbot House (formerly Feversham Special School) in Walbottle)
John Leslie Duncan, 61, from Gateshead, and Kevin Brown, 58, who was already in jail, were convicted of the abuse they committed against young boys in their care.
The charges related to incidents that took place throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s
Duncan was convicted of 15 charges, which included 10 counts of indecent assault on a male and three counts of indecency with a child, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
His crimes were committed as he worked at Shotley Park Childrens’ Home in Durham and at the Feversham residential school in Walbottle, Newcastle, both of which have since closed.
Brown was sentenced to six years on top of his current eight-year sentence after being convicted of seven charges, all relating to incidents at Feversham school too.
The report, by Annie Bishop, then inspector for children’s services, was the last time an outsider had observed the controversial school in the Walbottle area before its closure in March 1997.
The charity Mind acted as the residential school’s custodian trustee, looking after assets but not running the facility.
A board of governors managed the school, but Mind says it kept no record of their names.
Mind’s chief executive Paul Farmer said: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by the abuse that took place at Feversham.
Hon Lowell Goddard, chairman of the long-running Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), announced what would be included in the first phase of investigations into the extent to which institutions have failed to protect children from sexual abuse.
He later became head of the junior school at King’s School, Tynemouth, and in 1989 became director and administrator of a children’s charity (THE CHILDRENS’ FOUNDATION LIMITED (02528291)) which raised substantial sums.
‘On the surface, he has lived a life of decency, indeed one of distinction,’ Mr Greaney said opening the case.
He said the prosecution case was that Gregg was a child abuser, regularly molesting boys, in a breach of trust.
The complainants, now aged from their 30s to their 60s, were aged 10 to 15 at the time, the jury was told.
As well as the nine complainantswhich the charges relate to, the court will hearevidence from three others who claim they were abused.
Greggs linked to various members of royal family -Prince Andrew, Prince Charles, and Princess Anne
Children’s Foundation – patron Prince Andrew
Colin Stuart GREGG
GREGGS PLC (00502851)
Role Director
Appointed before 18 May 1991 Resigned on 9 May 2001
THE CHILDRENS’ FOUNDATION LIMITED (02528291)
Appointed before 6 August 1991 Resigned on 25 July 1996
THE CHILDRENS’ FOUNDATION TRADING LIMITED (02591794)
Appointed before 14 March 1993 Resigned on 12 March 1999
TALBOT HOUSE TRUST NORTH EAST (03069213)
Hexham Road, Walbottle, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE15 8HW
Role Director
Appointed on 15 November 1996 Resigned on 31 March 2000
PEACOCKS MEDICAL GROUP LIMITED (00560972)
Role Director
Appointed on 10 July 1998 Resigned on 18 February 2002
PEACOCKS (SURGICAL AND MEDICAL EQUIPMENT) LIMITED (00560985)
Role Director
Appointed on 12 April 2000 Resigned on 23 December 2003
PEACOCKS POSTURECARE LIMITED (03590754)
Role Director
Appointed on 3 May 2001 Resigned on 23 December 2003
SKILLSBRIDGE LIMITED (03942255)
Role Director
Appointed on 10 January 2001 Resigned on 23 October 2008
UK HAPTICS LIMITED (05094437)
Role Director
Appointed on 20 July 2007 Resigned on 3 September 2012
TRINITY CENTRE LIMITED (06510855)
Role Director
Appointed on 20 February 2008 Resigned on 1 September 2011
BEADNELL HALL FLATS MANAGEMENT COMPANY LIMITED (01769905)
Role Director
Appointed on 21 April 2011 Resigned on 11 February 2012
Children’s Foundation – Patron Prince Andrew The Duke of York
The Duke, who has been Patron of The Children’s Foundation (formerly The Yellow Brick Road Fund) since its foundation in 1990, attended a Reception to mark the charity’s 25th anniversary.
Duke of York visits Newcastle to launch £2m Children’s Foundation campaign
16 Sep 2015
The Royal was at the Mansion House in Jesmond as part of the Children’s Foundation’s new campaign to help young people improve their mental health
Greggs’ CEOs involved with Prince Charles…via BITC and through the Prince’s trust (Sir Michael Darrington)
Prince Praises Greggs’ Work in Community
May 22, 2003
The head of North-East bakery Greggs has won Prince Charles’s praise for his work in taking business into the community.
Mike Darrington was presented with the prince’s Ambassador Award yesterday at a Business in the Community event for his personal contribution to responsible business practice, through the work of the Greggs Trust, fund-raising and other activities such as the Greggs Breakfast Club.
Sir Michael Darrington ex-CEO of Greggs (ran it for 24yrs) works with the Prince’s Trust
By 1983, after growing his family’s chain of bakeries from just one to 300, Ian Gregg stepped down from his role as managing director and handed the mantle to Michael Darrington.
Ian attributes the success of Greggs during the 1980s and 90s to Darrington, who was awarded a knighthood in 2004 in recognition of his services to business and to the community in the North East.
Mike Darrington joined Greggs in 1983 as Group Managing Director.
Sir Michael Darrington :
Education: Lancing College, Harvard Business School
Lancing College – alma mater of the Peter Ball and his brother Michael Ball, Trevor Huddleston & Tom Driberg Headteacher James Woodhouse from Lancing College wrote in support of Ball link link
Sir Michael Darrington :
Newcastle University – executive member
University of Sunderland – Sir Michael received an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration.
Sir Michael set up the Pro Business Against Greed campaign, urging firms to tame excessive pay for leaders and make companies – and society – fairer. (that’s “rich”)
Mike Darrington takes a long term view of developing a business. He is a keen supporter of ethics in business – by putting Values at the heart of the organisation he believed that Greggs people would make a positive difference for themselves, their customers and the wider community – he is also an enthusiastic advocate of the ‘ enjoy ‘ word.
Mike believes that although companies are owned by shareholders, they should also be for the benefit of staff, customers and the wider society.
After previous significant involvements with the CBI Confederation of British Industry and BITC Business in the Community, he is now engaged in a number of charitable activities, including the Prince’s Trust, and also with community projects and campaigning for a fairer society.
Founded 1982 -BITC Business in the Community is a British business-community outreach charity promoting responsible business, CSR, corporate responsibility, and is one of the Prince’s Charities of Charles, Prince of Wales link
BITC The Prince’s Seeing is believing 2006 Review – Sir Michael Darrington – delegate, Leader – Prince Charles
link
Greggs Breakfast Clubs featured at the Business in the Community Annual Leadership summit in 2010. The event was hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales and was attended by Prime Minister David Cameron.
Greggs CEO Kennedy McMeikan was appointed as HRH The Prince of Wales Ambassador for the North East.
Greggs – In 2008, we made pledges to the Prince of Wales MayDay Network (a BITC Business in the Community Programme):
Among the initiatives already under way, BITC has started a series of The Prince
of Wales’s “Seeing Is Believing” visits to Burnley, and as one result alone, Greggs,
Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s are backing breakfast clubs in 15 of the
most needy primary schools in Burnley for a minimum of three years.
Greggs and Asdaare also supporting the Burnley SPACE youth Bus, working in
partnership with the police, which is deployed to different parts of the town
to provide advice, support and leisure facilities for young people.
19 November 2015
An innovative youth project in Burnley which provides support for disadvantaged youngsters has been awarded £115,000 by Children in Need.
INCLUDED in Greggs‘ latest financial results was the news that the baker had created a full time job for one of the homeless people it has been working with.
The Newcastle-based company is signed up to a Business Action on Homelessness project that was launched almost a year ago under the Business in the Community (BITC) banner, and run by Newcastle charity the Cyrenians with pounds 250,000 in funding from the Northern Rock Foundation.
As one of the lead businesses involved, Greggs supplies mentors and work placements for people on the Ready For Work scheme, which aims to get people back into the world of employment after they have been homeless.
Since the scheme started last September, 38 people have been placed with companies in the region, which along with Greggs also includes the likes of M&S, KPMG, NRG, Sage, Carillion and Barclays Bank. Of the placements, 31 completed their work experience and 22 have secured employment.
Greggs chief executive Ken McMeikan said: “This was reviewed at Business in the Community and the North East scheme is the national leader for the number of work placements who then go on to secure employment.
McMeikan’s interest in working with homeless people originally arose after he attended the Prince of Wales Seeing is Believing programme in London.
Organised by BITC, the project takes business leaders out to see homelessness first hand on the streets of the capital.
Greggs, the UK’s leading bakery food-on-the-go retailer, is backing “Britain’s Best Breakfast” Campaign as part of a new partnership with Carers Trust.
Carers Trust is a major charity working to improve support, services and recognition for anyone living with the challenges of caring, unpaid, for a family member or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems.
Greggs CEO, Roger Whiteside, will also be taking a group of carers from its shops to Buckingham Palace this week to meet with Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, who is the President of Carers Trust. Greggs is proud to support this initiative with a substantial donation; and also during the launch week we dedicated donation buckets in each of our shops nationwide to Carers Trust.
Carers Trust Britain’s Best Breakfast Launch at Buckingham Palace
In celebration of our partnership with Carers Trust, 15 of our shop team members, who also have carer responsibilities, were invited to the launch of Britain’s Best Breakfast at Buckingham Palace in September. The event was hosted by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, who is the President of Carers Trust. www.carers.org/press-release/greggs-backs-britains-best-breakfast-campaign
About Carers Trust – Carers Trust works to improve support, services and recognition for anyone living with the challenges of caring,
unpaid , for a family member or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems.
…given considerable support to carers of all ages including young carers like 12-year-old Amy who’s told us what life is like caring for her mum, sister and brother…
One Church 1st nat’l conference : Colin Gregg at conference attended by Peter Wanless
One Church, 100 Uses
25 March 2011
Gorton Monastery, Manchester
This one-day conference is sponsored by the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church and supported by English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund. It will look at ‘The sticky ball principle and the power of connection’, ‘The Church’s role in the Big Society’, ‘The experience of Salford – reinventing communities’ and ‘Unlimited potential – backing people with passion’ as well as a number of other topics and successful case studies.
which explored how to realise the potential of churches.
The day was comprised of keynote speeches, hands-on workshops, and a competition where churches pitched their project in front of a “dragons’ den-style panel for a prize of £5,000 from UnLtd.
The speeches were from some of the leading thinkers on social enterprise and heritage, including:
Lord Wei, founder of Teach First and Government Adviser on the Big Society
Hazel Blears, MP for Salford and Eccles
Baroness Andrews, Chair of English Heritage
Lord Mawson, social entrepreneur and director of One church,100 uses
Colin Gregg, entrepreneur and lead member of Trinity Gosforth
Anthony Roland, film director and owner of The Roland Collection, the world’s largest collection of films on art
Guy Hollaway, principal partner of Guy Hollaway Architects LLP
Jo Hibbard, Heritage Officer of the Methodist Church
Dr. Jenny Freeman, director of the Historic Chapels Trust
Malcolm McClean, social entrepreneur and director of Bearhunt
Cliff Prior, chief executive of UnLtd
Rowena Francis, moderator of URC Northern Synod
Dr Michael Toman – principal of Feversham in 1996 – Feversham closed in Mar 1997
1996 -2000 – Director Gregg at Feversham/Talbot House Trust
Appointed on 15 November 1996
Resigned on 31 March 2000
July 1996 – the last inspection of Feversham, by Newcastle City Council’s social services department
1997: Gregg stood trial in 1997 and was acquitted of abusing one of those three, the court heard. The other two complainants came forward after publicity about that case but it was decided those allegations should not proceed to trial.
Dec 1996 – Feversham principal is Dr Michael Toman (so Gregg was director at Feversham when Dr Michael Toman was there)
6 December, 1996 (Last Updated: 11 May, 2008)
Feversham is the only residential school in Newcastle upon Tyne for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It mops up the violent and disruptive pupils other schools cannot cope with and provides care for those whose families are also in crisis or unable to contain them.
Wonder then, at a time when society is crying out for Something To Be Done about disaffected pupils, that Feversham is closing down at Christmas.
It is closing because the region’s local education authorities will no longer give a long-term commitment to the school. Northumberland in particular, which is creating 90 special education places through pupil referral units, has said the 22 children it currently places in the school could fall to as few as six next year.
“Overnight we became uneconomical. Northumberland put the nail in the coffin,” says Dr Michael Toman, Feversham’s principal.There are 37 children aged between six and 13 attending Feversham, an independent establishment set up by MIND, the mental health charity, in the late 1960s to cater for almost twice that number.
Situated on the western edge of Newcastle, it is a low, spacious, modern building, comfortable and well-equipped, set in ample grounds with all the living and school accommodation ranged around the central dining hall. It is run on tolerant, therapeutic principles and aims to re-integrate children back into mainstream education and with their families.
“Our record is good,” says Dr Toman. “One-third of our children return to mainstream school, one-third go on to day special school and only one-third require further senior boarding provision.” A girl with learning difficulties who had suffered sexual abuse was excluded from her special school because she injured a teacher. Another with cerebral palsy was excluded from her special school for the same reason. Children come with bad dreams and chronic bed-wetting, the classic sign of inner turmoil. But these often clear up after time at Feversham.
Michael Toman argues that no matter how many pupil referral units local authorities provide, there will always be children needing residential education. The weekly boarding offered by Feversham provides stability and security, and often helps keep families “who hang by a thread” together. The school employs a social worker to work with families directly.
Staff constantly praise the positives in pupils and challenge the negatives. “When kids come to us they hate school. They hate teachers and so do their parents. We turn that on its head,” says Michael Toman. Children are on first-name terms with teachers and the ethos is one of tolerance and encouragement. “If we stopped every time we got a kick, a punch or a ‘Fuck-off’, we wouldn’t get beyond breakfast. We don’t approve or condone it, but that is the reality. It might sound woolly and liberal but we do challenge them. We just choose our battlegrounds.
“Violence comes from frustration and an inability to communicate, so we give our kids a language that enables them to express their feelings. They learn to listen to other people’s point of view.”
Every week Feversham holds whole-school and group meetings where staff and children review the week’s events and praise or criticise each other. Children have to learn to be the focus of attention.
“These are children who have previously wrecked classrooms and attacked teachers,” says Michael Toman. “They have to learn to sit down and hear other pupils say how horrible they’ve been. This is what group living is all about. Our greatest strength is that we offer consistency of approach over a 24-hour period. A day school cannot provide this.”
Classrooms are colourful and intimate, with a teacher and assistant for every eight pupils. Staff are trained to anticipate and deflect aggression, and how to hold a child who is being violent so nobody is seriously hurt.
Teachers grow used to verbal abuse one minute and requests for hugs the next. They put in a lot of their own time, taking out pupils who have achieved or been “especially sensible” on a one-to-one basis for trips to McDonald’s or Newcastle’s Metroland. Lorraine Brewis, who teaches the youngest group, says: “They love that special attention. You are more than just a teacher to them. When they have had a bad day they might call you everything from a pig to a dog but when they have calmed down they apologise. They feel so much better if they can do that, it’s a socialising process.
“The children are anxious and disturbed by the closure. It’s a bad time for them. We will all end up with other jobs, but what will happen to them?” Eileen Chapman, a single mother whose only child, David, has been at Feversham for the past two years, says her son “sat and broke his heart” when he learned of the closure. “‘What’s going to happen to me now?’ that’s what he asked.” David, who is 12, was disruptive at middle school and his mother could not cope with him. He spent a short time in foster care. “He would storm out and not come back for hours. There has been a 110 per cent improvement in the past year. I didn’t want him to board but it has been right for him and given me a break,” she says.
Richard and Jacqueline Leightley are concerned for their son Paul, who may have to go to residential school in the Lake District, far from their north-east home. Paul was expelled from his first school at five but has made progress at Feversham. The couple, who are on income support with three other children, are unhappy at the prospect of him being so far away.
Michael Toman is convinced that authorities such as Northumberland will be unable to reduce substantially their need for residential placements. Although Feversham costs Pounds 24,000 per pupil for weekly boarding for 40 weeks of the year, he argues that this is cheap compared to the cost of the family breakdown, police involvement, care and secure units that can follow if children are inadequately catered for at a young age.
Independent residential schools such as Feversham have been out of favour because of some notorious cases of mismanagement and abuse, and because of an emphasis on integration into the community. But Michael Toman believes the pendulum must now swing back. “We are the safety valve. No matter how many PRUs the LEAs open – and the Ridings episode is just the tip of the iceberg – they will fill them and still end up wondering what to do with our sort of kids. They’ll have to send them further afield. Northumberland is looking at schools in the Lake District. Authorities are now panicking about our closure.”
DRAWING THE NATIONAL PICTURE
Despite all the publicity now surrounding disaffected pupils there has been no national survey in the past 20 years on the provision for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
However, the trustees of Shotton Hall, a pioneer EBD school which closed two years ago, have funded research by the University of Birming-ham’s school of education.
Researchers found that from 1987 to March this year, the number of approved independent schools fell by half, from 76 to 35, while the number of local authority EBD schools fell by about 15 per cent. In the first three months of the research alone, seven such schools closed. Head of research John Visser says although some “dross” has gone, “we have lost some very good schools in the past five years”.
The school of education runs the only EBD training course in the country and says it is turning teachers away who want to qualify – at a time when need is greater than ever.
The average annual cost per pupil of an EBD residential school is Pounds 25,000 to Pounds 30,000. Although many of those inspected by OFSTED are classed as failing or needing special measures, John Visser believes the inspectors apply the criteria too rigidly. “If you have had children who have been chucked out of other EBD schools, some of whom have already served custodial sentences and you are keeping them on site, in class and getting them interested in life, death and the universe, you might not be following key stage 3 of the national curriculum to the letter, but you will be achieving a great deal.
“I support the need for residential EBD provision but there has been no research into what is good or effective. That is what I am engaged in.”
These figures are taken from an article by John Visser and Ted Cole for the next issue of the Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties journal entitled : “An Overview of English Special School Provision for Children with Emotional and Behaviour Difficulties.” Contact Alan Rimmer on 01622 843104
TEACHER IN ‘BARE BOTTOM’ PICTURE SCANDAL RESIGNS; Dad Claims Staff Took Snaps of Child’s Behind
July 4, 2009
A HEADTEACHER has resigned amid an investigation into practices at his school where it is alleged he allowed staff to photograph a child’s bare bottom.
Dr Michael Toman, head of Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn in Denbigh for the past 10 years, has been on restricted duties for the last 10 months pending the probe.
He announced his resignation last night after being removed from his job along with the school’s child protection coordinator in September.
It comes after the father of a severely autistic child claimed staff kept an 18-month “neglect diary” on his child, who cannot speak, and took photographs of the child’s bare bottom.
He alleged employees at the regional centre of excellence for children with autistic spectrum disorders took the photos without parental consent, and without informing social services.
An independent inquiry was launched by the education authority and bosses at Denbighshire County Council but a report into their findings has been heavily delayed.
At the time, police also confirmed they were investigating a string of staff e-mails raising child protection concerns at the school.
Dr Toman will leave his position at the end of August to “pursue new challenges”, the council said yesterday.
It is not yet known when the report will be completed but the father of the child at the centre of the investigation said he was told it could be a matter of weeks.
Last night, a Denbighshire County Council spokesman said: “Dr Toman had been placed on restricted duties whilst complaints relating to alleged breaches of procedure were investigated. …
POLICE and social services officers have confirmed that they are investigating child protection concerns at a North Wales school for children with autism.
Officers were called in to investigate emails from a concerned member of staff at Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn in Denbigh late last week.
The move comes after a series of controversies concerning the school, widely regarded as a regional centre of excellence for children with autism spectrum disorders.
Six weeks ago the school’s headteacher Michael Toman was suspended from duties amid a local educational authority (LEA) inquiry into a complaint made by a pupil’s parents.
Two weeks later other parents of children at the school staged a protest at county hall in Ruthin.
Two days later the LEA temporarily replaced Dr Toman with acting headteacher Richard Williams.
Then it was revealed that a 34-page inspection report by the Care Standards Social Inspectorate for Wales (CSSIW) had identified 21 shortfalls in meeting national minimum standards of care in the residential section of Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn.
Now, a member of staff at the school has emailed the Evening Leader claiming they have been threatened with the sack if they speak out about the school’s management.
“Everyone is too scared to speak out.” said one female worker at the school.
She said morale was “very low” and added: “There are some very good dedicated staff at the school who have received no support in their work with what can be very challenging children.”
Last night a North Wales Police spokesman said: “We can confirm that e-mail correspondence relating to child protection concerns at Ysgol Brondyffryn are currently the subject of joint investigation by Denbighshire Social Services and the Police.”
“Dr Toman joined the school in 1997and he has since been instrumental in leading a team that transformed the school from being a special school into a modern, regional centre for autistic students.”
In the meantime, Dr Toman has been replaced by Richard Williams, deputy headteacher at St Christopher’s School in Wrexham, pending the outcome of the investigation, expected on October 10.
North Wales Police are aware of the inquiry but are not investigating, a force spokeswoman confirmed.
Gregg stood trial in 1997 and was acquitted of abusing one of those three, the court heard.
The other two complainants came forward following publicity (news reports of that trial have been removed from the internet) about that trial but it was decided those allegations should not proceed to trial.
When Gregg faced fresh allegations in 2012, he told police that similarities betweenthe stories put forward by the nine were due to them reading details about the trial in 1997.
Mr Greaney said: ‘He was asserting that those allegations with which you are concerned were copycat allegations.’
He said there was evidence that Gregg ‘finds young boys attractive’ and had a propensity to commit sexual abuse.
Gregg was said to have abused a boy in a school swimming bath, another while letting him drive his car while the boy had hold of the steering wheel.
Mr Greaney said: ‘The overall picture is now of complainants from different backgrounds, across many years, indeed decades, and across many aspects of the defendant’s life, but all making similar allegations against Colin Gregg, namely he has a strong determination to sexually abuse little boys when he gets the chance.’
1969:Gregg returned to teaching, taking a job at St Aloysius, after realising “business wasn’t really for me”
1969 – Feversham School opens just before NAMH adopted the name MIND
1970 Paedophile Peter Righton – Founding member of PIE, advised Home Office on reforms to children’s care home for a report that detailed how new homes should be controlled by local government.Righton gave “considerable assistance” to the governmental report, which credited him as an academic who helped to carve out plans for the training of care home workers.
As part of his research, he would travel to numerous residential centres across the UK.
1970 – Gregg returned to working with children but continued to work for the bakery during the holidays and remained a board member.
1971 – he became a social worker, then head of Talbot House (year?), a school for what he termed delinquent children, the court heard.
During the early 1970s Gregg was a children’s officer with Newcastle’s social services department, before later becoming a teacher. 1973 Princess Alexandra patron of NAMH
1974 Talbot House established – maintained special school
Talbot House caters for children with mild to severe behaviour problems and a range of other childhood disorders. Attached to the school, but separate from it is an independent children’s home run by the Talbot Trust. Some children from the home do attend Talbot House but others attend local schools. Talbot House is not a residential school.
In October 1975, Righton became chair of a working group for the mental health association MIND, with the assistance of the King’s Fund Centre; this led to the publication of Assessment of Children and Their Families: A Report Produced by a MIND Working Party Under the Chairmanship of P. Righton (London; MIND, 1975).
1976 NAMH became a registered housing association
November 1976 there was a scandal in Newcastle involving a care worker called Hugh Bostock who had abused 55 boys.
1977 Lady Constance Roth JP, Warnock Committee, wife of Sir Martin Roth (McGill University) is governor of Feversham until 1977. (In Newcastle between 1956 and 1977, Martin Roth built a world-class academic department with a wide-ranging research programme which included studies of the psychiatric disorders of old age, mood disorders, and child psychiatry)
1977 – 1984 – Durham County – Medomsley Detention centre – Nevile Husband part of large paedophile ring is neiled in 2003: for eight years for attacks between 1977 and 1984.
Between 1978 and 1996, when the school closed, Brown launched sex attacks against a number of young boys.
1978 – SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Handicapped Children and Young People chaired by Mrs H.M. Warnock
1978- Lady Constance Roth JP member of the Warnock committee
Newcastle City Council.
In 1979, Righton sat on a steering committee to establish a course for training staff to work with disturbed young people, together with John Rea Price, director of Islington Social Services, 1972-92, subsequently the Director of the National Children’s Bureau.
sponsored by Gatsby Trust an offshoot of the Sainsbury Foundation
Righton would likely have been involved officially with Feversham school for disturbed children?
1983 – Members of staff at Feversham School blew the whistle on the two child abusers
1983: Former Feversham teacher David Allnutt resigns in disgust over the way pupils’ allegations of abuse at the school are dismissed.
1983 – The first ever Greggs sponsored Childrens Cancer Run at Gosforth Racecourse
Gregg was at King’s College when he launched the Greggs Children’s Cancer Run
1985 – King’s College – Check given to Save the Children rep
March 1985 visit to Medomsley by Leon Brittan
June 1985 Report (marked for immediate destruction) into abuse and cruelty at Feversham School
1986 – Duncan, who worked as a social worker at the Dr Barnardo’s home at Shotley Park moved to Feversham
1987 – Medomsley closed
1987: Former social worker Ian Merry blows the whistle on suspected child abuse, triggering an investigation by the charity Mind.
Whistleblower Ian contacted Feversham’s chair of governors and the mental health charity Mind. The school’s custodian trustee launched an internal inquiry into the allegations. I was interviewed for two days at Mind’s regional headquarters. I named the men and said I had strong suspicions they were abusing children. Those in charge of the inquiry decided not to act
May 1987: Jimmy Savile’s visits to children’s cancer ward Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary – Nurse tells of Savile’s visits:
“He appeared to be in Newcastle for the Great North Run but for whatever reason he was able to visit the RVI.”
He also claimed Savile was formally invited into the building.”The alleged incident in Newcastle is thought to have taken place in the early 1990’s ? when Savile arrived at the hospital unannounced around the time of the Great North Run, which he regularly took part in.”
– Marsden is the finishing line for the Great North Run, the RVI in newcastle is the start line. The RVI is one of the hospitals investigated re Savile.
1987 – The Gregg Charitable Trust was established as a family charity to support local hardship. The charity was given gifts of cash
1988 – The Feversham inquiry concludes and a report states there is “nothing to support allegations of indecency”. Pervert John Leslie Duncan, known as Les, keeps his job as a senior residential worker.
1989 – King’s College – Letter from Parents’ Assoc to Colin Gregg
1990 – Gregg left the then private Kings School to become the full-time administrator of the Yellow Brick Road Fund.
1990: Nevile Husband retires from the prison service and receives an Imperial Service medal for serving with “diligence and fidelity”.
Before 1991 -2001 Director at Greggs
1991 – 1996 THE CHILDRENS’ FOUNDATION LIMITED (02528291)
1993 – 1994 THE CHILDRENS’ FOUNDATION TRADING LIMITED (02591794)
1993 New Tyneside Orchestra – compere Colin Gregg / conductor Stephen Pettitt
The NTO has also provided musicians for a number of more diverse events including serenading runners at the finish line of the Great North Run in 2006.
1993 – Greggs – a large grant of £15,000 was awarded to Northumberland Wildlife Trust.
1994 – Greggs Trust establishes the Hardship Fund, with the collaboration of local trusts to support families and individuals in significant need in the North East.
1990 -1994 Serial killer’ Steven Grieveson murdered four teenage boys in a series of killings – has links to Cumbria and to Sunderland
1994 – Christopher Lillie and Dawn Reed, who worked at Newcastle Shieldfield Nursery, were accused of sexual offences, but the charges were dropped at the direction of a judge at Newcastle Crown Court
July 1994 – Jeremy Beecham , founding member of Common Purpose (since 1989) – was the leading Labour figure in local government at the time of the abuse scandal…was found collapsed in his car with a suspected overdose a week before Christopher Lillie went on trial to face abuse charges
Sir Jeremy was both leader of Newcastle City Council, which was responsible for running the nursery, and a partner in the legal firm representing Lillie, a fact the parents of the abused children were unhappy about.
He still is a partner in Henderson, Beecham & Peacock, a major Newcastle solicitors’ practice and at the time was also chairman of the Association of Metropolitan Authorities.
Mid 1990s Gregg left the the Yellow Brick Road Fund and later joined the Trinity Centre, on Gosforth’s High Street – home to the first Greggs bakery – as its chairman.
1996 -2000 – Gregg Director Talbot House Trust
Appointed on 15 November 1996
Resigned on 31 March 2000
Michael Toman Head teacher with pupils at Feversham school in Newcastle
July 1996 – the last inspection of Feversham, by Newcastle City Council’s social services department
Dec 1996 – Feversham principal is Dr Michael Toman ( Gregg was director at Feversham when Dr Michael Toman was there)
Mar 1997 – Feversham closes
1997: Gregg stood trial in 1997 and was acquitted of abusing one of those three, the court heard. The other two complainants came forward after publicity about that case but it was decided those allegations should not proceed to trial.
1997 Dr Michael Toman joins Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn school for autistic children in Denbigh
November 22, 1997 national child pornography operation raid including Durham school
1997 – Greggs Trust as it has become known celebrates its ten year anniversary.
1997 – Brother Ian Gregg gets an OBE
Aug 1997 – Op Rose started and 1st trial from that was in 1998.
Op Rose started So Grgg was not directly Op Rose – but maybe what they were finding (and covering up) led to a bigger trawl? (via ww)
1999 – Greggs Breakfast Club is established
December 2001 : John Leslie Duncan is jailed for abusing his position of trust to prey on youngsters at Feversham.
2002 – Dr Lazaro, senior lecturer and consultant paediatrician at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary and Newcastle University was criticised for her role in the investigation into” false” claims of abuse at a Newcastle nursery by Dawn Reed and Christopher Lillie.
The pair were accused in a Newcastle City Council report of systematic sex abuse of dozens of children at a Newcastle nursery. But Mr Justice Eady declared them innocent of all charges and condemned the report as a legal `shambles.’
...supplying children to a paedophile ring whose members had raped and abused their young victims, and used them in the making of child pornography.
…the local press had begun reporting the case of Jason Dabbs, a young student who had pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting children at another Newcastle nursery.
2003 Neville Husband was jailed for historical sexual abuse as a prison officer at Medomsley detention centre in County Durham
Police investigating sexual abuse at a Durham detention centre say they believe they have uncovered an organised paedophile ring operating in the 1970s and 80s with more than 500 potential victims…. a complex paedophile ring, with many more victims than previously thought.
2006 – Greggs raises £70,000 for BBC Children in Need Appeal in the first year of supporting the appeal
2006 – A team at Trinity Church, in Gosforth, Newcastle, have been planning the attractive community space (the Square) since the church had a pounds 3.25m refurbishment
…the team received a grant of pounds 100,000 from Newcastle City Council.
2007: The CPS decides it is “not in the public interest” to proceed with charges that Husband abused a boy at Deerbolt youth offenders’ institution after he left Medomsley and Frankland.
September 2008 Dr Michael Toman suspended, he resigns in Aug 2009
2008 – TRINITY CENTRE LIMITED (06510855) on Gosforth’s High Street opened – connected to the church
2008 – Northumbria Police deputy chief constable David Warcup replaces Lenny Harper in Jersey
2010: Husband dies.
December 2, 2011: Kevin Brown, known as Ken, of Inchberry Close, Benwell, Newcastle, is jailed for eight years for also abusing boys.
December 8, 2011: Newcastle North MP and Shadow Minister for Children and Young Families, Catherine McKinnell, joins the Chronicle in calling for an official inquiry.
December 14, 2011: Former Feversham teacher David Allnutt dies of a massive heart attack just weeks after his key evidence helps jail Kevin Brown.
2012 – Colin Gregg faced fresh allegations
2012: The Guardian reveals that Husband’s abuse was on a greater scale than previously thought. Police re-open the investigation after more victims come forward.
January 6, 2012: Mind boss Paul Farmer meets the mother of one of the victims for talks.
February 22, 2012: Mothers of Feversham victims form a pressure group.
April 27, 2012: Northumbria Police sets up an incident room to carry out a major investigation into allegations of abuse at the school.
2012 When Gregg faced fresh allegations in 2012, he told police that similarities between the stories put forward by the nine were due to them reading details about the trial in 1997.
2014: Durham police say they are investigating an organised paedophile ring operating from Medomsley with more than 500 potential victims.
2015 – Duke of York visits Newcastle to launch £2m Children’s Foundation campaign
2015: Lowell Goddard, chairman of the long running Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, announced that Feversham would not be included in the first phase of investigations. A former social worker who worked at Newcastle’s Feversham school today told of his anger that the horrors he witnessed there might never be made public.
Trent@RandolphTrent
Husband & Johnson were both FreeMasons, during the material times many police & other officers were also Masons possibly the same lodge! too
March 1994 when I first made complaints to police about the abuse going on at #Medomsley Told to go home & forget about it! I didnt I fought
I even had a Moderator of Husband’s 2 churches say “Don’t they ask for it by getting into trouble in the first place! I couldn’t believe it!
Former staff members at Medomsley Detention Centre to appear in court over abuse allegations
21 Nov 2017
Seven former workers at Medomsley Detention Centre, in County Durham, are set to face charges in relation to allegations of abuse.
The men have all been summonsed to appear at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, December 19 to answer charges of misconduct in a public office and physical abuse offences. Some will also answer sexual abuse charges.
The men are Christopher Onslow, 71, Brian Johnson Greenwell, 70, Alan Bramley, 69, John McGee, 73, Kevin Blakely, 65, David McClure, 62, and Neil Sowerby, 61.
Christopher Onslow, John McGee, Brian Johnson Greenwell, and Neil Sowerby, will answer charges of misconduct in a public office, physical abuse and sexual offences.
David McClure, Alan Bramley and Kevin Blakely, will answer charges of misconduct in a public office and physical abuse offences only.
Durham Police launched Operation Seabrook, in August 2013 and is one of the largest of its kind in the UK.
So far, more than 1,480 men have contacted the Operation Seabrook team to report allegations of either sexual or physical assaults while detained at Medomsley from the 1960s to when the centre closed in 1988.
The officer leading the investigation, Detective Chief Superintendent Adrian Green, vowed the operation will not stop here.
He said: “The Operation Seabrook team and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) remain committed in continuing to move the investigation forward.
“In February this year, we submitted 32 files to the CPS for charging decisions. A number of people are still under investigation.”
date unknown: Robert Atkinson – Newcastle teacher was arrested for sexually abusing a 13 year old student. He was fined £200. The headmaster and staff however continued to support him after the his guilt. Member level status in P.I.E
1984 Birthday Honours – Brian Roycroft
Eric Brian Roycroft – Director of Social Services, Newcastle upon Tyne Metropolitan Borough Council.
……………….
Newcastle City Council, Brian Roycroft, and North Wales care homes
On February 16th 2000 under the headline Suffer the Little Children the Newcastle Journal provided the story of one of the victims in Sunderland mentioning that the NSPCC report had referred to a web of institutional abuse and reported that 32 staff had been involved.
The Sunderland Echo also published an editorial Two Decades of Horrific Abuse and an article on the movement of staff suspects between local authorities. The Newcastle Spotlight on Abuse article is important drawing attention to the role of the Director of Social Services Roycroft in relation to the 1976 Hugh Bostock Scandal and his alleged opposition to the proposal for a register of dismissed staff. Cathy Fox’s request for Hugh Bostock inquiry info to be published was refused.
On Feb 17th the Newcastle-based Journal published the story of one victim who contacted them among the 28 who were said to have been assaulted after being placed in Bryn Alyn by the City of Newcastle.
The Feb 17th complainant mentioned that Director of Social Services Brian Roycroft visited the home to open an extension. “It was almost laughable he was singing the praises of the place yet what was going on there was evil.”
Roycroft was Director of Social Services for Newcastle 1971- 1993and before then its Children’s officer, who also acted as Director of Education and Chief Executive for short periods, and was appointed a European Social Commissioner by Margaret Thatcher as well as having a controlling influence within the Association of Directors of Social Services and the advisors to the Association of Metropolitan local authorities.
He commented in what appeared to be a prepared statement “ It is fairly common place to send children with behavioural difficulties to homes around the country, here weren’t the facilities available in the North East. It is perfectly possible that some children from Newcastle and the North East did go to some of the homes in North Wales named in the Waterhouse report. I had 42,000 children in my care during my career and I cannot possible remember where they all went. It is also perfectly feasible that I did visit the Bryn Alyn Home “ It is noteworthy that although he left Newcastle a number of years before he knew the total number of children was over 42,000
“I would often visit homes where children from Newcastle were in care as would social service staff from the city” The article includes comments from the then current Director of Social Services for Newcastle.
In 1987, that is a year after the first complaints about the conduct of the owner of Bryn Alyn were made, Roycroft who was then President of the Association of Directors of Social Service recommended colleagues at the North East Region branch meeting the placement of children in care at Bryn Alyn, speaking warmly of the hospitality he had received. He rarely mentioned his national/internationally activities.
Roycroft also made a point of advising colleagues on another occasion that he sometimes invited children in care to his home.
It was then on morning of the 18th that the Journal posed the question Why were 69 of our Children sent to Bryn Alyn? The key sentence in the article (9) is the reference to a Labour MP Chris Ruane Vale of Clwyd (and still there) wanted Prime Minister Tony Blair to assure him that prominent people had not been left out.
On the 19th the Journal again asked the question Why did they keep sending children? The article refers to the 1988 devastating report of its Director on its Children’s Homes and which included Bryn Alyn.
Roycroft who died in 2002 during the libel action against the Council and the authors of the report on the Sheffield Nursery Scandal (the Chronicle settled out of court) was also the lead member of the team who investigated the conviction of the Calderdale Social Services Director in 1988 (when he was immediate past President of ADSS) for crimes against children in care and Calderdale director was reported to have links with Peter Righton)
In 1994 Roycroft was part of the part Inquiry into Oxenden House.
A spokesperson for Greggs, where Mr Gregg held a senior role for 10 years, said: “Colin Gregg has no involvement with Greggs Plc and it would therefore be wholly inappropriate for us to comment on this matter.”
Formerly a director at the baked goods giant established by his father John Gregg in the 1930s, Mr Gregg had previously held the lead role at Kings School in Tynemouth.
During his time there, he launched the Greggs Children’s Cancer Run, now in its 31st year, after pupil Chris Peacock was diagnosed with kidney cancer and given a 30% chance of survival.
Since its creation, the events has raised in excess of £5m for North of England Children’s Cancer Research (NECCR), at Newcastle.
He left the prestigious school in 1990 to become the full time administrator with the Yellow Brick Road Fund, a charity set up to raise millions for projects.
The charity later became Children’s Foundation, fundraising for what is now the Great North Children’s Hospital.
Working with Newcastle University’s Dept of Child Health building the Road to Health – current director
Colin Gregg 1996 leaving yellow brick road aka Children’s Foundation charity # 1000013
Working with Newcastle University’s Dept of Child Health building the Road to Health – current director
Colin Gregg 1996 leaving Yellow Brick Road aka Children’s Foundation charity # 1000013
Leaving the post in the mid 1990s Mr Gregg, a father-of-three, who used to work as a children’s officer with Newcastle’s social services during the early 1970s, later joined the Trinity Centre along Gosforth’s High Street – home to the first Greggs bakery – as its chairman.
Opened in 2008 the centre, connected to the church, hosts around 100 activities a week for the community.
THE final stages of a town square intended for a leafy Tyneside suburb have been put in place.
A team at Trinity Church, in Gosforth, Newcastle, have been planning the attractive community space since the church had a pounds 3.25m refurbishment in 2006.
But after gaining planning permission, the development was put on the back-burner as the popularity of the new Trinity Centre exceeded expectations.
Attention was turned to creating the half-paved and half-grassed town square, aimed at breathing life back into Gosforth High Street after the team received a grant of pounds 100,000 from Newcastle City Council.
At the time of the planning in 2009, the project was estimated to cost pounds 400,000. It is hoped the space will be used as place to sit, relax and chat, as well as for entertainment such as bands, markets and chess.
Colin Gregg, chairman of the Trinity Centre, said the aim of the square was to bring the local community together.
He said: “The overall aim is that the square will help bring people back on to the High Street and to eventually shop there so trade will pick up.
“Gosforth High Street used to be a thriving area. It was where the bakery Greggs opened its first store and it was a place where people came and talked.
“We want the square to be the heart of the community.”
Since the Trinity Centre reopened in 2008 it has exceeded expectations.
The church now hosts 100 activities a week and has around 2,500 people walking through its doors each week.
Sasha Wass QC, prosecutor in Rolf Harris trial, to lead island sex abuse inquiry
Sasha Wass QC, has been brought into to head an investigation into an alleged cover-up on St Helena and Ascension
20 November 2014
A prominent barrister who successfully prosecuted Rolf Harris will head an investigation into an alleged police and government conspiracy to cover up the widespread sexual exploitation of girls on a British overseas territory.
Sasha Wass QC, has been brought in after a review of child safety on St Helena and Ascension – two tiny and remote islands in the South Atlantic with a combined population of some 5,500 – revealed that a number of paedophiles had escaped prosecution amid claims of police incompetence and corruption.
Social workers said they raised concerns about a paedophile officer but were snubbed and told not to rock the boat and “enjoy the view” on St Helena, famous as the island prison of Napoleon.
After the success of the first 2 rides we became more adventurous and designed a new coast to coast of our own. This was to give people the chance to complete other ways to cross the country on a bike. The route was designed by Les and went from Morecambe to Scarborough via Skipton and Thirsk.
The 3 day ride included more varied terrain and scenery over 200 miles and had lots of hills, off road tracks, fast road sections and included the first cityworks riders hill climb just for fun. 12 riders signed up for the trip through Settle, Skipton, Pately bridge, Ripon, Thirsk, Thornton le dale, and Scarborough.
This ride was also on a large scale as we had a bus, a 7 ton wagon and 3 outriders from the TA. The back up was great and the route well organised in advance. We also stayed in good quality hotels on the way and provided pleanty of pub stops for a beer or two.
This ride was in aid of three charities: –
The Childrens cancer research fund at the R.V.I. Newcastle
The Yellow Brick road appeal Newcastle
The Evening Chronicle Sunshine fund Newcastle.
We enlisted the help of the Mayor of Morecambe to start the ride and the mayor of Scarborough to meet us at the end.
£3,250 was raised for our chosen charities with the cheque presentation at the Civic centre again with our charity representatives.
The Barry Sisters – June, Angela and Ann – were the toast of the North in the late 50s and 60s, performing alongside stars from Cliff Richard to Ken Dodd and Des O’Connor to Morecambe and Wise.
Angela Wright, 79, of New Marske, will join guests in Newcastle on Thursday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Children’s Foundation, a charity close to her late sister June’s heart.
June, the only one of the three never to have had children of her own, left the charity PS10,000 in her will after her death in September.
The group had a glittering career which saw them tour the country with a host of household names.
They spent six weeks touring with a young Cliff Richard and although Angela has fond memories of the time she missed out on the chance to have her picture taken with the future superstar – she was giving birth to Martyn. The group’s “fourth member” Sylvia Scarill filled in for her.
She said: “He was very polite and pleasant, but he didn’t socialise much. Sometimes he would rehearse songs with the band in the bus, but most of the time he travelled by car with his own driver.”
The importance of timelines – and the depth of the rabbit hole
Newcastle City Council, Brian Roycroft, and North Wales care homes
Written by a former social work professional who wishes to remain anonymous.
Local publicity about the connection between children and young people in the care and protection of Newcastle City Council and Bryn Alyn only became public in the 2000 with the publication of the Waterhouse Report following the prosecution of a number of individuals for crimes of physical and sexual violence in residential care in Wales
The Mail on Sunday Feb 13th 2000 reported that the £13 million inquiry stopped short of concluding that the abuse was orchestrated by a ring of paedophiles who helped each other to secure top jobs in in the Welsh Care system and which were said to include policemen, public servants and businessmen- this included a Welsh Office Inspector of Homes who was sentenced to 14 years.
12 former children in care were known to have committed suicide because of their experiences.
Locally the first reference to the Waterhouse Inquiry revelations occurred on Feb 15th when the Sunderland Echo commented on the report noting that two weeks beforehand Sunderland’s “longest running child abuse Inquiry collapsed.” The Echo paper appears to be making the point that the passage of time did not appear to have affected the successful prosecution in Wales and other situations.
The point made by the Sunderland Echo back in 2000 has been strengthened for on April 29th 2013, that is another decade after the third Witherwack trial ended, the Director General of the National Crime Agency issued a Public report on the progress of Operation Pallial covering 140 complainants reporting offences in 18 establishments in North Wales 1963-1992 against 84 named individuals. Operation Pallial continues. The 18 page progress report makes reference to the establishment of a review of the working of the Waterhouse Inquiry conducted for the Ministry of Justice by Lady Justice Macur DBE and which published an Issues Paper on January 8th 2013 which included a call of information.
In October 2013 Cathy Fox used an FOI request to ask the Ministry of Justice when the Macur report would be published. Further requests were made in December and May of this year. No date has been fixed.
On February 16th 2000 under the headline Suffer the Little Children the Newcastle Journal provided the story of one of the victims in Sunderland mentioning that the NSPCC report had referred to a web of institutional abuse and reported that 32 staff had been involved.
The Journal article also refers to the Pin Down regime in Staffordshire, to an investigation in Northumberland and the 300 complaints which has arisen to that date as part of Operation Rose.
On February 16th, the Journal also published an editorial covering the Waterhouse Inquiry and the 1998 Utting report
The Sunderland Echo also published an editorial Two Decades of Horrific Abuse and an article on the movement of staff suspects between local authorities. The Newcastle Spotlight on Abuse article is important drawing attention to the role of the Director of Social Services Roycroft in relation to the 1976 Hugh Bostock Scandal and his alleged opposition to the proposal for a register of dismissed staff. Cathy Fox’s request for Hugh Bostock inquiry info to be published was refused.
On Feb 17th the Newcastle-based Journal published the story of one victim who contacted them among the 28 who were said to have been assaulted after being placed in Bryn Alyn by the City of Newcastle.
NB A subsequent report indicated that only a small number had approached Newcastle Police with complaints.
The Feb 17th complainant mentioned that Director of Social Services Brian Roycroft visited the home to open an extension. “It was almost laughable he was singing the praises of the place yet what was going on there was evil.”
Roycroft was Director of Social Services for Newcastle 1971- 1993 and before then its Children’s officer, who also acted as Director of Education and Chief Executive for short periods, and was appointed a European Social Commissioner by Margaret Thatcher as well as having a controlling influence within the Association of Directors of Social Services and the advisors to the Association of Metropolitan local authorities.
He commented in what appeared to be a prepared statement “ It is fairly common place to send children with behavioural difficulties to homes around the country, here weren’t the facilities available in the North East. It is perfectly possible that some children from Newcastle and the North East did go to some of the homes in North Wales named in the Waterhouse report. I had 42,000 children in my care during my career and I cannot possible remember where they all went. It is also perfectly feasible that I did visit the Bryn Alyn Home “ It is noteworthy that although he left Newcastle a number of years before he knew the total number of children was over 42,000
“I would often visit homes where children from Newcastle were in care as would social service staff from the city” The article includes comments from the then current Director of Social Services for Newcastle.
In 1987, that is a year after the first complaints about the conduct of the owner of Bryn Alyn were made, Roycroft who was then President of the Association of Directors of Social Service recommended colleagues at the North East Region branch meeting the placement of children in care at Bryn Alyn, speaking warmly of the hospitality he had received. He rarely mentioned his national/internationally activities.
Roycroft also made a point of advising colleagues on another occasion that he sometimes invited children in care to his home.
It was then on morning of the 18th that the Journal posed the question Why were 69 of our Children sent to Bryn Alyn? The key sentence in the article (9) is the reference to a Labour MP Chris Ruane Vale of Clwyd (and still there) wanted Prime Minister Tony Blair to assure him that prominent people had not been left out.
Also regarded of significance is the accompanying piece about one former young man how he had been threatened at gun point by a staff member before insisting on sex. Was their proper investigations of residents reported missing from the home who were never found by their placing local authorities? The Editorial demanded the facts and the inquiry report to be published.
The importance of establishing a timeline database to include the various police investigations and other inquiries is reinforced by the Daily Mail front page headline article on the same morning – Even Worse- suggesting the potential of 11,000 victims based on the Lambeth-centred inquiry Operation Middleton and which also referred to Operation Care Merseyside and to an operation in Birmingham. The Newcastle Chronicle that evening asked for one victim placed at Bryn Alyn by North Tyneside – Why did no one listen to me?
On the 19th the Journal again asked the question Why did they keep sending children? The article refers to the 1988 devastating report of its Director on its Children’s Homes and which included Bryn Alyn.
The 19th saw the Journal report the story of Michelle Atkinson in relation to a Newcastle residential care home. On the same date the Journal reported that David Brushett, the Welsh Office Children’s Inspector who had worked at the former Approved School, Aycliffe County Durham joint secure remand centre and community home with education on the premises from 1967 to 1974 when he had become deputy Headmaster at the school part of the establishment.
The Chronicle then disclosed on February 25th that Peter Howarth who was convicted and sentenced to ten years for crimes at the notorious Bryn Estyn Establishment had worked at the former Axwell Park (renamed Clavering House) Newcastle establishment. The then current Director of Social Services called for any victims to come forward in a Journal article on the 26th.
In 1968 following the conviction of Mary Bell aged 11 years for the murder of two boys, Roycroft then Children’s Officer Newcastle became personally involved with her welfare and was widely praised by the author of two books on the murders and the life of Mary as “one of the finest social workers in the country” and referred to “his passion for “social justice.” quoted in the Guardian Obituary.
As already mentioned in 1976 Roycroft was at the centre of concern about the conviction of Newcastle Residential Home officer Hugh Bostock. The Council has refused to publish its internal report via a Cathy Fox FOI request.
Roycroft who died in 2002 during the libel action against the Council and the authors of the report on the Shielfield Nursery Scandal (the Chronicle settled out of court) was also the lead member of the team who investigated the conviction of the Calderdale Social Services Director in 1988 (when he was immediate past President of ADSS) for crimes against children in care and Calderdale director was reported to have links with Peter Righton)
In 1994 Roycroft was part of the part Inquiry into Oxenden House. A Cathy Fox FOI request for a copy of the report to be published has been refused.
Aycliffe Young People’s Center, Darlington, Stockton on Tees
Former County Durham house master cleared of sex abuse
A former County Durham school house master has been cleared of sexual abuse charges after a judge concluded police handling the case acted improperly.
Rod Ryall, 68, of Wheatley Drive, Mirfield, West Yorkshire, had denied 10 counts of indecent assault on three children in the 1960s and 1970s.
The judge hearing the case directed jurors to return not guilty verdicts amid criticism of Durham Police.
BBC News 24/09/10
School master ‘carried out string of sex attacks’
An approved school housemaster who became a scout leader and council director of social services carried out a string of sex attacks on vulnerable boys over a period of years, a court heard today.
Rod Ryall, 68, appeared at Teesside Crown Court charged with 10 counts of indecent assault on three alleged victims during the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1988 he pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault, two counts of gross indecency and one of buggery with boys aged 14 to 17, the jury was told.
Ryall studied physics at Oxford University before taking a PhD in criminology at Cambridge and became a housemaster at Newton Aycliffe Approved School, County Durham, in the mid 1960s.
The prosecution alleges he sexually abused two pupils during his time at the school, where boys who had committed criminal offences were housed and educated.
The Independent 14/09/10
Former house master in sex assault inquiry
AN ex-social services chief has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting youngsters at a North-East children’s centre that has housed some of the UK’s most notorious juvenile criminals.
Rod Ryall, 67, was a live-in house master at Aycliffe Approved School, off the A167, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, in the Sixties.
He was arrested last week and an investigation into the school, now known as Aycliffe Secure Services, is under way.
The Northern Echo 06/06/09
15 years prison for sex shame politician
A FORMER North-East aide of Prime Minister Tony Blair has been jailed for 15 years for an “appalling” string of sex offences against teenage boys.
Martyn Locklin, 41, of Ladybower, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was found guilty by the jury of eight men and four women at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.
Locklin, a leading Labour party activist in Sedgefield, stood impassively in the dock as the jury delivered guilty verdicts on eight charges, including rape.
Last night, the Labour Party said Locklin, who has shown Mr Blair around the area on several occasions, had no special relationship with the Prime Minister.
Locklin’s barrister, Tim Roberts, said that he would immediately appeal against the conviction. “Martyn Locklin maintains that he is completely innocent of the alleged offences,” he said.
“No conviction based upon the word of self-confessed criminals and perjurers can possibly be regarded as safe.
“Martyn Locklin would like to thank the Newton Aycliffe community for the support which they have afforded his family.”
The former leader of Great Aycliffe Town Council was convicted of two indecent assaults against one teenager; one serious sexual offence, two counts of rape and one of indecent assault against a second youngster; and two counts of indecent assault against a third boy. All the offences took place between 1988 and 1996.
The jury had earlier been directed to deliver a not guilty verdict on one charge of indecent assault on the first boy.
During the three-week trial, the court heard that Locklin, a house parent at Aycliffe Young People’s Centre, had breached his position of trust and abused one teenage resident there, visiting him in his room at night on more than 30 occasions.
A second boy was systematically raped and sexually abused at weekends in Locklin’s home for more than two years, while his partner Denise Anderson and stepsons slept upstairs, the jury heard.
All three members of the family told the court it was “not possible” for the attacks to have happened, and said Locklin was a good father .
The third boy said he, too, had been sexually abused in Locklin’s home over a two-month period. All three said they had been plied with drink and cannabis and were given gifts such as tobacco, clothes and cash to buy their silence.
Judge Peter Fox QC described the abuse as “appalling” and said: “This reflects a gross breach of trust on your part in respect of young boys in their mid-teens, two of whom you owed a particular duty of trust.”
The judge said Locklin had groomed and seduced the boys and added: “The damage, and over such a prolonged period in such a devastating way can hardly be estimated.”
Locklin was sentenced to ten years concurrent for the assault of the first two boys and five years consecutive for the repeated abuse of the third.
The judge placed Locklin on the sex offenders register for life and said: “You will be watched for the remainder of your days. You need to be.”
John Burton, Tony Blair’s agent, said Martyn Locklin had been a hard working councillor. He added: “Obviously our sympathies at this time have got to be with the families and with the victims themselves.”
Bob Fleming, leader of Great Aycliffe Town Council, said: “He’s been found guilty of horrendous crimes and as a result of that he deserves to go to prison for a long time.
“This will come as a shock to many people because he had many friends who stood by him through thick and thin .”
* Detectives last night said they believed there could be more victims of Locklin who were “too ashamed or frightened” to come forward. Anyone with information should contact Newton Aycliffe police on (01325) 314401.
Darlington & Stockton Times 04/07/01
Youth was raped by Tony Blair’s aide, court told
A YOUNGSTER claimed to have been raped once a month for two years by a former aide to Prime Minister Tony Blair, a court heard yesterday.
The young man, who is serving life imprisonment for murder, was giving evidence in the trial of Martyn Locklin, a senior Labour councillor in Mr Blair’s Sedgefield constituency, at Teesside Crown Court.
Mr Locklin, 41, of Ladybower, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, faces three counts of indecent assault against one boy, and two counts of indecent assault against another.
He also faces a charge involving a serious sexual assault, two counts of rape and one of indecent assault against a third boy.
The Sedgefield borough and Great Aycliffe town councillor denies all the charges, which were alleged to have taken place between 1988 and 1996.
Yesterday, the court heard from former employees of Aycliffe Young People’s Centre, where Mr Locklin was employed during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and where one alleged victim claimed to have been sexually assaulted.
Two former night watchmen who worked with Mr Locklin claimed the councillor had smoked cannabis while caring for youngsters at the centre.
And one alleged victim told the court he was raped and sexually assaulted by Mr Locklin weekly for two years while he was aged between 15 and 17.
He said Mr Locklin would give him alcohol and cannabis before sexually assaulting him.
Now in his 20s, he said: “I felt helpless, ashamed and frightened.”
The man, serving a life sentence for murder, said the abuse ended when he pulled a knife on the councillor and ran off.
Tim Roberts, for Mr Locklin, put it to the man that he had lied to a jury during his murder trial and committed perjury, which the man admitted.
Before he had met Mr Locklin, he had been involved in sexual behaviour with a 63-year-old man.
Earlier, the court heard how Mr Locklin was a “strong and manipulative character”.
After leaving the centre, Mr Locklin immersed himself in local politics and by the time he was charged in May he was leader of Great Aycliffe Town Council.
The prosecution claims he abused his position of trust while working as a care worker at the home.
This comes as no shock, as paedophile rings have been operating in Calderdale for decades. Rod Ryall was Calderdale council’s Director of Social Services and convicted paedophile.
Rod Ryall former Calderdale Council’s Director of Social Services – JAILED FOR SEX OFFENCES
Social Work Today 1st December 1988
Brian Roycroft Report 13.19 states “There is no evidence that offences were being committed against any other boys. The police satisfied themselves on this point. None of the offences were committed on boys whilst in care.”
Aillie Kerrane, Calderdale Council operations manager, said: “We were aware of problems and we have got a number of strategies in place to tackle them, including the appointment of a new manager. (2005) Westgarth did not meet basic standards
Leon Brittan – known as a paedophile throughout Barnes & Fleet Street since early 1980s. #ElmGuestHouse #Aycliffe
Aycliffe Centre for Children, Prince Andrew’s visit Prince Andrew shakes hands with Dr Masud Hoghughi, with Councillor J T Thompson (centre). Darlington & Stockton Times photograph. 1984.
Prince Andrew
Patron British Schools Exploring Society, Jubilee Sailing Trust, Aycliffe School, Steamship Great Britain appeal, Fight for Sight, British Deaf Association, Commonwealth Association for the Deaf, English National Ballet, Contemporary Dance Trust.
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Dr Michael Anthony Salmon, (pictured above right) in his role as chief medical officer of Dreamflight.
Dr Michael Salmon is a convicted paedophile who worked alongside Sir Jimmy Savile at Stoke Mandeville Hospital
ZED @ZedTrafficker
Westminster VIP child abuse inquiry kicks out ‘witness’ @ciabaudo @chrisstacey1 @reeves3915 so this day has come… It was inquiry to clear famous people of child abuse, not about justice for children who were abused. My heart weeps
Chris Stacey @chrisstacey1Replying to @ZedTrafficker @ciabaudo @reeves3915
but this story is not going away. Either directly or indirectly information will force it’s way out about Heath and the other VIP paedophiles
Westminster VIP child abuse inquiry kicks out ‘witness’
2 Sept 2018
A woman who was a witness in the Wiltshire police inquiry into allegations of child abuse by Edward Heath has had her claims rejected as implausible.
The 48-year-old submitted a request to be deemed a “core participant”, or witness of enhanced status, at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). Known as WM-A5, she claimed to have been abused by 13 prominent men in a Westminster paedophile ring that included Heath, the former prime minister, and Jimmy Savile.
Alexis Jay, the inquiry’s chairwoman, examined the woman’s allegations but concluded: “I was not able to place any weight on [her] claims to have been the victim of child sexual abuse at the hands of people of prominence associated with Westminster.” She added: “None of the named individuals has any obvious or explained connection to [the claimant], and the strongest theme . . . is the fact that many have been publicly accused in recent years of involvement in historic cases of child sex abuse.”
1979 Baroness Soames, Jimmy Savile and James Callaghan
The woman said she had been abused by senior Tories at Chequers, the prime minister’s country home, at a time when Labour was in power. She listed sites where abuse occurred but “gives no explanation as to how she came to be in such disparate places as Chequers, a US military base at Naphill and Stoke Mandeville Hospital”, said Jay. “I do not regard [the] allegations as plausible.”
The claimant is challenging Jay’s ruling and the statement was removed from the IICSA website. The inquiry said: “We received a complaint about the notice of determination and took it down while it is addressed. It will be republished in the next few weeks.”
It was at Chequers, the month before her death, that Princess Diana met Tony Blair, secretly, as Prince William swam with Blair’s children in the pool which had been built by Heath in 1973.
Chequers is six or seven miles north-west from Naphill.
There have been rumours for some time about a tunnel between the Base/Nuclear bunker at RAF strike command Just outside High Wycombe Bucks and the former USAF base at Daws Hill 10 or so miles away. This rumour may well be true as there were many natural caves that used to spread under the town that were used previously used by the Hellfire Club.
A command bunker can be found at RAF Daws Hill on the other side of High Wycombe. This installation is a former US Cold War HQ for operations in Europe. Staff in the bunker would have launched Cruise Missiles. In the 1980s, walkers reported that the ground underneath Daws Hill would actually hum and buzz with activity. More recently the base has acted as a storage depot for the US Navy.
About half the Fort Sam Houston Bank administration building was destroyed including a computer and all the paperwork. The building was the American UK banking headquarters, housing records for bases throughout the country
Update: Jan 10 2017
Is this jumbo jet Christmas party with Jimmy Savile – the BA charity project Skyride – the pre-cursor of Dreamflight?
“Christmas jumbo jet party for children” in 1985 in England)
Children’s Christmas Party on Board a Jumbo Jet – Jimmy Savile with Partygoers 1985
Dreamflight was co-founded in 1986 by Patricia Pearce MBE and Derek Pereira, both of whom worked for British Airways – co-founders Derek Pereira and Pat Pearce, former British Airways flight engineer and flight attendant respectively
Patricia had previously helped to organise a BA project, Skyride, which raised money to take underprivileged children on a one-hour ‘Christmas party’ flight.Patricia and Derek decided to go a step further and raise money to take deserving children to Walt Disney World, and Dreamflight was born.
Derek Pereira had just helped organise a one-hour flight to give children the chance to experience a plane trip and thought that he could do something much more exciting.
Jimmy Savile and Derek Pereira would have likely known each other from Stoke Mandeville:
Mr Pereira had first become involved with the disabled when he volunteered to help at the Stoke Mandeville handicapped games in England in 1983.
At a party for the participants (of the one hour flight) he announced that he wanted to take a plane of children to Florida the following year.
The following morning he received offers of support, which led to the start of a mission that gives hundreds of children the chance to fly to Florida, US, and visit Disneyworld, Seaworld, and other places every year.
Determined to make Dreamflight a reality, Mr Pereira approached the then airline chief medical officer who agreed to pass the information on to the BA chairman Sir Colin Marshall, who turned down the idea.
Mr Pereira promised to do the flight with no cost to the airline by raising money.
Sir Colin gave him the go-ahead but there were still major obstacles to overcome, such as finding money for the flight’s tariff of $100,000 (BD37,800).
However, a British Post Office party brought in $2,000 (BD756), followed by a donation of $10,000 (BD3,780) from an investment company and that was the start.
Children chosen for the trip were sick, but they had to be fit enough to travel.
Although Dreamflight was supposed to be a one-off event there was so much support for it that it continued on an annual basis and was registered as a charity, with Mr Pereira as a trustee.
Shortly before his first arrest, Salmon was hailed by Princess Diana for taking 300 ill and disabled children to Disney World in Florida. He was asked to join the inaugural Dreamflight charity trip, co-founded by former British Airways cabin crew member Patricia Pearce in 1987, as chief medical officer. The former doctor said he was phoned by British Airways and asked to pick 300 ‘very sick and handicapped’ children who would benefit from the once-in-a-lifetime experience. Princess Diana waved the flight off from Heathrow Airport, with 298 young children aboard, including one of the girls who later claimed Salmon indecently touched her during a medical appointment.
Dreamflight is a registered UK charity that changes young lives through taking seriously ill and disabled children, without their parents, on the holiday of a lifetime to Orlando, Florida. The first Dreamflight trip was in November 1987
Dreamflight was co-founded in 1986 by Patricia Pearce and Derek Pereira, both of whom worked for British Airways. Patricia had previously helped to organise a BA project, Skyride, which raised money to take &underprivileged children on a one-hour ‘Christmas party’ flight. Patricia and Derek decided to go a step further and raise money to take deserving children to Walt Disney World, and Dreamflight was born.
“The stars started to arrive to meet the children. These included Bobby Moore, Steve Davis, Rolf Harris, Roy Castle, Pete Murray, Liz Frazer, Michael Strachan, Floella Benjamin, The Bucks Fizz group and Jimmy Tarbuck.”
“In the early years Rolf Harris and Jeremy Beadle would come along to the pre-trip party and entertain the children.”
My Dream Flights by Patricia Pearce MBE
(pg 68/pg95)
‘In the 1970s Jimmy Savile had a financial interest in Le Cardinal/Maison Royale nightclubs in Glen Fern Road. I often used to see him in that area of the town.
I think he took part in the torchlight run with Ken Baily and Roy Castle as part of Bmth Carnival Week.”
He would have loved this young people orientated event too. Similar to Jersey Battle of Flowers Parade by look of it which he attended, and with choosing a Miss Bournemouth…
When I was a child, growing up on the mean streets of Bournemouth, Roy Castle always seemed to have pride of place in the carnival parade every summer.
In a summer that witnessed Secretary of State for War John Profumo resign over his affair with Christine Keeler, £2.3 million stolen in the Great Train Robbery in Buckinghamshire and Pauline Reade’s disappearance on her way to a dance in Manchester,the first victim of what would later be known as the Moors Murders,Jimmy Savile’s moneymaking bandwagon rolled into Great Yarmouth where he was compère for a seasonal showcase at the Royal Aquarium.
The main attraction was teenage singing sensation Helen Shapiro, who had first topped the charts as a 14-year-old. Among those lower down on the bill were Roy Castle and an upcoming comedian by the name of Ronnie Corbett.
pg 171, In Plain Sight, The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile – Dan Davies
Aged ten, Shapiro was a singer with “Susie and the Hula Hoops,” (with her cousin, 60s singer, Susan Singer) a school band which included Marc Bolan (then using his real name of Mark Feld) as guitarist.
Stamford Hill also seemed to produce alot of the celebs and music stars of the day, Helen Shapiro, Marc Bolan, Malcolm McLaren.
ten-year-old local girl Helen Shapiro was singing in a group called Susie and the Hula Hoops, along with a boy called Markie Feld, later to change his name to Marc Bolan. Two years on, in 1962, she’d have two number one hits. In ’59 she and Markie were both members of Stamford Hill Boys and Girls Club in Montefiore House (now replaced by a block of flats just south of Holmleigh Road), as were Alan Sugar, one day to get knighted for services to himself, and Malcolm Edwards, soon to become Malcolm McLaren. http://www.uncarved.org/blog/2011/08…stamford-hill/
Susie, former wife of Dr Michael Salmon, who sexually abused girls at the Stoke Mandeville hospital where Jimmy Savile raped children, claims she was “shocked” at what her husband had done
His wife, to whom he has been married since 1979 (married 37 years as of 2016) claims she didn’t know about his abuse…she had no idea what had happened
Mrs Salmon did not attend the latest trial, but she admitted she went everyday of the first trial ‘because I needed to know exactly what he was being accused of and make up my own mind.’
Mrs Salmon was adamant ‘I was very shocked’ what her then husband had done – and she had no idea what had happened.
How could she not know and be “shocked” when she was married to him when he was first jailed and convicted of abusing children in 1990 and then remained married to him
On release from prison, Salmon lived at Woodgreen in the New Forest area of Hampshire with his wife Susie, pursuing his interests in butterflies and photography. More recently the couple set up home in Park Lane, Salisbury, before he was once more charged with sexually abusing youngsters. His wife has stood by him, supporting him each day in court during his five-week trial.
What kind of person would stay married to a convicted paedophile??
Salmon’s previous abuse had come to light in 1987 during an audit inquiry in the hospital, when detectives searching his office for evidence of fraudulent activity discovered letters from young female patients and launched a further probe into his behaviour.
He was asked to join the inaugural Dreamflight charity trip, co-founded by former British Airways cabin crew member Patricia Pearce in 1987, as chief medical officer.
Mrs Salmon was a nursery nurse -at the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital
Michael Salmon lived in Buckland, near Aston Clinton, after his second marriage in 1979 to a nursery nurse working at the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital. “My eldest son contacted the BBC and said he would like to go on Jim’ll Fix It,” Salmon explained. “Martin was a bit of a celebrity when he appeared on it.”
Savile abused victims as soon as he started frequenting Stoke Mandeville in 1968, the report said.
He became a porter at the hospital, having been invited in by a fellow porter who had worked with Savile at Leeds General Infirmary, where the DJ had also abused patients.
Savile’s victims at Stoke Mandeville included an eight-year-old boy, and a girl, also eight, who was raped at least 10 times by Savile when she visited relatives there. One victim was systematically abused in the chapel by Savile, who was often accompanied by another, unnamed man. “Every time I went in that room I just knew he would touch me wherever he wanted to touch me,” she said.
“at Stoke Mandeville there is evidence like Abigail’s that indicates …that really important people knew what was going on…”
Between 1972 and 1985 nine verbal complaints and one formal report were made about Savile by his victims.
The formal complaint in 1977 came from the father of an 11-year-old girl who was sexually abused by Savile in a treatment room. The girl screamed hysterically, and a senior nurse arrived but told her to be quiet, saying Savile would not do such a dreadful thing and he raised a great deal of money for the hospital.
The incident “was serious and should have led to Savile’s suspension from the hospital and a formal police report being made”, Johnstone said.
This was a serious allegation and should have been investigated fully as it was reported to a hospital manager.”
Politicians, civil servants and NHS managers gave Jimmy Savile free rein to sexually abuse 60 people, including children as young as eight, over two decades at Stoke Mandeville hospital, two damning reports have concluded.
1965: Records show abuse started at the BBC, at Leeds general infirmary, where Savile was a long-term volunteer porter, and at Stoke Mandeville hospital, where he also volunteered.
He insisted on being addressed as ‘Dr’ in his church and golf club circles, where he said he was descended directly from the Duke of Northumberland
One resident said: ‘He told us he was related to the Percy family of Northumberland. He went up to Alnwick Castle and he said he could see the family likeness in the portraits.’
The Duke of Northumberland currently lives at Alnwick Castle (home of Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter film and was also the backdrop for the film Elizabeth),
His children are friends with the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry and the Duke’s son, Earl Percy, has been frequently photographed with Pippa Middleton.
The future King and his younger brother drew screams from wellwishers as the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland’s daughter Lady Melissa Percy married their close pal Thomas Van Straubenzee at Alnwick, Northumberland.
Former Stoke Mandeville doctor, Michael Salmon (linked to Sir Jimmy Savile), found guilty of indecent assaults
Former doctor already jailed for rape and indecent assault convicted of 14 more counts of historic sex offences
Michael Salmon has now been convicted of a total of 28 serious sexual assaults against 20 children, which included indecent assault and rape, in three separate trials.
Consultant paediatrician Michael Salmon assaulted 18 girls and a boy while working at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Buckinghamshire in the 1970s and 80s, a jury at Reading crown court was told.
14 indecent assaults at Stoke Mandeville and Royal Buckinghamshire hospitals in the 1970s and 1980s.
Salmon was sentenced to 18 years in 2015 for similar offences.
He was the first person to be charged under Operation Yewtree
The jury was also told Mr Salmon, who will be sentenced next Monday, admitted three charges of indecent assault in 1991.
1991 A good night kiss for Barbara Bush at Stoke Mandeville
Savile with American Secret Service at Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Savile was believed to have assaulted more than 60 people at Stoke Mandeville Hospital between 1968 and 1992.
Savile’s youngest victim was aged eight.
Dr Michael Salmon tied a 14-year-old girl, who cannot be named, to a couch and raped her.
One complainant said he talked to her inappropriately and showed her sexual illustrations in a book. Moore said Salmon (a paediatrician) accepted he had the book The Joy of Sex in his consulting rooms.
Since “his” charity had paid for it, he believed he owned the NSIC, could shape it to his whims. He insisted on thick lobby carpet though it was hell for wheelchair users, demanded pimp flourishes such as zebra-striped ward curtains, had hospital crews service his Rolls, the canteen named “Jimmy’s” and his own vast office have a gold letterbox and flip-down bed.
a despot who could summon the hospital’s general manager to his office,making him wait while, feet on desk, he finished his call to the Duchess of York
Dr Michael Salmon, who comes from a distinguished family of doctors going back several generations, name-dropped eminent doctors he had worked alongside in his position.
Stoke Mandeville was at the centre of a child sex abuse scandal in the late 1980s when a consultant paediatrician, Dr Michael Salmon, was investigated after a whistleblower came forward to the health authority.
Salmon comes from a distinguished family of doctors
Dr Paul Salmon is Dr Michael Salmon’s brother – He was the first to introduce colonoscopy to the UK (1960)
Dr Michael Salmon, a consultant paediatrician at the Aylesbury hospital, was suspended in 1989 after an investigation by government auditors prompted by concerns about possible financial improprieties. During the inquiry investigators found evidence relating to teenage patients of Salmon and a criminal investigation was launched.
Salmon was jailed for three years in 1990 after admitting indecent assaults on two 13-year-old girls and a 16-year-old girl.
Three years earlier he had been praised by Diana, Princess of Wales, for helping to organise a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida for 300 disabled children (Dreamflight)
After Dr Michael Salmon’s paedophile conviction in 1990 he worked for the BBC in 2002
The dull, grey morning of 28th July 2002 saw a rather special attempt to attract Purple Emperors down to the car park. BBC naturalist Chris Packham, accompanied by butterfly expert and author Dr Michael Salmon (who was also Wiltshire’s bug recorder) and that excellent wildlife cameraman Graham Hatherley, arrived to film the Emperor for a TV piece about butterfly collecting. Despite having been advised that activity would be at its peak some two weeks earlier, the team were prevented by Chris Packham’s commitments from an earlier visit. Michael Salmon, who has studied and written about the lives and activities of the great lepidopterists of the past, brought along their recommended equipment for attracting and catching the butterflies, and set it all out in the car park. This ranged from an antique butterfly net to a large white sheet on the ground, mirrors to reflect sunlight into the trees, and fruit, salmon, horse dung and bottles of urine – the latter provoking the following exchange: ‘what do you think of my sample – you are an ex-medical man, Mike’? ‘It tells me you have a very good renal function, Chris’.
Sir Jimmy Savile, OBE pictured aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 during the liner’s 1992 world cruise. The disc jockey and radio and TV personality was “Running around the world”, raising money for Stoke Mandeville and other charities.Cruise company Cunard has cancelled plans for the latest addition to it’s fleet, the new Queen Elizabeth to pay tribute to the broadcaster. The liner had been due to sail past Scarborough, and Savile’s grave, at 15:00 BST on 1 August 2013.
Savile, who has been at the centre of numerous allegations of child abuse, was a frequent traveller with Cunard.The company said it would not be “appropriate” for the planned sail past to go ahead.In January, a Cunard spokeswoman had described Savile as “a true friend of Cunard”.His last voyage was aboard Queen Elizabeth on her maiden Round Britain trip in September 2011, a month before his death.Savile died at the age of 84 on 29 October 2011 and was buried in Scarborough, where he had had a home for 40 years, a week later.The allegations he had abused children were first aired in an ITV documentary on 3 October.A senior Scotland Yard detective described Savile as a “predatory sex offender” who had a “predilection” for young girls
Sir Jimmy Savile, OBE pictured in Mumbai, India in 1992. The disc jockey and radio and TV personality was “Running around the world”, raising money for Stoke Mandeville and other charities
Sir Jimmy Savile, OBE pictured outside a Sex Clinic in Mumbai, India in 1992. While other passengers visited the tourist sights, Savile made a macabre excursion to a Hindu crematorium and the Towers of Silence, where members of the Zoroastrian sect leave their dead in the open to be devoured by vultures and other predatory birds.
The disc jockey and radio and TV personality was “Running around the world”, raising money for Stoke Mandeville and other charities
Jimmy Savile ‘seen having sex with bodies and wheeling body of four-year-old in pram into hospital mortuary’
SAVILE was given unrestricted access to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, including the morgue, despite his reputation as a “sex pest”, a new report was told.
The Aurelian Legacy – A History of British Butterflies and Their Collectors: With Contributions by Peter Marren and Basil Harley by Michael A. Salmon
Miss Miriam Rothschild wrote the intro to his book on butterflies (as was mentioned, the favourite Lepidoptera of the MK Ultra gang).
She was the sister of Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild, who was a good friend of Edward Heath, Blunt, Burgess, worked for MI5 during World War II and alleged to have been the ‘fifth Spy’.
His medical career had then taken him to hospitals in Middlesex, London, and Ibadan, Nigeria, before he had taken up a senior registrar position in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. Salmon worked as a locum consultant in Maidestone, Gravesend and Dartford, before being headhunted for a top position in developmental medicine in Oxford.
Details of three doctors passed to police investigating Jimmy Savile allegations amid fears of paedophile sex abuse ring
The details of three doctors, who are alleged to have abused young people they were caring for, have been passed to detectives investigating allegations of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile.
The move comes amid allegations that the doctors, who worked at hospitals where Savile had links, were involved with a network of child abusers, which also included the disgraced BBC presenter.
A report in the Guardian today claims that the three doctors have been identified by victims who came forward in the last couple of weeks – and that their names have now been passed to police.
Dr Raymond Brown, who worked as a consultant paediatrician with Salmon, said the doctor would have known Savile because everyone at Stoke Mandeville knew him.
Dr Raymond Soloman Brown
Dr Raymond Brown qualified in South Africa at the University of the Witwatersrand (“Wits University”) Medical School in 1966 and spent the next 6 years working in both district and teaching hospitals in Johannesburg, obtaining his higher paediatric qualification in 1971(Fellowship of the College of Physicians of South Africa with Paediatrics). Raymond emigrated to the UK with his family in 1972 and obtained the MRCP qualification in Edinburgh (MRCP(UK)), within a week of his arrival! He worked in the Neonatal Unit at The Hammersmith Hospital as a Registrar, then at Northwick Park Hospital then became Senior Registrar at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford in 1973. During this period Raymond spent a year as a research fellow in the Department of Clinical Pharmacology, which proved to him that he would remain a clinician rather than an academic!He was appointed as Consultant in Paediatrics at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1976 and worked there until he retired from the NHS in 2007.Raymond initially had a small private practice in Aylesbury then The Chiltern Hospital in Buckinghamshire from about 1980, which expanded after he retired from the NHS. He was asked to start a private outpatient clinic at the new Oxford Children’s Hospital and continues to do so.In 2007 he met Dr Ian Hay (previously his Senior House Officer in Oxford) at a meeting at the Royal Society of Medicine and was very pleased to be invited to work with Ian’s private Practice at the Portland Hospital, London and has done so ever since. He is a highly respected member of the Dr Ian Hay Ltd practice and his contribution over the years with some of the more complicated cases, has been invaluable.Raymond’s interests in his NHS years included the management of respiratory problems, diabetes, the newborn, including neonatal intensive care, but particularly clinical cardiology. Regrettably, he does not perform echocardiography any longer as he does not have enough ongoing exposure having retired from the NHS, to make this a safe activity for his patients. As a General Paediatrician, Raymond’s practice has covered all aspects of paediatrics, however he has little specialised experience of Developmental Paediatrics, which he leaves to those with a specialised interest in this area.
Qualified in South Africa. Came to UK in 1972 – worked at Hammersmith and Northwick Park Hospital 1972 – 1973 Senior Registrar Radcliffe Infirmary 1973 – 1976 Research Officer Dept of Clinical Pharmacology, Oxford 1975 Consultant Paediatrician, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury 1976 to 2007 From 2007, Private Paediatric Practice
June Thornton, a former nurse at the infirmary, said this month Savile molested a brain-damaged young girl who was a patient at the hospital. Thornton was recovering from an operation herself when she said she saw Savile “kissing her neck, running his hands up and down her arms, and then started to molest her”.
The black and white photograph, shown to the jury, showed a young boy holding a microphone from when Salmon’s eldest son Martin had appeared on the Jimmy Savile’s popular television show alongside Irish horse racing commentator Peter O’Sullevan.
Salmon said it was one of six family photos displayed in his office, alongside an image of a red panda he had adopted from Whipsnade Zoo
Peter O’Sullevan held an auction for the Jimmy Savile Stoke Mandeville Appeal.
Salmon travel to Zambia in September 1984 with the BBC Natural History Unit.
The sex attacks between 1973 and 1988 occurred at the same time as (Savile’s) offences.
On another occasion the girl, who suffered from a genetic condition which causes tumours, was allegedly gang-raped when she was aged between 12 and 14.
“After she was raped by three grown men she was taken back to her hospital bed in a wheelchair by a hospital porter.”
Chillingly, the office of Jimmy Saville at Stoke Mandeville Hospital (outlined in red) overlooked a children’s play area
Savile stayed at the hospital almost every weekend and had his own private quarters
The government had given him the use of a ‘courtesy room’ at Admiralty House for entertaining leading businessman for the Stoke Mandeville campaign.
Jimmy Savile would be invited to spend Christmas at Chequers with the Thatchers.
Queen Elizabeth with sadistic, necrophiliac, paedophile Sir Jimmy Savile
As one of the highest-profile entrants in the inaugural London Marathon in the late spring of 1981, Savile had written to the Queen after the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Maclean, ruled that the following year’s race would not be routed up the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. In February 1982 it was announced that the Queen had decided to overrule the decision.
After fixing it for the 1986 race to be routed up the Mall, Jimmy Savile was rewarded with a lifetime entry into the London Marathon. He became a regular feature of the television coverage, waggling his cigar at the start and the finish, grinding ever forward surrounded by a phalanx of running pals, and waving to the crowds who cheered him every step of the way. After finishing the 1986 race he even popped into the palace for a shower and a cup of tea with the Queen. ‘This man Savile has the keys to so many doors,’ said marathon organiser John Disley, shaking his head in wonder. ‘I just don’t know how he does it.’ (Sunday People , 20 April 1986)
In Plain Sight: the Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile Dan Davies
Savile, speaking to a patient at Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Savile was a porter at Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire from 1969
Brutal Paedophile Dr Michael Salmon of Stoke Mandeville Hospital was part of the Dreamflight charity – CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER and ORGANISER – amongst vulnerable children without their parents
Why weren’t parents invited??
Letters were sent inviting those nominated to come, and asking their parents to sign in locoparentis forms.
Dr Michael Salmon was asked to join the inaugural Dreamflight charity trip, co-founded by former British Airways cabin crew member Patricia Pearce in 1987, as chief medical officer.
The Queen’s dressmaker is cousin to the Derek Pereira, the creator of Dreamflight, and his sister, pilot and charity fundraiser Dame Yvonne Trueman.
Derek Pereira brought Michael Salmon on board the first Dreamflight in 1987.
via troy:
Recent articles on Salmon say he was an organizer of Dreamflight.
Was he involved in the creation of Dreamflight with Pereira and Pearce?
And how in the world could Dreamflight be created through Stoke Mandeville by a Stoke paediatrician and two BA-employeed cousins of the Queen’s dressmaker (who both volunteered for Stoke) without Savile having his grimy, perverted hands involved with it?!
Dreamflight
Stoke Mandeville Hospital provided paediatric advice and wrote to paediatricians throughout the country to nominate children. Letters were sent inviting those nominated to come, and asking their parents to sign in locoparentis forms.
Next the organizers needed to find funding for the lease of a 747. Derek’s small cottage in the wilds of Buckinghamshire became the command centre for organising large numbers of people to raise the money. The BBC was approached to make a documentary programme. Filming started in the cottage to show the ‘organisation’.
Author:
PHILIP HOGGE piloted commercially for B.O.A.C. and British Airways for thirty-three years, and was training captain on the Vickers VC10 and Boeing 707 and 747 aircraft. He was British Airways’ Flight Training Manager, and Chief Pilot of their 747 fleet. More recently, he served as Director of Operations and Infrastructure for the International Air Transport Association, and as Chairman of EUROCONTROL’s Performance Review Commission. Brief videos of the inaugural 1987 Dreamflight, of Princess Diana’s visit to the departure hangar, and of the most recent Dreamflight (2013), can be seen, respectively, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0RJ3ksYAn4, www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrKPfVbAKoE, and www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTcz60bTNRA. Dreamflight’s own very informative website is www.dreamflight.org.
Sarah Duchess of York (Convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s friend – Epstein owned the “Lolita Express” ) – she had multiple entries in Epstein’s black book and accepted money from him.
Steve Davis
Shakin Stevens
John Junken
Pete Murray
Scandal, though, was already in the air. Two months earlier, a chemistry teacher left after his homosexual fantasies were published on the internet.
Then came disclosures that three girls had been drugged and sexually assaulted in a dormitory
. .. it emerged that the headmaster, Richard McDonald, was not on a sabbatical but in prison on charges of sex offences against children.
Media stories of debauchery and drinking among the pupils followed swiftly.
It was the Duke of York who was most keen to send his daughters to the British-run Alpine establishment where the fees range from £15,300 to £22,325 a year. He was particularly attracted by the school’s ethos which was based on the philosophy of Kurt Hahn, the founder of the Duke’s own alma mater, Gordonstoun.
2013 Dreamflight co-founder Pat Pearce at Discovery Cove, Orlando, Florida as part of the annual Dreamflight Charity trip to the USA.
Patricia Pearce and Derek Pereira back home at Heathrow
Dreamflight was co-founded in 1986 by Patricia Pearce MBE and Derek Pereira, both of whom worked for British Airways – co-founders Derek Pereira and Pat Pearce, former British Airways flight engineer and flight attendant respectively
Patricia had previously helped to organise a BA project, Skyride, which raised money to take underprivileged children on a one-hour ‘Christmas party’ flight. Patricia and Derek decided to go a step further and raise money to take deserving children to Walt Disney World, and Dreamflight was born.
One by one the 288 children walked or were carried off the British Airways jet into a sea of smiles from a crowd of clowns and well-wishers.
An hour after landing Monday evening at Orlando International Airport, the British youngsters, suffering from incurable diseases, were aboard a caravan of 13 Greyhound buses and preparing for an eagerly awaited three-day tour of Walt Disney World and Sea World.
The unprecedented effort to bring the children to the Central Florida attractions was the brainchild of British Airways flight engineer Derek Pereira and flight attendant Patricia Pearce.
Quote:
Dreamflight is a UK-registered charity that was started in 1987 by its two founders, Derek Pereira and Pat Pearce, who were both with British Airways.
Mr Pereira had first become involved with the disabled when he volunteered to help at the Stoke Mandeville handicapped games in England in 1983.
Pat Pearce MBE Biography
Dreamflight co-founder Pat Pearce MBE has led an amazing life, from her days of flying around the world including 2 weeks with HM Queen Elizabeth II, to setting up a one-off trip for 200 children to America – a ‘one-off trip’ that has happened every year for the last 25! As we embark on the 26th Dreamflight trip, the inspirational story of Pat Pearce MBE has been captured in the autobiography ‘My Dream Flights.
Patricia Pearce MBE, who joined BOAC (British Airways’ long-haul predecessor) in 1962 – a year before Elizabeth II was crowned – and served The Queen on her scheduled two-week Royal visit to New Zealand, in 1974, said: “The trip ended up lasting almost two months because the Heath government was brought down in the middle of the trip so the Royal couple had to come back to the UK and then fly back out again.
Kitty serenades the children every year as they fly off to Florida, and we’re supposed to assume that Savile and Stoke Mandeville/British Airways/Queen of England’s Dreamflight had nothing to do with each other.
Savile was even allowed to continue puffing away on his trademark cigars within the suite after smoking was banned throughout the rest of the hospital.
In 1978, Jimmy Savile described what he got out of the association with the Buckinghamshire hospital. “There are forty wards at Stoke Mandeville… and they are all filled with people; I will be able to do exactly what I feel like doing. If I feel like going on the ladies’ ward and pulling their legs, I can do that. If I want to go the kids’ ward and have a bit of a knock about, I can do that.”
In 2009, two Surrey Police officers interviewed Savile in his private office at the hospital where, secure in his lair and surrounded by the bricks and mortar he considered to be his own, he obfuscated, denied and then issued threats of his own.
Salmon was a child-abusing pediatrician charity organizer for Dreamflight, while Savile, a child-abusing children’s charity organizer, raped children at Stoke;
Two other organisers were cousins to the Queen’s dressmaker, Savile was tight with the Royals.
Not too hard to see connections here.
1984 Patients at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire enjoy afternoon tea with Prince Philip and TV presenter Jimmy Savile
1984 Radio and TV personality Jimmy Savile pins a taxi driver’s badge to his tie before chauffeuring Prince Philip from Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where the Prince visited the National Spinal Injuries Centre
Sister of Dreamflight’s Derek Pereira – Yvonne Trueman
The Order of Saint Joachim is pleased to have contributed to Dame Trueman’s charitable projects and offers its warmest congratulations
A LONG-TIME Bahrain resident is to be honoured with an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her social work in Bahrain and abroad. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is expected to present Yvonne Trueman with the award in a ceremony to held at Buckingham Palace, in London, UK, this summer. The Briton has been greatly involved in fund-raising in Bahrain and helping orphans in Belize, for more than 25 years. Mrs Trueman, who has been a resident of Bahrain for more than 25 years, found out she was on the honours list when she received a phone call from the UK.
It is a project she committed herself to more than 10 years ago, following the death of her son Captain Julian Pooley, a helicopter pilot in the British Army.
It was only after his death in a road accident while stationed in Belize in 1994 that she learned how much he had been doing for the children of an orphanage in Belize City, so she decided to carry on for him.
Wildtracks is a volunteer, non-profit organisation located on the north-eastern coast of Belize, which focuses on conservation and environmental education. Mrs Trueman’s fund-raising not only helps support the orphans at the Dorothy Menzies Child Care Home, but also to send some of the children for weekends at Wildtracks.
Mrs Trueman was already a veteran charity worker long before getting involved with the Belize orphanage, having started running to raise funds for the Muharraq Geriatric Hospital 20 years ago.
Thousands of dinars were raised over the course of the many kilometres she covered in four London marathons, two New York marathons and half a dozen local half marathons.
Mrs Trueman’s charity work also includes her involvement in the Dreamflight project, which takes seriously ill children on a 10-day journey-of-a-lifetime in Disney World, Orlando, Florida, US.
She has been Dreamflight Bahrain’s chief fund-raiser for the last five years, but has been involved in Dreamflight since her brother Derek Pereira founded it in 1986.
Every year, since 2001, Bahrain has been able to send two children on Dreamflight as ambassadors of the kingdom, joining hundreds of other seriously ill youngsters from the UK and Hong Kong on the holiday, which is supported by British Airways.
Mrs Trueman is also a pilot, who is encouraging flight training among nationals and residents of the Gulf states. She earned her private pilot’s licence following months of training in the UK more than 30 years ago.
Subsequently, she joined the family aviation business and travelled the world engaged in sales and marketing.
She also compiled several flight guides for private pilots and worked as a correspondent in Switzerland.
Finally, she worked as an aircraft broker (selling aircraft to the uninitiated), and it was in this capacity that she first came to Bahrain in the late 70s.
Bahrain resident Yvonne Trueman, who along with her brother Dreamflight founder Derek Pereira helped make Dreamflight Bahrain a reality in 2001, is getting ready to auction off her Ready Steady Cook signed apron.
Ms Trueman and her daughter, Katharine Pooley, are to appear in the popular television show Ready Steady Cook on BBC TV next Wednesday.
Her daughter – Katharine Pooley –interior designer to the super-rich
…she has designed everything from cottages to castles — one of which, Forter Castle in Scotland, she owns. Currently giving another castle a makeover for a client in Buckinghamshire
She comes from a family that relishes a challenge. Her father, Robert, has just received the MBE for services to aviation. He created a flight equipment company in 1957 after serving in the RAF, and it was he who bought then-derelict Forter Castle in Perthshire in 1990. The 1560s wreck is now a glamorous holiday let, having been passed on to his daughter who has filled it with Scottish charm.
Today, Pooley, owner of a high-end homewares boutique in Walton Street, SW3, and with a 40-strong design company, is at her Chelsea home to chat. However, she pounces on the phone and starts quick-fire bidding on lots in Sotheby’s Duchess of Devonshire antiques sale to use in forthcoming projects for wealthy owners who want something with grand connections.
Katharine now has her own shop on London’s Walton Street and counted Mohamed Al Fayed, the owner of Harrods, as one of her first clients. Visitors to her shop now include many stars, including Elizabeth Hurley and Ivana Trump, and she has won two Decorex awards and an Andrew Martin award for interior design. Katharine works with her husband, Dan Voyce, has a staff of 20 and works on properties around the world.
The Herald – Fall 2010 Communication of The Order of Saint Joachim
Page 13
[PIC – Dame Yvonne Trueman MBE, DJ, Receives Fellowship from Duke of Edinburgh]
Our member Dame Yvonne Trueman MBE, DJ,
FRaeS, FRIN, a Bahrain-based aviation pioneer, has
been awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the
Royal Institute of Navigators at a special ceremony
in London. Dame Trueman received her award from the HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the Royal Geographical Society’s auditorium in Kensington.
The award was made In recognition of her lifetime
devoted to general aviation as a cartographer, author
and pilot, and her active promotion of private flying
in the Middle East. Dame Trueman is also active in Bahrain charitable work and known for her role in
the Bahrain Dreamflight Project
Yvonne also served as a co-pilot during the Iran/Iraq war ferrying passengers out of Baghdad to Kuwait.
Hailing from Hatfield in England, she belongs to a family of dedicated charity workers. Between her and her two brothers, they have run over 50 marathons for good causes.
Personally, Yvonne has run four London and two New York marathons along with a number in Bahrain.
Yvonne’s first landing in Bahrain was almost 30 years ago when she came here with her husband, Dr Arthur Trueman.
She said: “He was the Chief Medical Officer at ALBA for 10 years until his death in 1987. He was very well-known in Bahrain – in those days Alba Medical Centre also looked after Gulf Air, British Airways and other major companies in Bahrain, it was a large practice with three major clinics for all the staff and their families.
“When my husband died, I decided to stay on for two years, but have been here since.”
Gulf Weekly – June 6 – 12, 2007
Bahrain’s superwoman
Lillian Burfield seated
A SPECIAL toast to the Queen will be raised in Bahrain today, as she celebrates her 80th birthday. For Bahrain resident Yvonne Trueman has a personal insight into the woman who has worn the crown for 53 years. For over 40 years, the Queen’s wardrobe has been designed by English couture house Hardie Amies, of Saville Row.
The mainstay of Hardie Amies was ‘Miss Lillian’, who has dressed and made many of the Queen’s clothes over the decades.
‘Miss Lillian’ is her professional name, but to Mrs Trueman, she is simply cousin Joyce.
There is another ‘royal’ link to Bahrain – for Joyce made the dress which the Queen wore when she met the late Amir HH Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, in 1979.
Four years ago, Joyce, whose family name is Burfield, visited Bahrain to give a talk to the American Woman’s Association.
Two years ago Joyce was awarded a Royal Victorian Order (RVO), which is given in recognition of loyal services to the royal family.
Last year, the family was again honoured when Yvonne was made a member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the Queen, in recognition of her work for charity here and abroad.
She received the award from the Queen in a Buckingham Palace ceremony last June.
“It was one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to me, I was thrilled,” she said.
Now retired and enjoying doing voluntary work, Joyce looks back fondly on her many visits to fit dresses for the Queen.
“I’ve visited all the royal homes, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Balmoral, I have seen them all,” she said.
SYDNEY: Hundreds of terminally ill and disabled children were on their way home yesterday after a Queen’s Birthday weekend tour of Sydney and the Gold Coast.
The 800 children, including state wards, the terminally ill, handicapped and homeless, were the winners of the Variety Club sponsored trip that was supported
The children, from all over Australia, left Melbourne in a rainbow-coloured jet specially decorated by Clifton Pugh and Rolf Harris and lent to them by Ansett.
The “Dream Flight” weekend took the children to Sydney and the Gold Coast, taking in attractions from the Opera House to Dreamworld.
Multiple doctors accused of child rape were working at Stoke Mandeville, alongside Sir Jimmy Savile – who said “I own this hospital”
Former surgeon, Dr Bruce Bailey, at Stoke Mandeville hospital, accused of sexually abusing four-year-old girl while reading her bedtime stories
Bruce Bailey worked at world-renowned Stoke Mandeville Hospital
He is also accused of raping girl when she was 11 as she waited for her operation
Bailey, who died in 2001, is believed to have known paedophile Savile
He is second doctor at Bucks hospital accused of abusing patients
The alleged victim – who says she was also indecently assaulted by Savile – claims a junior doctor saw Bailey indecently touching her but nothing was done.
She is being represented by abuse lawyer Liz Dux, of Slater & Gordon, who is also working on behalf of 72 of the late Jim’ll Fix It star’s victims.
Ms Dux said: “My client’s horrific experiences show why a reform to the law to introduce mandatory reporting of abuse by those in regulated activities is so vital.”
And yet another paedophile doctor at Stoke-Mandeville where Savile had free rein.
Doctor John Narendran
The assault occurred in a private room whilst the doctor was employed as a locum registrar at the Hospital. The doctor denied charges of indecent assault but was later jailed for
21 months on 16 October 1996. He was struck off the General Medical Council register on 22 January 1997.
Angry Judge Jails Pervert Doctor of Stoke Mandeville
Dr John Narendran
Angry Judge Jails Pervert Doctor of Stoke Mandeville
A DOCTOR at Stoke Mandeville Hospital blindfolded and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy patient.
John Narendran, 56, was jailed for 21 months after Judge John Murchie refused to wait for pre-sentence reports saying the doctor had shown no remorse.
`This is an offence which is so serious that members of the public would not feel justice had been done if a judge did not pass an immediate custodial sentence,’ he said. `Doctors are trusted with the bodies of people. This was a bad breach of trust.’
The boy was injured playing football, Reading Crown Court heard. He was taken to the hospital near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, which is world-renowned for its treatment of spinal injuries.
One of the doctors who examined him was Sri Lankan-born Narendran, who introduced himself as Dr John, said Mr Simon Davis, prosecuting.
`Dr John’ told the boy’s parents he wanted to help their son and they should not tell anyone, as it was a case for `specialist treatment’.
The next day, another consultant said the boy could leave hospital, but `Dr John’ took the youngster and his parents to his own private room. `He rubbed cream into the boy’s back while his parents were waiting in an adjoining room,’ Mr Davis said. `Nothing untoward happened.’
The day after, however, Narendran contacted the parents, who took their son back. While they waited next door as before, he showed the boy a medical book with pictures of male and female genitalia.
The boy was asked to lie on the bed, blindfolded with a scarf and assaulted. He was upset and told his parents, and Narendran was arrested.
The boy broke down in tears several times while giving evidence through a video-link to court. He told the jury: `The doctor told me I could trust him and he would never hurt me.’
Narendran, a married man, of North Road, Alfriston, East Sussex, had denied indecent assault.
Andrew Cohen, defending, said the offence was `entirely out of character and can only be described as a moment of complete madness’. He said Narendran was a `very highly regarded’ man of `mature years’ who had fallen `as low as he can get’.
Dreamflight is a registered UK charity that changes young lives through taking seriously ill and disabled children, without their parents, on the holiday of a lifetime to Orlando, Florida. The first Dreamflight trip was in November 1987 and I had the wonderful opportunity of being one of the children selected to go on that trip…
The Aurelian Legacy: British Butterflies and Their Collectors
By Michael A. Salmon, Peter Marren, Basil Harley
STOKE MANDEVILLE – DR ROGER BODLEY – For 25 years until 2009, he was the senior radiologist at Stoke Mandeville Hospital
The Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust is primarily based in the Leeds area, although not all of its trustees – listed as Luke Lucas, Dr Roger Bodley and Lady Gabrielle Greenbury on the Charity Commission’s website – still live there.
Roger Bodley, 65, is one of only three trustees of the charity. He bought a broad sword and ceremonial shield for a new charitable venture at Sir Jimmy’s Scottish cottage.A charity bought a sword and shield (left) for £700 to decorate a Scottish retreat for the disabled
He said: ‘We are hoping to put these items on the wall at his Glencoe cottage which we are going to convert into a kind of retreat for disabled people. It will be called Jimmy’s at Glencoe.’
About Dr Roger Nicholas Bodley of Stoke Mandeville
Dr Roger Nicholas Bodley was born in 1947 and the first directorship we have on file was in 1991 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital Education Centre Limited. Them most recent directorship was with Stoke Mandeville Hospital Education Centre Limited where they held the position of “Radiologist”. This company has been around since 12 Apr 1972 .
Dr. Roger Bodley is an English medical graduate who came to Tasmania in 1976 and worked there for 6 years before returning to train as a radiologist. Worked in Oxford and Stoke Mandeville Hospital (which includes the National Spinal Injuries Centre, home of The Paralympics) and after retirement from the NHS returned part time to the beautiful NW Coast of Tasmania to work, teach and to build a home on Table Cape. Having come across Hempcrete at the London exhibition “Ecobuild” in 2008 I decided that my house was to be a showcase for this exciting material. The last few years have seen the slow realisation of that idea.
3.21 DC1 and DS6 interviewed Savile on tape under caution at his private office at Stoke Mandeville Hospital on 1st October 2009. Present with Savile was a ‘friend’ who was a trustee of the Jimmy Savile Stoke Mandeville Charitable Trust. It is not clear in what capacity this male was present as there is no indication that Savile required an appropriate adult and he was not acting as a legal representative.
James Collier CB We are lucky to have the experience of this
gentleman. A working life as a very senior civil servant,
starting off in the Treasury, worked for eleven Chancellors
before being transferred to the NHS as a financial trouble
shooter.
Luke Lucas A self-made millionaire in the security industry
with several confidential contracts with the Home Office. The youngest of the Trustees, spends regular days and nights at the NSIC (National Spinal Injuries Centre) and is totally dedicated to its work. Hoping to retire from
business and looking forward to staying completely involved
with the Trust.
Broadmoor: It included a GP, a forensic psychiatrist, a local architect and, in his words, ‘a multi-millionaire owner of a security company’.
The latter is how Savile always described Luke Lucas, although Lucas maintains he was ‘not a member of Broadmoor Hospital Management’.
His relationship with the royals, and particularly Prince Charles and Princess Diana, became deeper and more intimate during the time he was seconded by the government to fix the mess at Broadmoor.
The thing about me is I get things done. They tippled that I can get things done, and that I work “deep cover” … People don’t realise I’m deep cover until it’s too late.’
But it was not only marriage guidance that Jimmy Savile was sought out for. He also advised Prince Charles on key appointments to his staff.
After consultation with Savile and Richard Aylard, Major-General Sir Christopher Airy was appointed private secretary and treasurer to the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Janet Cope confirmed to me that Prince Charles used to phone Savile regularly at Stoke Mandeville. All three sent telegrams of congratulation when Jimmy Savile’s name finally made it onto the Queen’s birthday honours list in the late summer of 1990, as did Prince Andrew. The Duchess of York sent a homemade card while Angus Ogilvy sent his warmest wishes in a handwritten letter. It was the last list that Margaret Thatcher made recommendations for before she was forced to resign. And it was her letter that informed Jimmy Savile that they had succeeded in getting him the knighthood they both desired.
He took as his guest Clifford Graham, the man who had rubber stamped his appointment to the Broadmoor Hospital task force.
In Plain Sight: the Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile by Dan Davies
Luke Lucas – Described in the 2006 report as a self made millionaire in the security industry with several Home Office contracts?
He is also described as spending regular days and nights at the NCIS. (National Spinal Injuries Centre)
For Jimmy Savile, normal life meant being collected on the quayside by his driver from Broadmoor Hospital, before being whisked off to the high-security hospital in Berkshire to begin the round of constant touring all over again. Broadmoor, Stoke Mandeville and Leeds General Infirmary After the weeks at sea it was back to the hospital beds, locked wards and wheelchairs: the captive audiences.
National Spinal Injuries Centre – The Spinal Injuries Centre that Savile referred to as ‘Jimmy Savile’s country club’,
Dr Isaac Nuseibeh, a consultant spinal surgeon at the NSIC, had known Savile since 1973 … waxed lyrical about the happiness he spread, describing him as ‘a super humanitarian’.
Sunday People , 13 September 1981
In Plain Sight: the Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile by Dan Davies
On the subject of institutional mental health care, relating to the curious tales of Savile’s Broadmoor involvement, it should be noted that the senior civil servant responsible for secure hospitals was this man:
(July 2006) ‘Charity chair was arrested twice over rape allegations’
Charity chair was arrested twice over rape allegations
EXCLUSIVE BY JOHN PRING
A high-profile figure in the disability world, who has been arrested twice over unconnected rape allegations, one of which involved a child with learning difficulties, is continuing to chair a Christian learning difficulties charity, DN can reveal.
L’Arche, which has Catholic roots but now describes itself as an “ecumenical” organisation providing residential “communities” for people with learning difficulties, told DN it “continues to have full confidence” in its UK chairman, Brian McGinnis, despite the two separate arrests by different police forces.
Mr McGinnis, a former special advisor for the charity Mencap, who is also believed to have been a senior civil servant in the Department of Health, has worked with people with learning difficulties for 40 years.
He was arrested last August over allegations that he raped a child with learning difficulties at the Betts Way respite home in Bromley, Kent, in the mid-1990s.
A Metropolitan police spokeswoman confirmed that an allegation of rape of a child with learning difficulties was made to police in November 2004.
She added: “A 68-year-old man from the Croydon area was arrested on 5 August 2005. He was bailed to return pending further investigation. Following Crown Prosecution Service advice, the man was released without charge on 25 October 2005.”
She said police “liaised” with the church and social services about the ongoing contact Mr McGinnis might have with children and vulnerable adults.
Betts Way was at the centre of a series of inquiries after 11 parents were told in 1999 that their children had made allegations of sexual abuse by staff. None of those allegations concerned Mr McGinnis, who had been a volunteer visitor at the home, which closed in 2000.
An investigation by police, the London Borough of Bromley and health authorities took place between 1999 and 2001, but no-one was charged.
DN has discovered that Mr McGinnis was also arrested and questioned in 2001 on allegations unrelated to Betts Way, when he was still employed as Mencap’s special advisor.
A Kent police spokeswoman said: “A 63-year-old man from the Croydon area was arrested on suspicion of rape in March 2001. He was later released without charge.”
Mr McGinnis is an influential figure in the disability world, with links to a string of charities, learning difficulty organisations and his local church in Shirley, Croydon, south London. As well as chairing L’Arche, he is on the ruling national council of the Association for Real Change (ARC), which represents providers of care homes for people with learning difficulties.
John Peet, general secretary of L’Arche, said the charity was aware of both arrests and trustees “continue to have full confidence in Brian McGinnis as chairman”. He said the results of a Criminal Records Bureau check requested by Mr McGinnis after his arrest last August showed “no records or listings which would disqualify Mr McGinnis from continuing in his role as chairman”.
Mr Peet said: “Mr McGinnis informed L’Arche immediately after the police spoke to him, and took the initiative to withdraw from any activities involving contact with members of L’Arche with learning disabilities.
“We have not informed ARC that Mr McGinnis was arrested and questioned by police last August.
There is no obligation for L’Arche or any other member organisation to inform ARC of an allegation regarding its trustees or, indeed, care staff.
“However, if any charges had been brought we should have felt duty bound to draw the matter to the attention of the chief executive of ARC.”
He said Mr McGinnis did not work directly with children or vulnerable adults in his role as chairman.
James Churchill, chief executive of ARC, declined to comment until he had made further enquiries.
Mr McGinnis also represents L’Arche on the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ patients and carers committee.
A college spokeswoman said: “We were not aware of the allegations so obviously we will be looking at the membership of our committee.”
A spokesman for Bromley council said it had advised its staff to “disassociate” Mr McGinnis “with anything related to children with learning difficulties and council services” and informed him of this decision by letter four years ago.
He added: “To the best of our knowledge he hasn’t a connection with Bromley any longer.”
A spokeswoman for Croydon Council said it told church authorities that Mr McGinnis “should be suspended from duties that involved him working with children”, after being told by Bromley council about last August’s arrest. Mr McGinnis had been working with a children’s church group.
A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Southwark, which covers St George’s – the church Mr McGinnis attends in Shirley – said it agreed that he “should have no direct contact with children or vulnerable adults and this policy has been followed”.
Mencap says Mr McGinnis retired in 2003, “for reasons unrelated to the allegations”.
DN contacted Mr McGinnis for a comment on the allegations he faced. In a message left on our answerphone he said: “I am not going to get in discussions over details. I haven’t done any of the things which have been alleged but I do want to say this: I have spent a lifetime arguing for the protection of vulnerable adults and children, even at the expense of innocent folk working with them being damaged, and I am not one to grumble if that befalls me. I am, and all my life have been, and always will be, a celibate. And sex of any kind with anyone, of any age, simply does not enter into my curriculum. But, as I say, the protection of vulnerable adults and children requires sometimes innocent people suffer and that is a price worth paying for the protection of vulnerable children and adults.”
There were mysterious scandals involving child pornography in both Broadmoor and Ashworth during the 1990s and subsequent impenetrable reports published with heavy anonymisation online – it seems now that this would be to do with the staff rather than the patients.
Major had been a junior Health Minister in Thatcher’s Gov’t when the barrel of shit in north Wales was being concealed by Ken Clarke (see post ‘Running The Country – And All That Jazz’). Major had worked in the DHSS as a Minister whilst Trumpers was a Health Minister, when Trumpers appointed Jimmy Savile to the management team of Broadmoor – although it was actually Trumpers’s colleague Edwina Currie who took the rap for it years later. Savile’s mate Alan Franey, the former Assistant General Manager of Leeds General Infirmary, was appointed CEO of Broadmoor. Whilst Savile was in post, two female patients killed themselves as a result of his abuse of them. During Major’s time at the DHSS, Brian McGinnis was the Whitehall mandarin responsible for mental health and high security hospitals – McGinnis was later banned from working with children (see post ‘Socio-Political Context Of The North Wales Mental Health Services In The 1980s’).
Allegations against Savile include sexual assaults of patients at Broadmoor, where he was initially an “honorary entertainments officer”.
Brian McGinnis ran the mental health division of the Department of Health and Social Services in 1987, when plans were drawn up to appoint Savile to run a taskforce overseeing the hospital.
Health service sources said they understood Mr McGinnis was “instrumental” in the creation of the taskforce, which began work the following year.
He was under-secretary for mental health with responsibility for the high-security hospitals when Savile and other members of the group were recruited.
In a book about psychiatric care, Alan Franey, an NHS administrator who was appointed to the same taskforce describes being issued with the invitation in 1987 – during “an unusual meeting in the Athenanaeum Club in London with some officials who shall remain nameless.”
He neglected to mention that Savile was present, although he confirmed it when contacted by The Sunday Telegraph, but refused to say whether Mr McGinnis was among the officials.
Mr McGinnis, now 74, was prevented from working with children by Croydon Council in 2005, when he was stopped from running a children’s church group.
Three years earlier Bromley Council ended his involvement with services for children with learning difficulties.
The interventions followed police investigations into his conduct during volunteer visits to children’s homes.
Contacted by The Sunday Telegraph, Mr McGinnis said that he was very closely involved in discussions about the running of Broadmoor but could not recall his part in Savile’s appointment.
He said: “Ministers made the decisions obviously because that is what they are there for. I am not saying I wasn’t involved but I simply don’t remember a single thing about this appointment.”
Mr McGinnis said he had never been to the Athenaeum and only recalled meeting Savile once at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
With regard to his own conduct, the former civil servant said he had done “absolutely nothing wrong”.
Chair: Dr. Sheila Adam, Health Services Director, Department of Health
Members (including details of organisations nominating individuals)
Mr. Clive Appleby (Epping Forest PCT, representing the NHS Confederation)Ms Sarah Bazin (Solihull and Heartlands NHS Trust nominated by DH to represent the allied health professions)Professor Joe Collier (St. George’s Hospital Medical School, representing the Council of Heads of Medical Schools)Dr. Jane Cowan (Medical Protection Society)Professor Andrew Grubb (Cardiff Law School)Mr. Barry Jackson (Royal College of Surgeons of England)Dr. Iona Heath (Royal College of General Practitioners)Professor Peter Hill (Postgraduate Dean (Northern) Northern and Yorkshire Region) Mr. James Johnson (Joint Consultants Committee)Professor John Lilleyman, (President of the Royal College of Pathologists, representing the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges) Mr. Brian McGinnis (Mencap)Ms Polly Moreton (Action for Sick Children)Ms Dora Opoku (United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting)Ms Jane O’Brien (General Medical Council)Dr. Gina Radford (Regional Director of Public Health, Eastern Regional Office)Mrs. Shahwar Sadeque (member of the Royal College of Physicians’ committee on medical ethics; particular interest in ethnic minority health issues)Dame Margaret Seward (Chief Dental Officer)Dr. Ewen Sim (Junior Doctors Committee, BMA)Professor Terry Stacey (Central Office of Research Ethics Committees)Ms Moira Wheeler (Head of Midwifery and Nursing Services, Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust, representing the Royal College of Midwives)Ms Rosie Wilkinson (Royal College of Nursing)Dr. Michael Wilks (BMA)Ms Micky Willmott (Age Concern England)
Co-opted member: Mr. Steve Walker of the NHS Litigation Authority
Mr McGinnis is very active at his local curch’s Sunday School, which lists his address as 31 Woodmere Ave and his number as 020 8654 6190. Interestingly, McGinnis was a “volunteer visitor” at a disability centre where 11 parents made seperate allegations that their children were abused in the late 90s. I wonder why someone who is so prominent in so many charities felt the need to maintain a “hands on” approach to volunteering? I’m sure that we have nothing to worry about – as he says above, he is “a celibate” and “sex of any kind with anyone, of any age, simply does not enter into my curriculum”. This bizarre statement will surely calm the fears of the parents whose children attend his Sunday School sessions.
Council ‘ignored three warnings’ over former Mencap advisor
A local authority appears to have ignored three warnings that a former Mencap advisor – who has previously been arrested over two unconnected rape allegations – is being allowed to spend time with disabled service-users with high support needs.
Brian McGinnis has been arrested twice, one in connection with allegations that he raped AX, a child with learning difficulties who used the notorious Betts Way respite home in Bromley, Kent, in the mid-1990s.
McGinnis, who became a special advisor to Mencap after leaving a senior position in the civil service, has never been convicted of any offence, or even charged.
But Disability News Service (DNS) has learned that Mr and Mrs X – AX’s parents – have told Bromley council three times in the last three years that McGinnis appears to be continuing to secure access to people with learning difficulties and high support needs.
One of these disabled people was mentioned several times in a confidential report prepared for the council’s director of social services in 1997.
That report discussed McGinnis’s close attachment to the woman, who was a child at the time but is now in her 30s and has “a very high level of disability… does not verbally communicate her wishes and feelings”, and is “totally dependent on others for physical care”.
The report described how staff felt that McGinnis “was too familiar with her – often sitting her on his lap and other actions, which seemed inappropriate for a man of his age with a young girl”, and how he was “too willing to pick [her]up and touch her”.
Mrs X told DNS that they had twice seen McGinnis with the woman, at a restaurant and at a garden centre, on both occasions accompanied by a care worker. Her husband also saw McGinnis with another person with learning difficulties at a local hospital.
Mrs X said: “I was shaking when I saw him at the restaurant. I wanted to tear his eyes out.
“His steely cold eyes looked at me and he said, ‘How are you?’ I couldn’t believe it; the man who raped my daughter.”
Mr X added: “How on earth can a man like this still have access to people with learning disabilities? How much more information does Bromley council need to stop this happening?”
The arrests came in March 2001 and August 2005 and both resulted in McGinnis, who is now 76 and lives in Shirley, Croydon, being released without charge.
Until the allegations about his behaviour were publicised in 2006, he was an influential figure in the disability world, with links to a string of charities, learning difficulty organisations and his local church in Shirley.
He retired from his position as a special advisor with Mencap in 2003, and the learning difficulties charity previously claimed that this was unconnected with any of the rape allegations.
But this week, DNS learned that a leading crossbench peer visited Mencap chief executive Jo Williams – now no longer with the organisation – to warn her about some of the allegations concerning McGinnis, after the peer had been approached by the chair and chief executive of the charity Voice UK.
McGinnis is believed to have retired from Mencap shortly after that meeting in 2003, but the charity has always insisted that his retirement was unconnected with any rape allegations.
A Mencap spokeswoman said: “We take all allegations of abuse and our reporting responsibilities extremely seriously.
“Mr McGinnis retired in 2003 and there is nothing in our records which indicates that these allegations were known about at that time by Mencap.
“We have zero tolerance in respect to abuse and ensure that all allegations are referred to the proper authorities.”
But Mencap refused to tell DNS whether it has asked Williams about the meeting with the peer.
Following McGinnis’s first arrest in 2001, Bromley council advised its staff to “disassociate” McGinnis “with anything related to children with learning difficulties and council services”.
Croydon council later told church authorities that McGinnis “should be suspended from duties that involved him working with children”, after being informed by Bromley council about the 2005 arrest. He had at the time been working with a children’s church group.
A Bromley council spokeswoman told DNS this week: “We cannot comment on individual situations.
“However, if anyone has specific concerns about a vulnerable adult in Bromley borough, we would always urge them to contact our adult safeguarding team.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DH) has confirmed that it is investigating whether McGinnis may have helped to block tougher laws on the sexual abuse of people with learning difficulties in the 1980s.
DNS asked DH last month to look into concerns that McGinnis played a key role in dismissing calls in the mid-1980s for a review of the law on sexuality and people with learning difficulties and mental health conditions.
The year before McGinnis left his senior position at the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS), MPs on the Commons social services committee had called for an “independent expert review of law and practice on sexuality and contraception in relation to mentally disabled people”.
But DHSS dismissed the idea, warning that “a major review might simply attract unwelcome, unhealthy and wholly disproportionate media interest without achieving any helpful consensus”.
The review never took place, and law reform that would make it easier to secure convictions for rape and indecent assault of people with learning difficulties and mental health conditions was delayed until 2003, when a new act introduced fresh offences and tougher sentences.
This week, a DH spokeswoman told DNS: “We are taking this issue very seriously and investigating whether there is any relevant material held on file.”
If it emerged that McGinnis did play a role in blocking tougher legislation, DH could find itself sucked into the scandal that has surrounded the Home Office over the whereabouts of the child abuse dossier handed by the Conservative MP Geoffrey Dickens to home secretary Leon Brittan in the early 1980s.
The DH spokeswoman added: “The Home Office is in the process of appointing a new chair for its wider inquiry.
“When the chair is appointed, the terms of reference for that inquiry will be decided and the department will co-operate fully with it.”
McGinnis was also named in June in a report into the activities of the disgraced TV presenter Jimmy Savile at Broadmoor hospital, as he was the senior civil servant in charge of mental health in DHSS in 1986, shortly before Savile was appointed to a new board to run the hospital.
McGinnis refused to speak to DNS today (Thursday), but he has always claimed that he is innocent of both rape allegations and that he is a lifelong “celibate”.
Senior Civil Servant at Mental Health, DHSS until 1986. Special adviser to MENCAP until 2003. Appointed Jimmy Savile to a Broadmoor Task force (Savile had a set of keys and living quarters, and authority over appointments). Helped block greater protection for children with mental health and learning difficulties in the 1980s.
Arrested in 2001, not charged.
Arrested 2005 on rape allegations at Betts Way respite home, Bromley.
CAREERS: HOW I GOT HERE – Brian McGinnis, chairman of L'Arche UK
28 May 2003
What was your first job?
Fresh from Cambridge History Tripos, I took the civil service exams and entered the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance as an assistant principal. For a significant part of my time in that training grade, I worked on war pensions.
What does your current role involve? I help those who live and work in one of eight L’Arche UK residential communities for people with learning disabilities. L’Arche is a very special ‘prayer and action’ partnership of core members with learning disabilities, assistants with whom they share their lives, and volunteers.
Roughly outline your career path. I moved from principal to assistant secretary to under secretary in the Department of Social Security and then the Department of Health. Throughout, I managed to concentrate on disability, learning disability and mental health.
What training or course has most enhanced your career? Apart from training as a voluntary youth worker, I have spent much more time giving training than receiving it.
What has been your greatest career achievement? The first tranche of incapacity, disability and carers’ benefits and promoting parliamentary accountability for the implementation of the Learning Disability White Paper.
What is your advice to people starting out in the sector? Always remember that the customers pay your salary.
What is your biggest career regret? When I was working as a Mental Health Act commissioner, I was not able to persuade someone I visited that her life was worth living.
Are there any other charities you support financially or with your time?
I am on the L’Arche Lambeth committee, I work for Mencap nationally and belong to two local Mencap Societies. I also chair the Bromley Learning Disability Forum and a church training charity.
“Mind has close relations with Brian McGinnis, DHSS under-secretary in charge of mental health”
The Observer 16 Dec 1984
CAREERS: HOW I GOT HERE – Brian McGinnis, chairman of L'Arche UK
28 May 2003
What was your first job?
Fresh from Cambridge History Tripos, I took the civil service exams and entered the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance as an assistant principal. For a significant part of my time in that training grade, I worked on war pensions.
What does your current role involve? I help those who live and work in one of eight L’Arche UK residential communities for people with learning disabilities. L’Arche is a very special ‘prayer and action’ partnership of core members with learning disabilities, assistants with whom they share their lives, and volunteers.
Roughly outline your career path. I moved from principal to assistant secretary to under secretary in the Department of Social Security and then the Department of Health. Throughout, I managed to concentrate on disability, learning disability and mental health.
What training or course has most enhanced your career? Apart from training as a voluntary youth worker, I have spent much more time giving training than receiving it.
What has been your greatest career achievement? The first tranche of incapacity, disability and carers’ benefits and promoting parliamentary accountability for the implementation of the Learning Disability White Paper.
What is your advice to people starting out in the sector? Always remember that the customers pay your salary.
What is your biggest career regret? When I was working as a Mental Health Act commissioner, I was not able to persuade someone I visited that her life was worth living.
Are there any other charities you support financially or with your time?
I am on the L’Arche Lambeth committee, I work for Mencap nationally and belong to two local Mencap Societies. I also chair the Bromley Learning Disability Forum and a church training charity.
Jimmy Savile and Dr Pauline Cutting pose between two victims of war-torn Beirut – Samir Ebrihim, 9, and Bilal Shebab, 8. They are being treated at the National Spinal Injuries Centre in Stoke Mandeville.
ENGLAND Jimmy Savile
Stoke Mandeville specialist, Dr Isaac Nuseibeh, sot on
Stoke the boys not being as bad as he thought: two boys in beds
Mandeville awaiting treatment: Dr Pauline Cutting, sot saying it was worthwhile bringing them to UK in first place: Jimmy
Savile at bedside, joking with boys
Luke Lucas, a trustee of both Jimmy Savile’s charitable trusts. He had known Savile for 42 years, worked for him full-time for the first seven years and described him as his ‘best friend’, although he refused point blank to talk about him. ‘I was involved in everything, believe me, and if I wanted to tell the 42 years of stories it would need to be a very thick book,’ he said. ‘Thicker than the Old Testament.’
Five weeks before he died, Savile had gone on a cruise on the Queen Elizabeth for its maiden voyage around Britain. Luke Lucas, Savile’s long-time friend, colleague and a trustee of both the charities that bore his name, accompanied him.
Savile told me that Lucas had been sleeping rough under Bournemouth pier when he walked into the Maison Royale nightclub and asked for a job, something that Lucas insists is not true.
On that morning in central London Lucas explained he began working for Savile in Bournemouth and never stopped. He was a trustee of both Savile’s charitable trusts and clearly a member of one of Savile’s teams, the small groups of people he could call on in the places he variously called home.
I decided to ask Lucas about how Savile had been handed the reins of the Maison Royale. Savile had told me that the owners had called him out of the blue and made an offer he ‘could not refuse’.
Three years later, when his consultancy deal came to an end, he claimed to have spectacularly transformed the fortunes of the failing venture. It was not exactly how Lucas remembered it, though.
Instead, he shook his head and commented what a sad story it was: the owner of the Maison Royale being found dead in his swimming pool a couple of weeks after Jimmy took over. I began to wonder whether perhaps the great secret lurking behind the impenetrable façade of Jimmy Savile was that he had been responsible for a death, or worse still, he had killed someone himself. The way he talked about the summary justice meted out to those who caused trouble in his dancehalls, of his pride in having former Sonderkommandos under his command, and now the troubling image of a body in a swimming pool all contributed to the darkening cloud of doubt in my mind.
Some time later I asked Savile about what Lucas had said. He didn’t blink: ‘He fell on his sword, poor bastard.’
He quickly changed the subject, insisting that Luke Lucas was one of the few people who listened to his advice and acted on it. ‘Now he’s a multi-millionaire and head of one of the biggest security firms in the country,’ said Savile, looking smug.
In Plain Sight: the Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile Dan Davies
After Mr Davies appeared at a book event in Edinburgh, a local newspaper – – as reported by the Echo – said he believed Savile could have been behind Mr Yates’ death.
John Yates, tragically, was found dead in a swimming pool in 1972 but the Maison Royale carried on and by the May, Cherries chairman Harold Walker was also chairman of the Maison Royale group.
And he came up with a new signing, recruiting one of Britain’s top DJs, Jimmy Savile.
His job? Entertainments and promotion consultant and he arrived at Le Cardinal in person in the May of that year.
Jimmy had a flat on Bournemouth’s East Cliff ND spent five years as consultant, pepping up the pace at the night club and featuring in some lively press stories.
Savile bought the flat on Bournemouth’s East Cliff and moved in during April 1972.
He kept the flat and visited occasionally and it was reportedly sold for charity when he died in 2011, aged 84.
He worked as a public relations consultant for the Maison Royale/Le Cardinal nightlclub complex on Glen Fern Road from 1973 until 1978.
ERASED: Norwegian Wood Bournemouth cafe scrubs disgraced Jimmy Savile’s name from its history
Savile owned the whole block when it was a nightclub complex during the 1960s and 70s.
A year after he joined, Jimmy was appalled to discover that the management had bought a nude painting of Princess Anne riding on a horse along a beach for the club foyer.
He demanded that it be taken down.
the club was attracting throngs of people and big-name stars.
The list of other celebrities appearing at the Maison Royale complex over the years reads like a 1960s and ’70s roll call.
They included Roy Castle, Rod Hull, Cliff Richard (who came to speak about his faith), The Bachelors, Vera Lynn, Helen Shapiro, Leslie Crowther, Frankie Howerd, Kathy Kirby, Billy Dainty, Joe Henderson, Stan Stennett, Matt Munro and even “Amarillo” singer Tony Christie.
Girls as young as 12 or 13 well under the minimum age of 16 had attended the Maison Royale discos and consumed alcohol, police said, adding that more than 40 officers were required to deal with the thousands of people leaving the discos.
A midnight curfew was imposed.
It was the last straw.
By August 1983 the Echo front page broke the news that Maison Royale was closing.
Its boss blamed the midnight curfew and said that, despite other clubs operating in the town centre, his complex always seemed to be the scapegoat for trouble in the town streets.
Since Jimmy Savile’s death, I have tried to get Luke Lucas to elaborate on his relationship with Savile but he has consistently refused to comment about his friend. ‘I did not discuss Jim at the height of his popularity,’ he says, ‘and nor will I now.’
In Plain Sight: the Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile by Dan Davies
Savile befriended Julie Ferguson ^, one of the “waitresses” (H) when she was 15 yrs old. She was one of the few people named in his will.
She wrote the poems on Jimmy Savile’s headstone, recalled first encountering Savile when he climbed Ben Nevis to test a tent in Arctic conditions. She and a friend were invited back to his hotel.
Jimmy Savile His last will and testament, dated July 2006, put the gross value of his estate at £4,366,178, of which around £3.6 million was earmarked for charity. It was a story that got unanimously positive coverage.
The rest was to be shared out among his family and friends. Eight people, including two couples, were to benefit from the annual interest on a £600,000 trust fund.
They included Savile’s nephew Roger Foster and niece Amanda McKenna; Sylvia Nicol, a member of his original fund-raising team at Stoke Mandeville Hospital; Mavis Price, who got to know him through Leeds General Infirmary and went on to manage the Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust; Donald Bennett, the former transport manager at Broadmoor Hospital, and his wife Josie; and
Roddy and Julie Ferguson , the latter being someone Savile had befriended in Fort William in 1969 when she was 15.
2014
JULIE Ferguson has had a 30-year relationship with the Hebridean island of North Uist, which is where her sea captain husband Roddy was born, but she thought long and hard about actually moving to live there. Julie works for a specialist recruitment company, which she can do from anywhere in the world, and while living in Oban also ran a B&B.
Savile then went on to tell me a little about the time in 1999 when Prince Charles came for lunch at the three-bedroomed cottage he’d recently bought near Glencoe.
When Savile learned the Prince of Wales was to visit the area and present a minibus to a mountain rescue team, he issued his invitation. His friend, Julie Ferguson, was asked to source local salmon, lamb and a bottle of Laphroaig whisky, which he knew the prince liked.
Special Branch arrived ahead of the prince to conduct a sweep of the building, before Jimmy Savile greeted his special guest. He was wearing a kilt of Lochaber tartan, a green military-style shirt and his Royal Marines Green Beret. Ferguson and two friends acted as waitresses, each in monogrammed aprons bearing the letters ‘H’, ‘R’ and ‘H’ respectively – a special touch Savile was especially pleased with.
They served Savile and his guest the lamb and the salmon, which, Ferguson later revealed, had been obtained from a local poacher.
From the Daily Record:
“The allegations were also rubbished by a Scottish pal and confidante of Sir Jimmy. Julie Ferguson met him as a teenager in Fort William in 1969 and became friends with him. She said: “This is shocking and cowardly and they wouldn’t have dared to do it if he were still alive. I met Jimmy in a group of six teenagers and he never behaved inappropriately towards any of us. If anything untoward had gone on, the Press would have published it years ago.”
Savile was born in 1926 – so would have been 42-43 when he met her …. strange to befriend a group of teenage girls and stay in contact with (at least) one of them – “with whom he often used to stay in the Hebrides” – without her suspecting anything.
OBAN / Savile / Stanbridge Earls School, Hants/ Rua Fiola Island Exploration Centre in Oban.
a page on a Christian music radio station website, that talks about doing their first ever interviews with SaVILE, as arranged by guess who … Julie Ferguson. The images on the left link to YouTube videos of the interviews with SaVILE titled Christmas and Community, as well as one of Julie Ferguson reciting a poem she wrote about SaVILE – but sadly all three are now listed as private. Shame as the blurb on the website indicates they could have been quite interesting … http://www.highestpraise.co.uk/sir-j…nterviews.html https://www.facebook.com/HighestPrai…60868377264167
There appear to be quite a few links on Google to videos of Julie Ferguson reciting poems about SaVILE but when I click through there’s something completely different there, and no sign of them.
Donald Bennett, the former transport manager at Broadmoor Hospital
Truthseeker1@thewakeupcall09:
True gent Sir Jimmy was ‘a real friend’ Sir Jimmy Savile with Don Bennett
A Crowthorne man who counts himself as one of Sir Jimmy Savile’s closest friends has revealed his memories of the eccentric marathon-running DJ and presenter.
Don Bennett from Napier Road was the man tasked with driving Sir Jimmy around in his various extravagant cars.
The pair met when Mr Bennett was a transport manager at Broadmoor Hospital, of which Mr Savile was a keen supporter, and became lifelong friends.
Mr Bennett, 79, knew Sir Jimmy, who died last week at the age of 84, for 44 years and joined him in many of his hundreds of charity fundraisers.
He described him as a “true gentleman” who was not like his TV persona. He said: “I drove his famous Gold Rolls Royce – in fact, we had 12 Rolls Royces in total. That wasn’t just it, we had Bentleys, Lamborginis, you name it. It was a bit of a disappointment getting back in your own car at the end of the day when Jim was around.” He said Sir Jimmy was a very caring individual who went out of his way to ensure his friends were never left out.
He said: “Jim was tremendous at making sure everyone was involved. I remember we went to Windsor Castle once to meet Prince Charles. He insisted I came in and met him too.
“He was very different when it was just you and him – he was actually quite quiet and thoughtful. But he was in his TV persona most of the time. He wasn’t all razzmatazz.”
Don both walked and cycled from Lands End to John O’Groats with the famously exercise-mad star – but stayed well away from his other ventures.
He said: “He was a wrestler for a while, I think he got hurt quite a lot doing that. And he did so many marathons.
“He always smoked cigars, but I don’t think he inhaled much – he was very fit. He was just really likeable, and always had time for you.” Don, who worked at the hospital for 43 years, is still driving and travelled up to Scarborough in Yorkshire for his friend’s funeral.
Sir Jimmy was buried in a gold-coloured, steel plated coffin.
Showing his commitment to charity to the last, he was laid to rest wearing a Help for Heroes wristband.
The MBE goes to Broadmoor Hospital transport manager Donald Bennett
Stoke
Sir Jimmy Savile OBE, KCSG Started it all and is still going strong.
Dr Roger Bodley Is one of the world’s leading Radiologists,
lecturing as far a field as Australia, New Zealand and all the
Americas. He also holds a very senior position in Diagnostic Radiology at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
How come then that Jo Summers, Solicitor for Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust, said in a BBC story on October 23 2012
‘……..the charity’s trustees had been left “personally shocked” by the sex abuse scandal, stressing they had absolutely no idea of the alleged crimes now coming to light. They knew Jimmy for many years, volunteered to be his charity trustees. They can’t recognise the person they are reading about in the papers,”
Dr Bodley qualified from Oxford in 1973 and shortly after came to Burnie as an RMO where he worked with Donough O’Brien, John Kille, Don McTaggart and Graham Standen amongst others.
He and his wife (Dr Palmer), joined the Wynyard GP practice as trainees and then associates.
It was a discussion with radiologist Paul Huang about a patient led to a curiosity about interventional radiology and his subsequent return to Radiology training in Oxford in 1981. For 25 years until 2009, he was the senior radiologist at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, an acute hospital for 500,000 population as well as the home of The National Spinal Injuries Centre.
His special interests include spinal and interventional radiology.
A younger Salmon had focussed on a career in medicine, first coming to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, the site of many of the allegations made against him, in 1961, for a paediatric secondment, lasting six months. His medical career had then taken him to hospitals in Middlesex, London, and Ibadan, Nigeria, before he had taken up a senior registrar position in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. Salmon worked as a locum consultant in Maidestone, Gravesend and Dartford, before being headhunted for a top position in developmental medicine in Oxford.
In 1969 the doctor, now specialising in children’s growth disorders and neurological problems, such as migraines, returned to Stoke Mandeville where serial pervert Savile targeted patients for sex attacks during his time as a fundraiser there.
Salmon’s son had appeared on Savile’s Jim’ll Fix it programme.
One of his patients and alleged victims recalled seeing a picture from Jim’ll Fix It hanging on Salmon’s consulting room wall. The black and white photograph, shown to the jury, showed a young boy holding a microphone from when Salmon’s eldest son Martin had appeared on the popular television show alongside Irish horse racing commentator Peter O’Sullivan.
“My eldest son contacted the BBC and said he would like to go on Jim’ll Fix It,” Salmon explained. “Martin was a bit of a celebrity when he appeared on it.” Salmon’s son, the eldest of two, changed his surname, moved out of the family home and cut ties with his father following his previous conviction for child sex assaults. In 1969 Salmon had set up the developmental assessment unit at the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital, only the fourth such unit in the country at the time. He was also instrumental in the building of a special care baby unit at the hospital and helped to raise between £50,000 and £70,000 for much needed equipment for the hospital’s paediatric unit.
Salmon worked at Stoke Mandeville until the late 1980s, when he was convicted for sexually abusing youngsters and subsequently jailed in 1990.
Before this, his special interest and work in the field of migraine led to him being appointed as a consultant paediatrician of the British Migraine Association in London, and he was the first doctor in the country to run trials of a pioneering preventative medicine.
Salmon authored 38 scientific papers and a text book used by doctors, chaired the World Paediatric Congress held in 1986 and served on a number of professional bodies, including the Royal College of Physicians.
Shortly before his first arrest, Salmon was hailed by Princess Diana for taking 300 ill and disabled children to Disney World in Florida.
He was asked to join the inaugural Dreamflight charity trip, co-founded by former British Airways cabin crew member Patricia Pearce in 1987, as chief medical officer. The former doctor said he was phoned by British Airways and asked to pick 300 ‘very sick and handicapped’ children who would benefit from the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Princess Diana waved the flight off from Heathrow Airport, with 298 young children aboard, including one of the girls who later claimed Salmon indecently touched her during a medical appointment. The former doctor said she had been suffering from depression after a bout of glandular fever and he thought the trip would lift her spirits.
“He arranged a special trip to Disney World. It was the best five days of my life, I will never forget it.” The charity has since taken more than 5,000 children abroad on its holidays.
On release from prison, Salmon lived at Woodgreen in the New Forest area of Hampshire with his wife Susie, pursuing his interests in butterflies and photography. More recently the couple set up home in Park Lane, Salisbury, before he was once more charged with sexually abusing youngsters. His wife has stood by him, supporting him each day in court during his five-week trial.
Friends of Dr Salmon: Peter Edwards, Tudor Morgan-Jones, Eric Classey, David Elliston Allen, Karl Bailey, David Carter, Michael Chalmers-Hunt, June Chatfield, Allan Davies, Martin Evans, Joe Firmin, Mike Fitton, Robin Ford, Brian Gardiner, Robert and Rosemary Goodden, John Gulliver, Pat Hall, Tony Harman, Alec Harmer, Jacques Hecq, Martin Honey, Tony Irwin, John Ounstead, Christopher Palmer, Elizabeth Platts, Claude Rivers, Dorothy Sharp, Jonathan Spencer, Christine Taylor, Andrew Wakeham-Dawson, Terry Wickett and Roy Vickery, Viscountess Bolingbroke (Valezina Frohawk), Lionel Higgens, Humphrey Mackworth-Praed, Ernest Neal and John Purefoy, Annette Hartley
Dreamflight is a registered UK charity that changes young lives through taking seriously ill and disabled children, without their parents, on the holiday of a lifetime to Orlando, Florida. The first Dreamflight trip was in November 1987
Dreamflight was co-founded in 1986 by Patricia Pearce and Derek Pereira, both of whom worked for British Airways. Patricia had previously helped to organise a BA project, Skyride, which raised money to take &underprivileged children on a one-hour ‘Christmas party’ flight. Patricia and Derek decided to go a step further and raise money to take deserving children to Walt Disney World, and Dreamflight was born.
Pereira had just helped organise a one-hour flight to give children the chance to experience a plane trip and thought that he could do something much more exciting.
At a party for the participants he announced that he wanted to take a plane of children to Florida the following year.
The following morning he received offers of support, which led to the start of a mission that gives hundreds of children the chance to fly to Florida, US, and visit Disneyworld, Seaworld, and other places every year.
Determined to make Dreamflight a reality, Mr Pereira approached the then airline chief medical officer who agreed to pass the information on to the BA chairman Sir Colin Marshall, who turned down the idea.
Mr Pereira promised to do the flight with no cost to the airline by raising money.
Sir Colin gave him the go-ahead but there were still major obstacles to overcome, such as finding money for the flight’s tariff of $100,000 (BD37,800).
However, a British Post Office party brought in $2,000 (BD756), followed by a donation of $10,000 (BD3,780) from an investment company and that was the start.
Children chosen for the trip were sick, but they had to be fit enough to travel.
Although Dreamflight was supposed to be a one-off event there was so much support for it that it continued on an annual basis and was registered as a charity, with Mr Pereira as a trustee.
“…..was enough to seal his entry into the establishment’s innermost circles”
Former psychiatric nurse Richard Harrison maintains his colleagues were deeply suspicious of Savile because ‘paedophiles gravitated towards him’.
In Plain Sight, The life and Lies of Jimmy Savile
Truthseeker1@thewakeupcall09;
Lord Louis Mountbatten former chauffeur Norman Nield exposed him
Meanwhile, in New Zealand, there have been such newspaper headlines as, “‘Uncle Dickie’ the Sex Pervert” (N.Z. Truth, Sept. 8, 1987), since Mountbatten’s former chauffeur, Norman Nield, started revealing details of the late Lord Mountbatten’s alleged sexual exploitation of boys.
Paedophile Lord Louis Mountbatten
Edward Prince of Wales and his cousin Lord Louis Mountbatten “relax” in a canvas swimming pool on board H. M. S. Renown during their 1920 Empire Tour.
Lord Louis was a great grandson of Queen Victoria and the uncle of Prince Philip (consort of Queen Elizabeth II). Mountbatten was also a promiscuous bisexual who was famously rumored to have had an affair with Edward VIII (who was Prince of Wales at the time) when he accompanied him on his Empire tours (see photo above).
The Queen. Like any human being, she is subject to the influence of those around her. While he lived, Lord Mountbatten was a persuasive counsellor, and he formulated the plan for Prince Charles’s unusually rigorous education.
The National Spinal Injuries Centre (NSIC) is the oldest, and one of the largest spinal injuries centres in the world. It was founded by neurologist Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in 1944 to treat servicemen who had sustained spinal cord injuries in World War II.
Before this, the majority of people with spinal cord injury died from complications within a year of injury. In 1948, Professor Guttmann began using sport as a vital ingredient in rehabilitation programmes and on 29 July organised a competition for 16 paralysed men and women to coincide with the opening ceremony of the 1948 Olympic Games in London.
The Stoke Mandeville Games for wheelchair athletes began and was widely seen as the moment that the Paralympic movement was born.
Professor Guttman received a knighthood in recognition of his contribution to the Paralympics and the ground-breaking techniques in rehabilitation he introduced, and staff continue Dr Guttmann’s revolutionary work to this day.
The experience gained in treating and preventing complications, together with an increase in injuries caused by road traffic accidents, led to a rapid expansion of the centre from an initial 26 beds to 190 beds in the main part of the hospital.
In 1980, severe weather conditions caused structural damage to some of the wards at Stoke Mandeville which housed the centre. With the area health authority unable to meet the estimated repair bill, the centre’s future looked in doubt. The implications would have been inconceivable – patients faced the prospect of receiving care in non-specialist hospitals without the welath of expertise and knowledge built up at the NSIC over the years.
Sir Jimmy Savile, at this time working as a volunteer porter at the hospital, set about organising an ambitious fundraising campaign to create a purpose built spinal cord injuries centre. Within three years of the launch, and with the generosity of the public behind him, Sir Jimmy had raised an incredible £10m. The new facilities opened in 1983, and Sir Jimmy, now the NSIC’s patron, continues to take an active interest in the centre.
link
Ludwig Guttmann and Hans Frankel with Haile Selassie: late 1960s. Courtesy: Dr Hans Frankel
Ludwig Guttmann and Hans Frankel with Haile Selassie: late 1960s. Courtesy: Dr Hans Frankel
The Queen and Ludwig Guttmann in the 1960s
Guttmann Lecturer 2012
– Dr Hans Frankel, OBE. Dr Frankel worked at the National Spinal Injuries Centre (NSIC) at Stoke Mandeville Hospital from 1957-2002
STOKE MANDEVILLE SPINAL FOUNDATION
Trustees
DR HANS FRANKEL OBE MB FRCP
MR NICHOLAS JAMES HUTTON
DR TOM MAOL MUIRE MEAGHER
MR PETER JOHN CARR
DR PAUL KENNEDY
MRS JANE HUMBER
Janet Cope – Stoke Mandeville
Janet Cope had worked at Stoke Mandeville Hospital since she was fifteen.
In Plain Sight: the Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile Dan Davies
Jimmy Savile and Janet Cope
Loyal PA says ‘victims are jumping on the band-wagon for money’
Janet Cope met Savile while doing charity work at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1971, where it is alleged predatory paedophile abused underage children
‘I just think they are jumping on the bandwagon. I think they know what money is’, says Mrs Cope, 70, who denies accusations against the former DJ
One patient claimed he was fondled in Savile’s Rolls-Royce at a Stoke Mandeville fundraiser when he was just nine
Savile was in the Southsea, Hants area for a charity event in aid of disabled sports people when he allegedly preyed on the child in 1972.
He was aged about nine at the time and his face has been blurred as he cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Solicitor Alan Collins specialises in child abuse cases for Pannone Solicitors, the legal firm representing the man.
Mr Collins said: ‘We want to know more about what this event in Southsea was. The alleged victim claims Savile abused him on Southsea common, in Hampshire
The victim remembers it being a charity event for disabled sports people.
‘We want to know specifically if Savile was the guest of honour and who was involved in arranging his visit.
Kidzone is a charity consisting of an orphanage, and a school sponsor program. It is managed by the Tulia Kidzone Centre at the Mary Happy School in Nairobi. This centre is a Kenyan government registered children’s institute and is situated next to the Mathare slum, one of the biggest city slums in Nairobi.
The program is supported in the UK by Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Poole, Dorset. They are also associated with the Hope for Children UK registered charity (reg No.1041258) and are friends with the previously supported Nyumbani AIDS orphanage.
Kenyan Paul Mukony, Mukonyi, who is studying tourism at university in Lyon, felt completely crowded and he said people in front and behind were threatening him. He ran toward the front of the airplane believing people were in hot pursuit of him.
“All he remembers is somebody hit him on the back and somebody put a finger in his eye. When he came to, he was so frightened,” said Dr. Dan Gikonyo, another consulting physician.
“To him, he was the one who was in danger.”
Since November, Mukonyi believed he was being followed and spied on in France, where he’s studied tourism since September 1999.
Mukonyi kept a diary of his fears, and on three occasions reported his concerns to French police. But cops said they couldn’t help because there was no proof he was being followed.
As his fears increased, he felt it was imperative he escape to Kenya, the doctors said.
The incident led directly to the locking of aircraft cockpit doors in UK Airlines in late 2001. Even if the awful events of September 11th had not occurred, UK Airlines would have a locked door policy, as a result of what happened on the BA2069 flight.
✦It is perhaps the most intriguing incident because in spite of the above, there was no CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) enquiry- merely a review of the flight, commenced months after the event, and which was not made public.
Captain William Hagan and First Officers Phil Watson and Richard Webb were awarded a Polaris Award in 2001. Furthermore Hagan was given the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (RADAR) People of the Year award.
and William Hagan’s wife Charmaine – who was a stewardess. In her career she has looked after passengers footballer George, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne
Bryan Ferry lifestyle includes shooting with the Earl of Arundel, attending Goodwood and, years back, hanging around with Princess Margaret on Mustique.
Links have been made between Charles Napier of the Paedophile Information Exchange and the Groucho Club; Jeremy Hunt Health Secretary and sugar daddy JHJ Lewis of Groucho Club; church premises nearby being used by men associated with the Groucho club to make child porn films ; and surveillance cameras being used in the club for improper purposes [2].
A report was issued by the Police absolving the Groucho Club and the Police from any wrongdoing. This report was the subject of an IPCC investigation which upheld that the report was inaccurate and that no action would be take against the officer concerned because he was ill and would be retiring soon. [8]
Further allegations about what British Airways knew about the alleged crimes of pilot Simon Wood surface in BBC report
20 March 2015
The law firm acting on behalf of alleged child abuse victims of a British Airways pilot, Simon Wood, has confirmed that they are looking into reports that the airline had been told twice about concerns about his behaviour in Kenya.
According to the BBC, Mike Johnson, another BA pilot who was on the British board of Nairobi-based charity, Nyumbani, informed two senior managers at BA in 2004 that Wood had been asked to leave the charity for taking inappropriate images of children.
In 2008 the mother of an 11-year-old girl, who claimed she had been raped at his hotel, sent an email to a member of BA staff involved in charity work in Kenya.
The email reads: “Parents are complaining…that Mr Simon is using their daughters to satisfy his sexual desires”. “…whenever Mr Simon is in Nairobi he takes them to the hotel where he stays”.
However BA appeared to take no action against Wood, allowing him to allegedly abuse children in several African countries.
First Officer Simon Wood, from Hertfordshire, committed suicide in 2013 after he was charged with indecent assault and making and possessing indecent photographs of a child.
It is alleged that Wood molested over 30 children during stopovers in Kenya and Uganda between 2001 and 2013 whilst flying for British Airways.
Nichola Marshall, head of the international abuse team at Leigh Day, who is acting for 35 alleged victims, claims that BA had a duty of care toward the children allegedly abused in the African countries he visited whilst flying for the airline.
She added that these latest allegations could strengthen the legal case against BA.
The alleged victims are currently aged between 6 and 24 years of age, and were allegedly abused in African schools and orphanages over a number of years by Wood.
The allegations range from molestation to rape. Wood was struck by a train near Potters Bar station on August 18 2013. An inquest into his death in July 2014 recorded a verdict of suicide at Hertfordshire Coroner’s Court in July 2014.
Nichola Marshall from the international claims team at Leigh Day said: “We allege that British Airways had a duty of care toward these children in the schools and orphanages, that Wood was involved in through the airline’s charitable work, and through his respected position as a British Airways pilot.
“We are looking into the allegations that BA were told on two occasions that one of their pilots could be a danger to children but continued to allow and even encourage him to volunteer in projects they supported, even giving him awards for his charity work.
“If correct, these reports strengthen our case against British Airways and we want them to tell us exactly what they knew and when they were aware of the activities of Mr Wood and what they did about it.”
Bharti Patel, CEO of ECPAT UK, a child rights charity campaigning for the rights of children everywhere to be protected from abuse by British nationals travelling or residing abroad, today said the apparent lack of action by BA looked like a serious breach.
She commented “If British Airways were informed of Simon Wood’s alleged abuse of children, they had a duty to act with due diligence and intervene to remove Simon Wood from his role and investigate the complaints of abuse against him.
“Any error of judgement in this due diligence process is a serious breach when it comes to protection of children. Child abuse is a serious crime and a violation of children’s rights. It can leave children traumatised for long periods.
“Access to remedy and appropriate compensation is essential to help children begin the process of recovery and rehabilitation.”
BA said it cannot comment while legal proceedings continue, but has released a statement. “We were shocked and horrified to hear the allegations against Simon Wood and our sympathies are with the victims. “These allegations have been raised in the context of litigation which will be robustly defended.”
He was arrested as he got off a flight at Heathrow Airport in November 2013.
A total of 25 charges against the 51-year-old, which also included making indecent images, dated back to 2001.
DVDs and Viagra
The Crown sought a retrial on 16 counts the jury at his first trial failed to reach verdicts on.
During the retrial, the court heard police had searched Frere’s home, near Bridport, the day before his arrest and seized DVDs of underage boys wrestling naked, as well as boy’s underwear and Viagra.
The jury also heard details of Frere’s stopovers in India while he was working for BA.
He befriended youngsters in one fishing village near Chennai, handing out gifts including mobile phones.
The court was also told Frere searched the internet on his phone to find out “where to pick up underage boys in Bangkok”.
‘Terrible crimes’
Frere, who no longer works for BA, told the court he liked to help boys purely to encourage them and see them develop.
After sentencing, Det Sgt Dave Wise, of Dorset Police’s child abuse investigations team, described Frere’s actions as “terrible crimes”.
“Frere targeted vulnerable children to exploit them for his own purpose and we hope that the lengthy sentence brings some closure to them and goes some way to repairing the harm he has caused to his victims and their families.”
He also thanked British Airways for its co-operation.
A spokesman for BA said the firm “took the allegations very seriously and co-operated with the police throughout their investigation”.
Wessex Crown Prosecution Service thanked those who gave evidence.
“Their courage and determination has contributed greatly to the successful prosecution of someone who poses a very significant risk to young boys.”
An official video made by Frere for a leading prep school in the South-East is accompanied by the BA theme tune – Sous le Dome Epais (Flower Duet).
Frere, who was educated at £10,830 a term Westminster School, whose alumni include Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, was arrested
Frere, whose unusual Christian name is a diminutive of Bartholomew, is from a family with an impressive pedigree and history which saw noticeable service in the empire in war and peace.
He is directly related to Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere (1815 – 1884) who was created a Baronet in 1876 after a long and distinguished career in the Indian Civil Service.
In 1872 he had negotiated the abolition of the slave trade with the Sultan of Zanzibar. In 1877 he was appointed to be the Governor of the Cape Province, South Africa to implement the policy of confederation.
However, his approach in refusing to speak to the native chiefs provoked a war with the Zulu tribes, the first battle of which in 1879 ended in a disastrous defeat for the British army.
Despite eventually winning the trust of the Boer element of the proposed confederation he was recalled to London in 1880 and censured for reckless conduct.
Another wealthy ancestor, George Frere (1774-1854), inherited Twyford House, a Queen Anne mansion in Thorley, near Bishop’s Stortford, in Herts, and was founder and president of the Law Society.
Frere’s sister Sarah Frere, 51, refused to comment at her home in Sheringham, Norfolk.
She said: ‘I am not saying anything. If anything has happened, it will cause immense distress and I am not saying any more.’
Three hundred terminally ill children experienced the trip of a lifetime last year, thanks to British Airways and the Rotary Club of London, England. Designated “Dreamflight,” the trip was highlighted by a visit to mega-amusement parks Disney World and SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A. While British Airways provided the air transportation, the London club paid the Florida hotel accommodations for all participants, including 70 medical personnel. For the children, it was perhaps a last dream, but one come true.
Bruce Bailey Travelling Fellowship
This Fellowship in Coimbatore, India was established in memory of Mr Bruce Bailey, Plastic Surgeon at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, in recognition of the training that Mr Bailey provided for many Indian plastic surgeons, including Dr S Raja Sabapathy at the Ganga Hospital in Coimbatore. The Ganga Hospital website is hereThe fellowship is for a period of two months, probably best taken at the end of the year in November and December. The Fellowship is designed for surgeons in the middle or late part of their training and is undertaken in a private hospital with orthopaedic, plastic surgical and hand teams, with a large volume of work related to trauma. The unit also does a lot of work on soft tissue cover for lower limb injuries.Included in the fellowship is a one-week laboratory microsurgery course at the hospital and a trip to the Indian Society for Surgery of the Hand meeting or to attend the annual meeting of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India. The salary for the duration of the fellowship is £750.00 to include food and accommodation…
Bruce Bailey Fellow – 2005
Dr Patrick Gillespie MA, BM BCh, FRCS (Plast)
Specialist Registrar
Plastic Surgery Dept of Plastic Surgery Addenbrookes Hospital
Cambridge, CB2 2QQ
United Kingdom
^^ that’s where convicted paedophile Dr Myles Bradbury abused children
Bradbury, who used a “spy pen” to secretly capture pictures of his partially-clothed victims, was arrested in December 2013. He admitted 25 offences dating between 2009 and 2013
Bruce Bailey Fellow – 2009
Mr Adam Blackburn,
Specialist Registrar in Plastic Surgery, Royal Victoria Hospital,
Newcastle Open Tyne,
United Kingdom
RVI -where Savile visited and where convicted paedophile Colin Gregg set up and ran Prince Andrew’s children charity – The Yellow Brick Road Fund later name The Children’s Foundation.
2008: Sir Jimmy Savile takes part in the Vision Uk 5k run with help of guide Mavis Price.
Mavis Price was a long-standing friend of Sir Jimmy’s over four decades and became involved with his charitable work when Sir Jimmy came to work as a voluntary porter at Leeds General Infirmary in the 70s.
Mavis Price from Leeds General Infirmary, the wife of the consultant cardiologist who first diagnosed Jimmy Savile’s heart problems, subsequently took over the day-to-day administration of his life.
was a consultant neurosurgeon at the General Infirmary at Leeds and also at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield.
He was a founder trustee of Headway (the National Head Injuries Association) and was a member of the management committee for almost 20 years. He established Second Chance, a local head injury support group affiliated to Headway, in Wakefield
He was dedicated to his work and as such his early marriages initially to Patience (‘Bunty’) in 1964 and Mavis in 1975 did not survive. He married Janis in 1989. He had two sons, Toby from his first marriage and Jolyon from his third
Campaign now under way for tribute to city’s favourite son
Savile’s death on the morning of October 29, 2011, was certified by Prof Alistair Hall, his cardiologist, who had been called to his flat by the concerned caretaker and family members.
Professor Alistair Hall, the award-winning Leeds cardiologist and Jimmy’s close friend, was one of the last to see Jimmy alive. He had called at his flat on the Friday night before he died and unsuccessfully tried to persuade him to go into hospital. Jimmy had said that he wanted to die at home in his own bed. He seemed to know the end was nigh.
Bellamy, Alison (2012-07-01). Hows About That Then? – The authorised biography of Sir Jimmy Savile Great Northern Books.
Professor Alistair Hall, senior consultant cardiologist at Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s Hospital, said: “I am 100 per cent in agreement that the wonderful Sir Jimmy should be made Freeman of the City. “Despite his fame he still volunteers at the hospital and the list of good work and fundraising he has done is too long to list. “He has supported a lot of cardiology research and helped with The Family Heart Study and toured on the big red bus across the UK. He has helped us to fundraise to buy a special scanner and only recently donated a large amount of money to fund scholarships for junior doctors.” The senior cardiologist, who carried out Sir Jimmy’s quadruple heart bypass operation a decade ago, said the broadcaster and sportsman was an amazing person who fully deserved to be honoured publically. Charities Sir Jimmy has raised more than 40m during his lifetime for various charities, including the Leeds Hospitals. He has run 217 marathons and countless fun runs. Catholic Church bosses in Leeds also backed calls for Sir Jimmy to be honoured. A spokesman for the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds, said: “Over the years Sir Jimmy has done lots of good work for the church. As long as the 1960s while busy being famous, he used to help with collections at the former Sacred Heart church. Mavis Price, Sir Jimmy’s friend and one of his helpers, said: “It is high time Jimmy was made a Freeman. I have written to the council before about it. He does so much.”
Jimmy Savile with friends, Mavis Price and (Professor Mohan Sivananthan?) at Barden Tower
Running over three pages of A4, the last will and testament of Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile lists 18 individuals he wanted remembered.
They include lifelong friends such as 85-year-old Joseph Barker, whom he met at St Anne’s primary school in Leeds, and Professor Mohan Sivananthan, a hospital cardiologist, whom he met through his charitable works.
Professor Mohan Sivananthan, Leeds Teaching Hospitals consultant cardiologist who will lead the work to set up the new institute and was a friend of Sir Jimmy’s, said: ‘I feel very privileged to have got to know Sir Jimmy over the years and valued his friendship and support extremely highly.
‘I was absolutely delighted to hear that Sir Jimmy decided to remember us in his will
Jimmy Savile’s close links with police are coming to light
During the interview, Savile, by then aged 82, stressed his social connections with senior officers in his hometown of Leeds, and indicated that he could call in “favours” from them.
There is some evidence that these were not the mere ramblings of an ageing celebrity. The 44-page report – by Surrey Police into its own failed investigation into sexual abuse at a children’s home in Staines – details how an unnamed inspector in West Yorkshire Police had telephoned Surrey on Savile’s behalf to arrange the interview.
It was a brazen breach of police protocol. Here was a suspected sex offender getting a senior officer to broker a meeting with detectives. It enabled Savile to dictate the terms of his interrogation. The meeting took place not at a police station, but in the altogether cosier surroundings of his home-from-home at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, where he also abused patients.
Mavis, who is a retired manager of the post-graduate centre at LGI, also acted as his ‘chauffeur’, driving the Jim’ll Fix It star around in his white Bentley Continental convertible, and his £150,000 Rolls Royce Corniche.
She also managed the Sir Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust and helped with his administration and countless requests for public appearances and donations.
Mavis, of Leeds, said: “Jimmy was a big and important part of my life. I will always treasure many happy memories of fun times we had while I was in his company.”
Jake Timothy, consultant neurosurgeon, , said: “My first meeting with Jimmy Savile was in 1975, I used to ride my bicycle up Princess Avenue near his home and Jimmy was often riding his cycle too. At that time it was Top of the Pops and ‘Clunk-click every trip’ but he was always polite despite his celebrity status. “I didn’t really get to meet him until after my training in London and returning back to Leeds, when Mavis Price introduced me to him again as we were planning to have some surgeons come to LGI to learn about spinal surgery.
“He helped us with OPTIN (Overseas Partnering Training Initiative) currently run by Professor Anne Chamberlain, he was extremely active with LURE (Leeds Undergraduate Research Enterprise) run by Prof Shervanthi Homer-Vanniasinkam, where he donated a significant amount of money to have medical students mentored by consultant clinicians.
“Jim was very fond of Crayke, our little village near Easingwold. Jim lived at Crayke Castle for a while in his youth whilst working as a ‘Bevin Boy’ in the surrounding area
“He used to arrive in one of his Rolls Royce’s, with his friend Mavis Price acting as driver, and would spend several hours looking round the show, handing out trophies to the various winners.
Mr. Bruce Bailey, Retired Senior Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, United Kingdom passed away in April 2001. He was responsible for training many Plastic Surgeons from India including Dr S Raja Sabapathy. He opened the windows of opportunities for many young surgeons from our country. In the memory of this great man “Bruce Bailey Traveling Fellowship” was set up by Ganga Hospital. Bruce visited India many times and loved it. It is felt that setting up a Fellowship to enable a British Trainee visit our unit for a period of 6 to 8 weeks is a good way to keep the memory of the great man alive. It surely will build bridges between the two countries to mutual advantage. The Fellowship is recognized and announced in the newsletters of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons and the British Society for Surgery of the Hand for the information of the interested candidates.
In Arduis Fidelis: Centenary History of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 1898-1998
John S. G. Blair
From Inside the Book
Quote:
The nothingness of El Balla and the Hospital at Ismaelia (1sh) came next – “The O.C. Surgical Div. never left his office, but he was well served by his juniors… one of them was Bruce Bailey, later the plastic surgeon whose team undertook the re-sewing of the severed arm, and whom Lord Tebbit praised for his help after the Brighton Conference bomb.
The Canberra Times – Sunday 12 January 1986
Tebbitt surgery
Quote:
LONDON, Saturday (PA). — Tory Party chairman Norman Tebbit is in the plastic surgery unit at Stoke Mandeville hospital for a “patching-up” job on scars he bears from the IRA bombing of the hotel housing delegates to the 1984 Conservative Party conference in Brighton.
TAKING to the water will be plain sailing for disabled youngsters after they received one of Yorkshire’s first specially-adapted dinghies. Sir Jimmy Savile OBE was among the guests of honour at the launch of Holly May, which is the latest addition to the fleet at Otley Sailing Club. The dinghy, paid for with two charity grants, will give wheelchair-bound visitors the freedom to sail alone for the very first time. Disabled sailor Emma Guite, 23, enjoyed the first sail in the state-of-the-art dinghy after choosing the name Holly May in a competition. Watching the historic launch, Sir Jimmy said: “Otley Sailing Club is one of those organisations, not only in Britain but in the world, that’s fantastic.
The dinghy, given to the club’s Sailfree project, was bought with grants from LHF Healthplan and 96.3 Radio Aire and Magic 828’s charity Cash for Kids, which benefits from the YEP’s Toy Appeal.
Savile had a very close association with Leeds for all of his life and was associated with the following places in West Yorkshire, at one time or another:
His Flat at Roundhay Park.
The Leeds General Infirmary where he worked as a voluntary porter from 1966 onwards and abused the patients. He met his close friend Alan Franey who was a member of the management team there and Mr Franey subsequently became a member of the management team at Broadmoor, on Savile’s recommendation.
St James Teaching Hospital, where he abused patients
Wheatfield Hospice, where he abused patients
Dewsbury Hospital, where he abused patients
High Royds Psychiatric Hospital, where he abused patients
The Otley Sailing Club, Scout Group and Cycling Club, as well as other locations there. He was very closely associated with Otley since running dances there in 1943 and regularly switched on the Christmas lights there as an official guest.
He was a man who thought about abusing children every “waking minute of the day” and so it must be a concern that he may have committed offences at some or all of the above locations. Given the understandable reluctance of some of his victims to come forward, many of his victims and the locations of his crimes will probably remain unknown.
However, one set of offences is very well documented and that is the 1966 Otley Council Ball, where Saville alleged the Chairman of the Council procured six girls to sleep with Savile and a millionaire friend of his.
Savile went on to claim that a Council neighbouring Otley entered into a similar agreement to procure six girls to sleep with Savile in 1967, but which had to be called off because of the Foot and Mouth outbreak.
From the above description, it appears that the girls concerned were under age and probably vulnerable to being enticed by Savile’s media status, popularity and guile. In this context, Savile was witnessed taking a young girl he obtained from a local carnival to his room by a member of the staff at Broadmoor, and his charity work gave him constant access to these events. So it seems to be a credible allegation supported by witnesses and not denied at the time. Leeds City Council (the successor to Otley Urban Distric Council) commented to Real Whitby:
“We’re as shocked and horrified as the rest of the country by the allegations against Jimmy Savile. Previous tributes by the people of Leeds and the city were undertaken in good faith based on what we knew of him at that time. Given the seriousness of the allegations we have removed his name from the civic honours wall of the Civic Hall. Our thoughts are with all those who suffered any form of abuse and continue to suffer distress as a result of his actions.”
The identity of the mystery Chairman of the Council that entered into this despicable arrangement and ferried underage girls around in an official car to spend the night with Britain’s most prolific paedophile has not yet been revealed. However, concerning the millionaire accomplice, Savile had a very small circle of close friends and so far as we are aware, only two of them – Scarborough businessmen Mr Jimmy Corrigan and Mr Peter Jaconelli – are described as millionaires.
Jaconelli made his money from ice-cream parlours in Scarborough, was elected first Councillor, then Mayor, and died in 1999.
Jimmy Corrigan was “the Leeds-born millionaire regarded as much a part of Scarborough as the donkeys and the rock, died just weeks after discovering he was suffering from cancer in 2000. The flamboyant showman and ‘slot machine king’ was a teetotal fitness fanatic and running partner of the resort’s other famous Jimmy, Sir Jimmy Savile.”
Given that Jaconelli’s preference was for boys, the inevitable conclusion is that he was not the millionaire in question.
It is clearly incredible that a Council Chairman could procure six young girls to stay the night with two grown men after a dance, ferry them around in an official car and arouse no suspicion.
A Police Officer, Inspector Mick Starkey, acted as Savile’s bodyguard and chauffeur, nine retired/serving Officers met with him every Friday for tea, cakes and (according to one member) whisky in his flat at Roundhay Park, Leeds, and a retired Police Officer was present as a ‘minder’ when he was interviewed by a journalist.
Another Police Officer, “Inspector 5”, arranged for Savile to be interviewed by Police at Stoke Mandeville Hospital instead of at a Police station, thereby making it easier for Savile to manipulate the interview.
According to Savile, “blackmail” letters were ripped up by these Officers during these meetings.
If this is so, then it is a very serious act of misconduct. Given the nature of Savile, it appears that these letters may have been making allegations that were in fact valid, in which case the Officers concerned had a duty to investigate the allegations instead of destroying evidence at the request of Savile. Alternatively, if they were false allegations made for the purpose of blackmail, they had a duty to preserve them as evidence and arrest the originators of them.
Apart from Starkey and Wetherby Police Sergeant Matthew Appleyard, we do not know who the other seven Officers were, or which Forces they were from, because both the Chief Constables of West Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Police are refusing to confirm this.
In stark contrast, the British Transport Police have very openly and helpfully confirmed that none of their Officers were involved.
FOR the past 10 years Dreamflight Bahrain has annually given two sick Bahraini children the holiday of a lifetime to the UK and US.
The two children chosen are usually from underprivileged backgrounds who would never have the opportunity to enjoy such an experience.
Hassan Ahmed, 13, and Ali Ebrahim, 10, are the latest two to benefit from the British charity Dreamflight’s unique trip.
Nomination
The holiday includes two days in London and 10 days in Florida where they visit Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, Sea World and other attractions.
Bahraini children are nominated for the trip by doctors at the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) and then a panel of medical experts in the UK narrows them down to two.
The two children chosen from Bahrain join 190 other seriously ill children, aged between eight and 14, from the UK, Chernobyl, Ukraine, and Hong Kong.
“I am so excited to visit these two cities as I have never been there before,” Ali told the GDN prior to travelling.
“I want to try all the rides in Disneyland.”
His partner on the trip Hassan cheerfully revealed he planned to visit every part of Disneyland and watch the many parades there.
“I feel so excited and lucky to be chosen for this trip,” he said.
The Bahraini children are accompanied throughout the trip by an escort and once in the US the 192 children are split into 12 groups of 16 children.
The groups are named after a children’s character and the Bahraini children are usually in the Donald Duck group.
Each group is accompanied by eight escorts, as well as a group leader, paediatric doctor, a senior nurse, two nurses, a physiotherapist and two non-medical helpers.
There are also extra escorts on hand to help. The aim is to have one escort for every child.
To prepare them for the trip the children are given free English lessons from Berlitz Language Centre and taken for shopping to buy new clothes and other items.
Speedy Motors provides free transport to them during preparations for the trip and to the airport and Batelco gives the children mobile phones so they can keep in touch with their families while they are away.
Awesome
The first two children to participate in Dreamflight in 2001 were Fatima Mohammed Hassan and Zainab Rasool Al Awani, who were 13-year-old back then.
“I loved the whole thing, it was awesome,” said Fatima, years after returning from the trip.
“I had a wonderful time in Florida and London.
“I loved the Magic Kingdom the most, the rides were awesome.
“I am back in school and I am telling all my friends about my holiday and they’re very happy for me.”
Fatima proudly announced at the time that she had made a total of 60 friends during her trip.
“Ask me all their names, I know them all by heart,” she said.
“I am writing to them all and I can’t wait to hear from them.”
Dreamflight is a UK-registered charity that was started in 1987 by its two founders, Derek Pereira and Pat Pearce, who were both with British Airways.
Mr Pereira had first become involved with the disabled when he volunteered to help at the Stoke Mandeville handicapped games in England in 1983.
It was three years later that the former British Airways flight engineer came up with the idea of the “Dreamflight”, but at the time he thought it could never be more than a fantasy.
He had just helped organise a one-hour flight to give children the chance to experience a plane trip and thought that he could do something much more exciting.
At a party for the participants he announced that he wanted to take a plane of children to Florida the following year.
The following morning he received offers of support, which led to the start of a mission that gives hundreds of children the chance to fly to Florida, US, and visit Disneyworld, Seaworld, and other places every year.
Determined to make Dreamflight a reality, Mr Pereira approached the then airline chief medical officer who agreed to pass the information on to the BA chairman Sir Colin Marshall, who turned down the idea.
Mr Pereira promised to do the flight with no cost to the airline by raising money.
Sir Colin gave him the go-ahead but there were still major obstacles to overcome, such as finding money for the flight’s tariff of $100,000 (BD37,800).
However, a British Post Office party brought in $2,000 (BD756), followed by a donation of $10,000 (BD3,780) from an investment company and that was the start.
Children chosen for the trip were sick, but they had to be fit enough to travel.
Although Dreamflight was supposed to be a one-off event there was so much support for it that it continued on an annual basis and was registered as a charity, with Mr Pereira as a trustee.
The charity is normally only open to sick children from the UK, but Dreamflight was brought to Bahrain 10 years ago by Mr Pereira and his Bahrain-based sister Yvonne Trueman.
It was initially meant to be a one-time arrangement, but with the support of British Airways, the British Embassy and the local community, Bahrain has been able to secure two places a year since then.
“When my brother Derek came to Bahrain in 2000 we discussed how to bring this wonderful opportunity to sick children in Bahrain,” Ms Trueman told the GDN.
“We talked with Jane Bishop who was then country manager at British Airways.
“She and her fellow colleagues formed a team and launched Dreamflight Bahrain.
“The first Bahraini children chosen for Dreamflight were Zainab Rasool and Fatima Mohammed Hasan, who were both aged 13 at the time.
“Since then Bahrain has been fortunate enough to have secured two places each year to join up with the other children in London.
“Bahrain, Hong Kong and Ukraine are only the other countries to have this opportunity.”
Ms Trueman said Dreamflight was a trip of a lifetime for sick children who would not otherwise have the chance of such an experience.
“It’s an opportunity given to a special child, one who has a terminal illness or a condition that could shorten their life,” she said.
“For example children with sickle cell may have a certain life span and this is an opportunity of a lifetime that these children will remember forever.
“A sick child doesn’t know what tomorrow will bring, so this really is a holiday of a lifetime in their lifetime.”
Former GDN reporter Eunice Del Rosario, who was a Dreamflight escort for Bahraini girls Mariam Hassan and Ruqaya Mohammed in 2006, said she felt honoured to accompany the children on the trip that gave them a once in a lifetime opportunity.
She said the Bahraini children who have gone on to enjoy their dream holidays have not only represented Bahrain well, but also the rest of the Arab world.
“They all served as wonderful ambassadors, especially when Dreamflight first accepted Bahraini children into its programme in 2001 – a time when the world was at a very tumultuous time,” she said.
“When I met the first two Bahraini girls who went on the holiday in 2001, the first word they uttered upon their return was ‘awesome’.
“After working with Dreamflight for seven years, I know more than ever that we can all learn a lot from children.
“To them, there is no such thing as the colour of your skin, the language you speak, your medical condition or your handicap. They all are passionate about life.
“I am sure Dreamflight Bahrain will continue its great success and I look forward to volunteering some more here in the US in the near future.
“I am happy that I was part of something that touched the lives of many.”
Dreamflight in Bahrain is co-ordinated by Debbie Beedie and finance co-ordinator Maha Al Abbas.
Ms Al Abbas has been involved since the very beginning and co-ordinates with Salmaniya Medical Complex officials, the parents and children.
She said working with Dreamflight had made her feel very fortunate to have two healthy children, her daughters Layal, 14, and Razan, 11 and had made her really appreciate all that she has.
Confidence
It was also a delight to be able to give happiness to families and put a smile on a sick child’s face, she added.
“All of the families have really been appreciative of Dreamflight and felt that we gave their children a chance they wouldn’t normally have,” said Ms Al Abbas.
“This is because most of them would never have the chance to go on an airplane or visit Europe and the US.
“The furthest most of them would be able to travel is Saudi or Iran and then that would be by bus.”
She said the trip had a very positive impact on the children that participate and they come back more confident and outgoing and it gives them a happy memory to recall when life gets tough for them.
“They come back speaking better English because they are surrounded by English speaking kids,” said Ms Al Abbas.
“The children that are chosen to go on Dreamflight come from very poor backgrounds and just being on the flight is something for them.
“On the trip they have seen children that are sicker than them so they come back making the best out of life and become more helpful to others.”
Lord King, the rumbustious Conservative peer and business executive who masterminded the privatisation of British Airways in the 1980
He was knighted in 1979, and appointed Chairman of the National Enterprise Board in 1980 and, famously, taking over as head of British Airways.
Dubbed Margaret Thatcher’s favourite businessman
After a successful career as a self-made millionaire in manufacturing, including a period as chairman of Babcock International from 1972, he became chairman of BA in 1981
He brought in Sir Colin (Lord) Marshall as chief executive in 1983, and they brought the airline to market in February 1987
A keen huntsman from an early age, King held the rank of MFH (Master of Foxhounds) with the Belvoir and Badsworth hunts and was also Chairman of the Lord King XI cricket team.
Sir Jimmy put Mr Gaskell in contact with Lord King, the Chairman of British Airways, and Derek secured the services of the supersonic plane for £50,000.
Lord King, Chairman of British Airways, and Lord Forte, executive chairman of Trust House Forte, are be to invited to respond to an allegation that they sought to influence Mr Alan Bristow in share dealings involving the future ofthe Westland helicopter company.
More than 1,000 registered and licensed doctors have criminal convictions… including possession of indecent images of children, sexual assault and threats to kill
Disgraced medics have been allowed to keep their jobs despite criminal offences
Figures reveal there are 1,067 registered doctors with criminal convictions
This includes Dr Steven Burn, 53, a consultant cardiologist, who was able to keep his job despite being found with 65 child abuse images on his work computer
Campaigners reacted furiously and said patients should not be kept in the dark
Dr Steven Burn, 53, a consultant cardiologist, was able to keep his job despite being found with 65 child abuse images on his work computer
Steven Burn, 53, a consultant cardiologist, was able to keep his job despite being found with 65 child abuse images on his work computer.
Dr Burn, a heart doctor, was arrested after IT staff at the Royal Derby Hospital found indecent images on his work PC while checking to see if it had been infected by a computer virus.
He was convicted by a court of possessing indecent images.
Some of these pictures featured children alleged to be as young as seven, while Burn had also downloaded Japanese ‘Hentai’ animated pornographic images and made Google searches under the headings ‘bestiality’, ‘little Asian girls’, little Japanese girls’ and ‘beautiful little boys’.
But he managed to avoid being struck off after a disciplinary panel at the MPTS ruled Burn should be allowed to return to medicine following a 12-month suspension.
The panel opted to give him the chance to resume his 28-year-old career after he insisted he would ‘rather die than reoffend’.
Figures obtained by MailOnline reveal three doctors have convictions for possessing or taking indecent photographs of children, while three licensed doctors have committed sexual assault.
In another high-profile case, Dr Rupert Pemsel, 32, a trainee anaesthetist, kept his job despite paying a call girl for sex while on duty at a maternity hospital.
The disgraced married father-of-two was branded ‘sordid’ and ‘abhorrent’ after he admitted meeting prostitute Leanne Davies, 29, while still in his hospital gown or ‘scrubs’.
But at a tribunal in Manchester last March, he escaped with just a ten-month suspension rather than being struck off the medical register. Pemsel’s barrister proposed no action should be taken against his client because he was an ‘excellent doctor’.
The medic, whose wife is a GP, had blamed his behaviour on an addiction to internet pornography and stress from helping sick children in Uganda.
‘To my mind, someone [like Dr Steven Burn], should never be reinstated. I don’t think any person would want a doctor with that kind of history, even for themselves, let alone their children. It’s appalling. That should be that.
Within medicine, there needs to be more independent bodies with no conflict of interest involved in decisions. They should include members of the public as well as a mix of professions who could come to much better decisions in terms of punishments given.’
Roger Goss of Patient Concern told MailOnline: ‘The government should legally oblige the General Medical Council (GMC) to tell patients if a doctor still practising has been found guilty of any crime that could make some people wish to avoid all contact.’
Burn, who lives with his long term girlfriend, told the panel that he started trawling porn websites to ‘block things out’ after he struggled to obtain funding for the cardiology unit at the hospital.
Respected heart surgeon Dr Ahmed Sayed sacked from Southampton General Hospital after viewing and distributing child abuse images
9 Feb 2018
A RESPECTED heart surgeon who saved the lives of people in Southampton was found with thousands of extreme pornographic images, including hundreds of children.
It comes after police found numerous videos depicting child abuse, including one which involved a baby boy aged between six and nine-months-old.
Sayed, 40, developed a “morbid curiosity” for the explicit material. a court was told.
Southampton Crown Court also heard that he was responsible for the distribution of the images, with hundreds downloading material he put on a website.
In total, when officers searched his home, he was caught with 5,177 extreme photographs as well as 84 moving images in category A, as well as hundreds more in lower categories.
Victoria Hill, prosecuting, said that when Sayed was challenged by officers about the images he originally said that he had only downloaded the images the day before.
However, when his devices were searched it was found his offending started on May 26, 2016 and continued until he was caught on April 20.
She said: “On March 20, police became aware of two IP address which were being used and tracked back to Sayed.
“He was using a website called eMule and on numerous occasions his videos were downloads.
“In one instance 15 moving images were downloaded 61 times.”
In some of the images, the children involved were in discernible pain, she added.
Sayed was dismissed from Southampton General Hospital following his arrest.
He has subsequently been suspended from the Medical Register and is not allowed to practise as a doctor in the UK.
The court heard that Sayed had moved to the UK five years-ago after training to be a heart surgeon in his native Egypt.
He graduated from Cairo University in 2001 and was a registered doctor in the UK by 2010.
Mitigating, Keely Harvey told the court that Sayed started working in Southampton to try and progress within his career as a surgeon but due to financial struggles he became interested in pornography.
She said: “It seems to be that when he has this stress he goes back to what he has done when he was a child and would download things from the internet.
“He developed a morbid curiosity with the pornography.”
At an earlier hearing, Sayed pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of children, extreme pornography and prohibited images of a child, as well as distribute indecent photographs.
Sayed, who’s address cannot be given out for legal reasons, was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years.
A sexual harm prevention order was signed and will be in place for the next 10 years.
Following the sentence, a spokesperson for University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust said: “Dr Sayed was suspended immediately when the trust was made aware of the allegations against him and subsequently dismissed at a hearing in June 2017 which he did not attend.”
It added that he was never unsupervised with children during his time with the organisation.
Shock waves spread as more cases are unearthed of children’s organs being removed without consent
The body parts scandal that has rocked Liverpool is set to erupt in other areas of the country, with the revelation that other hospitals have retained childrens’ organs without parental consent.Many of Britain’s biggest hospitals – including Leeds General Infirmary and Southampton General Hospital – have admitted removing organs for education or research without the knowledge of relatives. All claim they have changed their procedures and now obtain informed written consent.
However, some hospitals only changed their policy in recent months, after the widespread practice of organ removal emerged at the Bristol Royal Infirmary inquiry, causing concern and alerting the parents in Liverpool.
The Liverpool parents launched an action group at an emergency meeting on Friday night after it was revealed that the Alder Hey Hospital had retained organs – including hearts, lungs and brains – of 850 children without the knowledge of parents. Health Secretary Alan Milburn launched an immediate inquiry. The Chief Medical Officer, Liam Donaldson, is undertaking a separate inquiry.
Yesterday, however, a spokesman for Leeds NHS Trust admitted there were parents who did not realise that their children had had organs removed. Southampton General Hospital also admitted organs had been taken without parents’ knowledge. Denise Foster, duty manager at the hospital, said: ‘We have a small amount of hearts and a number of brains, as we are a research centre for CJD and Alzheimer’s Disease. Alder Hey’s practice, as I understand it, was to remove entire organ systems, whereas we did not do that.’
Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle and Hammersmith Hospital in London confirmed that organ removals did take place, but said it was now only done with the full knowledge and understanding of parents. A spokeswoman for Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Trust said: ‘The same consent form has been used for 13 years, which indicates that we will take tissue, part of or whole organ for treatment of other patients or medical education.’
Andrea Capstick, whose child had his organs removed at Alder Hey Hospital, said she was ‘overwhelmed’ to discover that other hospitals had kept children’s organs. She said: ‘I just didn’t know what to think. I heard that there could be as many as 11,000 organs kept all over the country. I didn’t think it was so big.’
Donna Covey, director of the Association of Community Health Councils, the official watchdog, said: ‘If parents are worried, they should ask their hospitals in writing, and keep a clear record of it, and the replies.’
Evidence given to the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry revealed that it was common practice for hospitals to retain ‘libraries’ of organs preserved in bottles.
As the law stands, it is entirely legal for hospitals to remove organs from bodies – adult or child – for diagnosis, research or education without the explicit knowledge of relatives. Of the 130,000 post mortems carried out each year, 90 per cent are ordered by coroners, and are strictly controlled by the 1984 Coroner’s Rules. They stipulate that organs can only be removed for diagnosis and must be replaced before burial.
The inquiry announced by Milburn on Friday will establish whether the pathologist at the centre of the Alder Hey controversy, Professor Dick van Velzen, broke these rules. However, 10 per cent of post mortems are carried out directly by hospitals, with no coroner, and these are far more loosely regulated.
Hospitals only need to ensure that relatives ‘do not object’ to a post mortem, which can include the removal of ’tissue’ for diagnosis, research or education. But doctors are not required to get written consent, only verbal, and most parents are unlikely to know that the word ’tissue’ legally means entire organs and organ systems.
Donaldson admitted on BBC Radio yesterday that many parents had not understood the ‘full implications’ when giving concent to a post mortem.
Joan Wheeler, chairman of PITY2, the Liverpool parents’ action group which was set up on Friday, said: ‘There is no law. We want it clarified, to have it a criminal offence for anybody to take organs without the express, informed consent of the parent or next of kin.’
Paedophile doctor, Dr Jonathan Walsh, jailed over vile child abuse videos
March 20, 2017
A senior children’s doctor has been jailed for distributing horrific films of the worst kind of child abuse to fellow paedophiles.
Paediatric consultant Dr Jonathan Walsh, 47, claimed he looked at the vile material because he was BORED with his job, a court heard.
Married Dr Walsh was a respected consultant paediatrician in the children’s and adolescent services department of the Northern Devon Healthcare Trust.
But his veil of respectability was shattered after being arrested in September 2015 when his sick secret was exposed.
After a raid on his home, police discovered that he had been viewing and downloading many hours of footage of the most serious kind.
And he told his solicitor he carried out the offending as he was “tired” of working at the hospital and wanted to leave medicine.
He was suspended and then sacked after admitting 17 charges including nine counts of distributing indecent images of children and six counts of making them.
None of his crimes related to patients at the North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple – but Exeter Crown Court heard the vast majority related to ‘Category A’ images which were the most serious and some videos were several hours long.
Walsh, formerly of Barnstaple but now living in Lytham St Annes, Lancs, was jailed today for a total of three years and told his career and reputation were in tatters.
Judge Geoffrey Mercer told him: “Over a period of at least some months, the precise period is unclear, you were involved in downloading and distributing extreme movies and images portraying sexual abuse of children and you went to considerable lengths to try and conceal what it was you were doing,
“You are 47 years old and a man of good character and I have read a number of references provided by people on your behalf who speak very highly of you.
“You have practicised as a paediatrician for a number of years. To state that your sexual interest in children, which outlines these offences, causes real concern in relation to someone in your position is a massive understatement.
“But it needs to be clearly understood that there was no offending in the context of your work and these offences were non contact offences.”
“Your career is now, of course, at an end. To quote from you from one of your letters you have written to me ‘through my actions I have lost my job, my career and my reputation and caused great harm to the ones I love.”
Walsh was sentenced to three years for each of the distributing offences and 12 months for downloading offences. All sentences will run concurrently.
The court heard how he was arrested on 3 September 2015 when officers from the child exploitation unit carried a search out at his home address.
He was arrested and his computer and a memory stick were seized.
No indecent images were found but there was significant evidence that he had been accessing child abuse material as well as file wiping software.
Prosecuting, James Davies said: “A leading forensic expert was called and advised the router to be seized. He found clear evidence of him downloading indecent images of children and distributing them.
“The defendant went to considerable lengths to conceal his online activity. It was over a period of four months that can be identified but not any further than that.
“There were 27 movies that could be retrieved, 26 were catergory A and one category B. 24 had been distributed with a total of 18 hours playing time.”
Defending, Lee Gledhall said his client was full of “severe regret” for what he had done.
He added: “He is a man of previous good character who practised medicine for some considerable years and had a positive impact on the community he lived in.
“This was his time off. It was during these periods he committed these offences.
“He is aware that these are real children in the videos and harm he indirectly caused by the re-distribution of these images.
“He explains he was tired of his job and wanted to get out of medicine after many years of training and working.
“He was a consultant paediatrician. He was instantly sacked at the point of charge and suspended by the GMC.
“It has had a significant impact on his financial situation. He has had to sell the family home and they have moved a considerable distance over the publicity and fall-out.
“He and his wife are still together but he had to explain this to his own children.”
The fall-out of Walsh’s crimes hit the community so hard that a special hotline was set up by the NHS for anyone worried they might have been affected.
Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Andrea Kingdon said: “We are pleased with today’s sentencing and would like to thank the investigating team and partners for working with such tenacity to bring the offender to justice.
“Walsh was a practising and respected paediatrician in North Devon when he was committing these crimes; he let himself and his profession down by his activities which he went to great lengths to hide.
“The nature of the offending on the images and videos distributed by Dr Walsh are at the most serious end of the scale, and in some of these included movies some hours in length; this is an incredibly upsetting and challenging task for my team to work through.”
George Thomson, medical director for Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “This case has deeply shaken everybody at NDHT and we know it has been a shock to the community.
“We have worked closely with the police throughout this case and we know that none of these crimes relate to contact offences, and none of the images relate to patients at North Devon District Hospital.
“At the launch of the police investigation in September 2015 we took immediate action to exclude Dr Walsh from working at the Trust and informed the General Medical Council. Dr Walsh was dismissed with immediate effect when he was charged in June.”
Dr Jonathan Walsh / safeguarding role at hospital – part of paedophile ring
A consultant paediatrician’s career is in tatters after he admitted sharing vile child rape movies with fellow paedophiles all around the world.
Dr Jonathan Walsh was treating young children at North Devon District Hospital by day but then going home and looking at movies which showed the most extreme abuse.
He was also sharing the material with fellow paedophiles using peer to peer software which enabled complete strangers to look at the movies.
Walsh was a senior consultant paediatrician at the hospital in Barnstaple until he was dismissed after being charged by police in September 2015. His duties including responsibility for the safeguarding of children.
He will now face a disciplinary hearing at the General Medical Council where he is likely to be struck off.
He spent 17 months denying his involvement but changed his pleas when he appeared at Exeter Crown Court. Sentencing guidelines for distribution of images suggest he is facing a jail term.
Walsh, 47, formerly of Wordsworth Avenue, Barnstaple, but now living at Lytham St Annes, Cheshire, admitted ten counts of distributing and seven of making indecent images or movies of children.
He submitted a basis of plea which stated he had not intended to distribute the movies and was not aware they were available to other users of the file sharing site.
The prosecution rejected his basis of plea and Judge Brian Forster, QC ordered a special fact finding hearing at which a judge sitting without a jury will decide the issue.
The judge ordered him to sign on the sex offenders’ register. He also ordered a probation pre-sentence report.
The fact finding hearing will be heard by Judge Geoffrey Mercer, QC, at Exeter Crown Court next month, on the day originally set down for trial.
Walsh was arrested after intelligence led police to trace his IP address. No movies were found on his computer but an investigation uncovered evidence of around 300 items which had been deleted.
The high tech crime unit called in a professor who specialised in data recovery who helped them identify 35 files through what are known as hash values.
Officers were able to match the hash values with child abuse movies circulating on the internet. They found that all but one of the 35 came into category A, meaning they showed the most serious types of abuse.
The movies were of boys and girls aged from under two to eight and some showed the victims being forced to take part in penetrative sex with adults.
Many of the movies were distributed on the peer-to-peer file sharing website e-mule between January 1, 2014, and August 27, 2015.
Although the charges refer to Walsh making photographs, this is a technical legal term which means downloading rather than creating images.
Mr Jim Davis, prosecuting, said Walsh’s basis of plea is not accepted.
He said: “We propose to call the officer from the high tech crime unit and the officer in the case.
“There has been a meeting of the experts in this case which has led to a joint document being produced. There does not appear to be any divergence about the expert evidence.”
Mr David Welsh, defending, said Walsh intends to give evidence at the fact finding hearing next month. He said: “There is a counter argument to be made.”
Judge Forster said: “Speaking in neutral terms, the defendant needs to consider carefully his position. There is a benefit in maintaining a guilty plea.
“There is expert evidence available which the prosecution may say shows he had good computer knowledge.”
He told Walsh: “I am adjourning this hearing. There is a date for the trial when the basis of plea will be determined and the Judge will listen to the evidence brought by the prosecution and the evidence which you will give.
“You have now pleaded guilty and are required to register with the police as a sex offender. I am unable to give any indication of what the sentence will be as I will not be the Judge on the next occasion.”
A North Devon children’s doctor has today pleaded guilty to a number of child porn offences.
Paediatrician Dr Jonathan Walsh, 47, of Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, and formerly of Wordsworth Avenue, Barnstaple will be sentenced following a hearing which is due to be held on March 20.
In October last year the Journal reported that Walsh had denied the charges put to him.
However, this morning Walsh pleaded guilty to 17 charges which included 9 counts of distributing indecent images of children and 6 counts of making indecent images of children. The vast majority of the charges related to ‘Category A’ images which are the most serious in their nature.
Police have worked closely with the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust throughout this case and can confirm that none of these crimes relate to contact offences, and none of these images relate to patients at the North Devon District Hospital.
Detective Inspector Andrea Kingdon from the Force Child Exploitation Unit, said: “Jonathan Walsh was working in a position of responsibility where he had a duty to protect children and young people, yet he choose to commit crimes with the possession and sharing of indecent images of children which leads to the abuse of some of the most vulnerable in our society.
“Walsh was a practicing and respected paediatrician in North Devon when he was committing these crimes; he let himself and his profession down by his activities which he went to great lengths to hide.
“The victims of these types of offences often do not have a voice as their images are shared by paedophilic networks many times over, in a manner which constantly re-victimises them.
“We are determined to eradicate these types of despicable crimes and to stop paedophile offenders from being gratified by such activity, and in doing so protect the vulnerable.
“It is a testament to the commitment and ingenuity of those investigating this case that his level of offending was uncovered which led to his successful prosecution today.
“I wish to thank those staff an officers in the Public Protection Unit who have the unenviable job of viewing and processing this evidence to allow us to bring Dr Walsh to court to face justice.
“The nature of the offending on the images and videos viewed and distributed by Dr Walsh are at the most serious end of the scale, and some of these included movies some hours in length; this is an incredibly upsetting and challenging task for my team to work through.
“This case has demonstrated how effectively all agencies and professionals can work together to identify those perpetrating these types of crimes no matter what their standing in the community.
“Whilst these may not have been contact offences, the viewing and sharing of these types of images directly leads to the abuse of the most vulnerable in our society – Dr Walsh is as responsible as those who film and take part in this horrific abuse of children.
“I hope that this case sends out a strong message to those using the internet for deviant purposes that we have the capability to use advanced technology and expert help to uncover the truth and bring offenders to justice.”
George Thomson, medical director for the Northern Devon Healthcare Trust, said: “This case has deeply shaken everybody at NDHT and we know it has been a shock to the community.
“We have worked closely with the police throughout this case and we know that none of these crimes relate to contact offences, and none of the images relate to patients at North Devon District Hospital.
“At the launch of the police investigation in September 2015 we took immediate action to exclude Dr Walsh from working at the Trust and informed the General Medical Council. Dr Walsh was dismissed with immediate effect when he was charged in June.
“Anybody with any concerns can call 0300 123 1744 to find out how to access support.”
An NSPCC spokesperson for South West England said: “The children in these pictures and videos, some of which fell into the most serious category of offending, are the victims of child abuse and the horrific experiences they endured for the images to be created should not be underestimated.
“Although it has been acknowledged that none of the images related to patients at this hospital, Walsh was working in a position of significant responsibility when he chose to commit these crimes, with no regard for the effects on vulnerable young children.
“Every image is a crime scene and every child will need support to recover. Working with internet providers, it’s vital that more is done to stop this vile trade in indecent images and to cut this material off at the source.
Doctor’s Memorial Fund set to Help Children in North Devon
2008
Dr Jonathan Walsh and Dr Alan Bosley, consultant paediatricians at North Devon District Hospital,helped set up the memorial fund and organise today’s event.
Doctor Tim Chambers, a paediatrician at the Children’s Hospital, will get the royal seal of approval on Tuesday to become the city’s next High Sheriff.
Savile was invited to Parkhurst as a guest of the governor, John Sandy, in February 1982. Thirty prisoners joined him on a sponsored jog inside the perimeter fence in aid of the Stoke Mandeville fund.
… in the Sun in April 1983.
was a series of stories that ran firmly counter to the popular perception of the star as a do-gooding eccentric, popular figure of fun and lay saint.
‘Everyone knows he works long hours at Leeds Infirmary, Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Broadmoor Hospital for the Criminally Insane,’ ran the introduction to the series on day one.
A dark side never revealed before.’ The headline above the opening double-page instalment read ‘MY VIOLENT WORLD, BY JIM THE GODFATHER’.
And underneath: ‘How I fixed it the night lid on what the paper described as the ‘ruthless, calculating Jimmy Savile. A man who engineered his own rise to the top with cold precision. A man who is not scared of violence.’
It was a side to Savile that was totally at odds with the man that kids clamoured to be with, parents admired and the most powerful in society were happy to be associated with.
Soon after the revelations in the Sun, Prime Minister Thatcher went in to bat for Jimmy Savile for a third time. However, in a climate in which the threat of AIDS was causing widespread consternation, the claims about his promiscuous sex life, allied with the thuggish aspects of his dancehall career, meant it was again decided that it would be wise to consider him for a future list.
…hinted not only at his addiction to sex, but also the psychopathic level of detachment he felt towards those he inflicted himself on.
There were no such reservations within the royal family, though. In late July, the 120-bed National Spinal Injuries Centre welcomed its first new patient. A few days later, on 3 August, Jimmy Savile stood on the front steps with Prince Charles and Princess Diana alongside for the official opening.
His stock was similarly high with the Catholic Church; in December, Cardinal Basil Hume, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, proposed Jimmy Savile for membership at the prestigious Athenaeum Club.
In Plain Sight: the Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile Dan Davies
Another pedophile doctor:
GP, 65, who was jailed for 15 years after filming himself raping children he drugged and tied to his ‘Satan’s pillow’ admits four more sex assaults at his surgery
He has now been convicted of four more accounts, relating to his time as a GP in the 1980s
Robert Wells, 65, was jailed in 2004 for drugging and raping kids as young as 11
One told how he stripped her and strapped her to block he called ‘Satan’s pillow’
Further victims came forward and three were raped as parents waited outside
Jailed for another seven years after court heard of a ‘grotesque breach of trust’
Robert Wells, pictured in 1989, when he was a GP at Caerleon Surgery
Roberts was jailed at Winchester Crown Court for rapes committed while he worked for an agency providing on-call forensic medical examiners for Hampshire Police.
He had previously had sexual assault charges brought against him but they had not shown up on police checks because he had been cleared when the trial collapsed.
Wells was arrested after he drugged two sisters, aged five and 11, and their mother became suspicious and reported him to police.
The eldest girl had large amounts of benzodiazepine in her body and the younger girl tested positive for temazepam.
Police found both drugs present in his biscuit tin when they raided his home. They also found a timetable for drugging, filming and abusing the children.
Officers then spoke to other families he had befriended, which was when another 11-year-old girl reported yet more shocking abuse.
She told police that he strapped her to a polystyrene block he called Satan’s pillow as he removed her Harry Potter pajamas then sexually assaulted her.
Police found shocking pornography on his computers, along with the video camera and polystyrene block in his mobile phone.
Police, who were struggling to access certain information on his computer, said they feared there may be more victims and urged them to come forward.
The victims in the most recent case came forward after hearing of his 2004 conviction, and relate to his time as a GP in the 1980s, before the other assaults.
The court heard how the charges related to three girls who were Wells’ patients, one of whom was driven to the brink of suicide by the emotional impact of the assault.
In a statement read out in court, one victim said: ‘He has destroyed my life.’
During the case in 2004, the court heard how Wells filmed himself sexually assaulting one of the girls in his mobile home (pictured)
She said Wells had been regarded as an ‘upstanding pillar of the community’.
Wells was a registered medical practitioner at the time, but has since been struck off by the General Medical Council.
One of the girl’s mothers had made a complaint to Caerleon Surgery at the time, but it was ‘arrogantly dismissed’, and she was ‘told not to be so silly’, Mr Roberts told the court.
Police found the video camera that he used to film the sexual assault (pictured) inside
He added: ‘He left South Wales in the late 1980s and went on to commit a series of depraved offences.
Wells was jailed for seven years and an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order was imposed.
Detective Constable Chris Jayne, from Gwent Police, said: ‘I would like to take the opportunity to recognise the bravery of the victims and their families in this case.
‘Wells is a danger to children and the detrimental impact that he has brought to the lives of the victims from a young age through to adulthood has been incredibly significant.
A GWENT doctor was jailed for 15 years yesterday for drugging, raping and indecently assaulting young girls.
And a retired Newport doctor, who worked alongside pervert police surgeon Dr Robert Wells said he is “deeply shocked” at his former colleague’s actions.
Dr Russell Rhys, 79, worked alongside Wells at the Isca Medical Centre in High Street, Caerleon, in the 1980s.
He said: “The man I knew was regarded as a good doctor in the area. “I worked with him for a few years but two years after I retired he became bankrupt.
“Like everyone I was deeply shocked.” After his conviction at Winchester crown court a sordid picture emerged of Wells who befriended the parents of his victims before attacking them.
The court heard Wells, whose full address in Cwmbran has never been revealed, persuaded the parents to allow him to look after the children. Once he had them alone, he drugged the children using benzodiazepine and Temazepam – drugs which would have knocked the girls out and caused amnesia.
He then filmed the girls while he either raped or assaulted them. All the attacks took place early in 2003. Wells moved to the south coast after resigning from the Caerleon surgery in 1989 when he was made bankrupt. A high-profile bankruptcy hearing in Newport saw Wells, who at the time was living in Jerusalem Lane, Pontypool, earn the nickname of the “Romeo doctor”. It emerged the 52-year-old had run up more than £1.5 million in debts on a string of girlfriends, fast cars and holidays abroad.
Wells claimed that he had girlfriends queuing up for him and showered them with gifts, including £800 dresses and watches from Harrods.
After rebuilding his life on the south coast, Wells worked as a forensic medical examiner, or police surgeon, in Southampton and Winchester areas of Hampshire. He also had a private practice in Brighton.
At a flat in Southampton where most of the attacks occurred police found a contraption of covered polystyrene on a wooden board with red straps which one of his victims said was called Satan’s Pillow.
Police raids also found evidence of child pornography and of him accessing paedophile newsgroups.
During his four-week trial Wells, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, said he put himself in a position to be accused of the offences because he wanted a reason to be able to commit suicide.
He was convicted of two charges of rape of an 11-year-old girl and three charges of indecent assault against the same girl.
He was convicted of taking an indecent photograph of a child as well as administering drugs to a second 11-year-old and a girl aged five and indecently assaulting the 11-year-old.
He was cleared of one rape charge involving the first 11-year-old and also of a charge of indecent assault of the five-year-old.
After his conviction Judge Keith Cutler said Wells was a “dangerous sex offender” who breached the trust of his profession, sending a “shiver down the spine.”
The trial heard that Wells, formerly of Hangleton Road, Hove, and Priory Avenue, Southampton, worked as what is commonly known as a police surgeon in the Southampton and Winchester areas of Hampshire and also had a private practice in Brighton.
What the jury at Winchester were not told was that Wells had been charged with abusing girls before.
He was acquitted of attacking an eight-year-old and a girl of 15 in separate trials at Lewes Crown Court in 1995.
In a case which has parallels with that of Soham child killer Ian Huntley, a loophole in vetting procedures allowed Wells to work as a police surgeon despite the charges.
He sought work from a company called Primecare in October 2001. They sub-contracted the doctor to Hampshire Police to work as a Forensic Medical Examiner despite him being known to the neighbouring Sussex force.
This was because the guidelines in force from 1993 to 2002 only required police to check locally and not, as is the case now, the areas a person has lived in for the last five years.
The vetting procedures have been improved since the Criminal Records Bureau was set up in 2002, according to a the Home Office.
The jury was also not made aware of Well’s notorious past as a bankrupt described in the Press as a `Romeo Doc’, who had debts of #1.5 million accumulated through failed businesses and indulgent spending on women.
Both drugs would have knocked the girls out and caused them to suffer amnesia.
Mr Parish said the levels in the older girl could have been potentially fatal and Wells had got it wrong and overdosed the girl.
At the Southampton address police found a piece of paper which the prosecution alleged was a timetable for the drugging of the two sisters and the abuse of the elder one.
It gave times for picking them up from the train station and going to the zoo.
Other notes gave times and the words Angel Delight and Viagra plus indications that what happened had been filmed.
Checks on a seized computer revealed that a film had been created and deleted in the early hours of February 26 and deleted files with the name of the 11-year-old girl on them were also discovered.
Detectives then spoke to another 11-year-old daughter of a family friend from Brighton and she alleged that Wells had attacked her repeatedly during most of 2002 and early 2003 when he was alone with her.
A spokeswoman for Primecare said that Wells had worked for the medical staffing agency since 1979 but added that it had completed all the checks required under the government guidelines in place at that time.
[In 2004,Wells was jailed for 15 years having been found guilty of two counts of rape, three counts of indecent assault and making an indecent image of an 11-year-old girl. He was also found guilty of drugging and indecently assaulting an 11-year-old girl and administering drugs to her five-year-old sister.
Dr Russell Rhys, 79, worked alongside Wells at the Isca Medical Centre in High Street, Caerleon, in the 1980s.
He said: “The man I knew was regarded as a good doctor in the area. “I worked with him for a few years but two years after I retired he became bankrupt.
“Like everyone I was deeply shocked.” After his conviction at Winchester crown court a sordid picture emerged of Wells who befriended the parents of his victims
The former nurse was yesterday described as a cross between Sir Alex Ferguson and Mother Teresa who dedicated her life to helping young people on the troubled estate.
Police search third house after bodies of babies are found
Ann Mahoney, 64, a former psychiatric nurse, was arrested on Tuesday six weeks after a dead baby was discovered wrapped in a bag in an attic .
A search of her present home – a different address on the Gurnos estate in Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales – discovered two more bodies, wrapped in plastic.
Scientific tests have so far failed to establish how the babies died. Detectives are investigating whether they could have been the result of abortions, although the first baby discovered was full term. DNA tests are also being done.
A picture has begun to emerge of the woman, a former nurse, governor of Goetre infants’ school. l and youth football team manager. In 2001, Ms Mahoney was named “citizen of the year” locally for campaigning against antisocial behaviour. At the 3G Development Trust, a charity tackling deprivation, she helped with fundraising and fighting crime.
Ms Mahoney was at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil for 20 years until 1983 and is thought to have worked for social services. She has two daughters and a granddaughter.
“What is abundantly plain to me is that this was a substantial, sophisticated, highly organised, meticulously planned and professional operation with contacts here and abroad and the number of people brought into this country unlawfully was, I am sure, equally substantial,” he said.
“It was in many ways an audacious plan. It exploited what you demonstrated was a worrying weakness in our security.
Anderson, a former IT consultant for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea…
From a 2011 obituary of Dr Wells’ unaware co-worker Dr Russell Rhys…
…after coming to Caerleon in 1969 he represented the community on the then Gwent County Council serving among other things on the council’s police committee.
Newport West MP Paul Flynn remained a close friend.
A JUNIOR doctor has been struck off after a tribunal heard he led a sordid double life as a night-time seaside-prowling pervert.
Mar 3, 2018
Dr Benjamin Brooks was jailed for 22 months after sex attacks on young girlsDr Benjamin Brooks, 28, randomly targeted six girls aged between 10 and 14, claiming he was “battling in his head” whether to attack them.He was arrested after one witness to an assault on a young girl recognised him as a medical colleague at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.Last April Brooks, of Lytham St Annes, Lancs, was jailed for 22 months after admitting three sexual assaults and intimidating a witness.Now he has been struck off at a General Medical Council hearing in Manchester, despite pleading for leniency by arguing “my heart is in the right place”.https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/926583/junior-doctor-struck-off-benjamin-brooks-sex-attack-blackpool
JK in Commons
Jonathan King, Jonathan Aitken and (left) Ronnie Campbell MP at the Inside Time prisoners survey publication, House of Commons, 21/6/2006
According to this source – Archives – the Krays ran a paedophile ring.
“What was involved was the systematic abuse of ten-to-twelve-year-old boys, one of whom subsequently became fairly well known as a singer.
“Another, rather less fortunate,wound up in six pieces in two suitcases…
“The police uncovered a large-scale juvenile pimping operation centred on a house in a Suffolk village (Tattington) owned by Ronnie Kray.
(The Kray twins had huge property interests in East Anglia).
“Some of the boys were obtained via a close friend of (Benjamin) Britten’s in London, who named him as one of the beneficiaries of the ‘service’: other’customers’ included Lord Boothby (who frequently shared boys with Ronnie Kray himself) andthe record producer Joe Meek.
“At least two other people died in the aftermath of Bernard’s murder as the twins sealed up the leaks.”
TWO doctors wanted for the death and homosexual assault of another boy were the prime suspects in the Tattingstone suitcase murder, it can be revealed today.
TWO doctors wanted for the death and homosexual assault of another boy were the prime suspects in the Tattingstone suitcase murder, it can be revealed today.
Martin Reddington and John Byles both denied any involvement in the strangling and mutilation of mentally disabled teenager Bernard Oliver in January, 1967.
But detectives investigating one of the most horrific crimes Suffolk has ever known, pinpointed the pair as suspects from an early stage in their inquiries.
And when the case was reopened, in 1977, their links were again closely scrutinised. By this time, the case against them had grown even stronger.
But, in a remarkable hole in the investigation, Dr Reddington was never interviewed in connection with the offence.
It was decided there was insufficient evidence to extradite him from Australia, where he was living in 1977.
Original documents from the massive murder probe reveal they were jointly wanted for a string of sickening crimes, including gross indecency and buggery.
And one involved the murder of a boy in London in 1973, after an apparent homosexual relationship.
The previously unrevealed evidence is able to be published today due to the new Freedom of Information Act which will become law at the beginning of next year.
However Suffolk police granted permission for the file to be opened two months early after a request by The Evening Star.
The death of the boy in London in 1973 was a crime which had striking parallels with the gruesome death of Mr Oliver, whose severed body was discovered packed into two suitcases.
Tests on the remains revealed Mr Oliver had taken part in homosexual acts prior to his death, although his friends insisted he was not gay.
Two years before Mr Oliver’s death, a warrant had been issued for the arrest of Dr Reddington for the buggery and indecent assault of males, in 1965.
But before police inquiries could be completed, he fled the country for South Africa. Despite several attempts, the warrant was never executed and his guilt neither proved nor disproved.
It was known he made a number of return visits to the United Kingdom since leaving, although no evidence was ever found to place him in Suffolk or North London in January 1967.
The strong lack of leads to back up suspicions against the pair hindered the investigation from day one.
Yet, at the same time a great deal of other circumstantial evidence was building up.
One clue was the location of Dr Reddington’s surgery in Muswell Hill, North London, which was in the direction of the street Mr Oliver was last seen walking down.
Despite every address in the area being searched, the crime scene was never established – nor was any link with Suffolk.
The only possible clue was the local knowledge of Colchester-born Dr Reddington, although Dr Byles denied any knowledge of the county when interviewed.
A private investigator in Muswell Hill provided one of the fascinating pieces of evidence in the entire investigation.
She claimed to recognise the suitcase used to discard the body parts of Mr Oliver, pointing to the distinctive P.V.A initials on its side.
She told detectives she spoke to a man in a launderette on numerous occasions and vividly remembered the suitcase being brought in containing his dirty washing.
It was her description that to an artist’s impression of the killer being released.
And when the inquiry was reopened in 1977, she picked out a photograph of Dr Reddington as one of three men she recognised as owning the suitcase.
Another other clue that caused suspicion to fall on the two doctors was the expert way in which the body was cut up.
Neatly severed into eight parts, the precise and deliberate nature of the operation meant only an expert could have carried it out.
A consultant surgeon at the then Ipswich and East Suffolk Hospital decided the crime was most likely to have been committed by a doctor, surgeon or medical student.
It was someone with “knowledge of anatomy with previous experience of dismemberment”. The gory task had been “expertly accomplished”, with the exception of one joint.
The consultant explained: “One would expect the person dissecting the body, irrespective of how calm and deliberate he may have been, to show some sign of nerves, anxiety or excitement towards the end of the dissection.
“This could well be the reason for the bad workmanship on the left knee joint.”
But despite this growing weight of evidence by the late 1970s, Dr Reddington went to his grave without ever answering any questions relating to the crime. He died in May 1995, aged 63.
By now, Dr Byles had committed suicide in 1975, after being arrested and charged for an indecent assault in London, while in Australia.
He jumped bail and committed suicide before the full facts of the matter could be determined.
The 38-year-old left two suicide notes beside his body, one to Reddington, and another to Scotland Yard.
The note to police contained an apology for what he had done, but there was no direct reference to the Tattingstone murder. He was thought to have been responsible for the death of a cabin boy.
Eric Shields, a former detective sergeant with Suffolk police, was one of the officers who worked on infamous crime nearly 40 years ago.
Today he said: “The investigation was carried out in minute detail. As far as I’m concerned, it was dealt with in a highly professional manner.”
“I’m sure all the officers who worked on the Tattingstone murder are disappointed nobody has been brought to book.”
Dr John Byles Body is missing doctor: police The Age 22-01-75
Dr John Byles, Reverend John Poole & Raymond Varley Police seek doctor The Canberra Times 18-01-75
Reverend John Poole Vicar’s rape charge; Wife weeps as father of four is accused of attacking girl, 15
jUNE 11
J1996
A VICAR appeared in court yesterday charged with raping a girl of 15.
The Reverend John Poole, 50, formervicar of St Paul’s Church, in Shipley, West Yorkshire, is alleged to have attacked the youngster in his rectory in May last year.
The father-of four is also accused of indecently assaulting her on two previous occasions.
Poole, from Clayton, Bradford, was arrested on Sunday as his wife Denise, a curate, prepared to give a sermon at All Saints Church in Great Horton, Bradford.
Reverend John Poole’s wife the Revd Canon Denise Poole.
His wife wept and Poole fought back the tears as bail was granted after a 90-minute hearing. …
Reverend Canon Denise June Poole & Reverend Paul Flowers
Nov 9 2008
The service was led by Canon Denise Poole, the Lord Mayor’s Chaplain, and Councillor the Reverend Paul Flowers,chaplain to the city’s branch of the RBL.
It was attended by civic dignitaries including the Queen’s representative, the Lord-Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Council leader Kris Hopkins and Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe.
The service followed a parade, led by standard-bearers from veterans’ groups, forces’ cadets and Scouts, which snaked through the city streets.
Members of the 269 (West Riding) Battery inherited the Freedom of the City of Bradford, were also part of the parade from Centenary Square to the city’s war memorial.
Philip John Poole (The Bible Society) Publisher launches ‘youth Bible’ – a tale of sex and masturbation
Philip Poole, the deputy chief executive of The Bible Society, said the society “supports the way Collins is helping young people understand how the Bible can speak into their lives today”.
Victim of paedophile doctor urges more women to come forward
Woman, known as Jasmine, awarded damages after being abused by Myles Bradbury
11 July 2018
A female victim of a paedophile doctor, who it had been assumed only preyed on boys, has urged other women to come forward after being awarded a five-figure sum in damages.
It is feared that his abuse began earlier and was more extensive. A 26-year-old woman, referred to only as Jasmine to protect her identity, alleged that Bradbury abused her during his time at Birmingham children’s hospital between 2007 and 2008, when she was 14.
She said Bradbury arranged an appointment that was not needed when she was being checked for blood clots. He then asked her to undress, carried out an unnecessary examination and sexually assaulted her, Jasmine said.
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS foundation trust paid more than £10,000 to settle the case.
In a statement issued her by lawyers, Hudgell Solicitors, Jasmine said: “You try and convince yourself that something like this has not affected you, but it does. I have lost my trust in health professionals.
“My 18-month-old daughter had to go to A&E recently and it was a male doctor, and I wasn’t comfortable with that.
“I haven’t heard of any other girls coming forward, and have seen that all his convictions were against boys, but I don’t believe that I was the only girl to have been hurt in this way.”
Her lawyer, Renu Daly, said: “When she first approached me, she said ‘nobody is going to believe me because I’m a girl and it was in a different hospital’.
“She always felt her examination was totally inappropriate, which it was. Bradbury chose to see her and carry out an examination when she was being investigated for a blood disorder, nothing to do with a physical examination.”
Daly added: “She wanted to raise the profile for other women, on the basis that if there are other women struggling they should come forward. It is less scary to do it when someone else has taken the plunge.”
“I think there are lot of other victims. And it is about getting your life back on track. She has really moved her life on since she first came forward. She was broken to start with. She wants to move on with her life and she is not going to let Bradbury destroy the rest of it.”
In a statement, the trust said: “The safety of the children and young people we see is a priority. When these allegations came to light we contacted all of the families under Bradbury’s care to offer support and advice, referring any concerns to the police.
“At the time, we also conducted a thorough review of our approach to chaperoning to offer families further reassurance around the safety of their children, while in our care. This is something we continuously audit.”
… the findings of the independent Lampard Review into Savile’s activities within more than 40 NHS hospitals.
The Review found:
“Savile’s status and influence … was enhanced by the endorsement and encouragement he received from politicians, senior civil servants and NHS managers. His access within NHS hospitals gave Savile the opportunity to commit sexual abuses on a grand scale for nearly 50 years.”
Liz Dux, a lawyer representing 44 of Savile’s victims, responded to the report:
“It beggars belief that a report which has revealed Savile was widely known as a sex pest at Stoke Mandeville can find no evidence of management responsibility.”
“Ten victims had reported their assaults to nursing staff on the ward, including one complaint being made to management, yet still his deviant and sickening behaviour continued.”
The revelation in the report that three other doctors had committed serious sexual offences at the hospital in the past four decades suggested “something seriously amiss.”
Jimmy Savile & Eve Saville,
TAVISTOCK,PSYCHOLOGY,
psychosexual abuse experiments
Did the Tavistock Clinic and its partners conduct clinical experiments on patients into the effects of psychosexual abuse?
Was a female member of Jimmy Savile’s family complicit in consenting for JS to be part of clinical research experiments?
Was JS as a boy experimented upon (i.e. tortured) with psychosexual abuse to shape his personality? So that JS could fill a specific role for the elite in adulthood?
Was JS’s life of predations one decades-long experiment, designed, set up and monitored by psychologists linked to the Tavistock or its partners?
PSYCHOLOGY AND JIMMY SAVILE
Britain’s front organisations and secret societies are often permeated with Friends of Israel – that is, radical Zionists pursuing the political aim of a Greater Israel.
Common Purpose (its emphasis on Neuro Linguistic Programming, or NLP)
News Corp UK and Ireland; Daily Mail and General Trust
The answer is that all possess an acute interest in, and understanding of, human PSYCHOLOGY, or how the human mind works:how our perceptions, thoughts and behaviours are acquired and develop, and how they can be manipulated.
By applying this powerful knowledge in practical ways, organisations like those above strive to alter or influence people’s perceptions, thoughts and behaviours.
The target could be an individual, a particular group of people, or an entire society. Most front organisations and secret societies (link) have interests in one or more of the following strands of psychological inquiry:
The stages of human cognitive, emotional and personality development, and the influences thereon;
How sexual and gender identity, sexual orientation and sexuality are formed, and the influences thereon;
Sexual, emotional and physical abuse and its impact on the psyche;
How mental health disorders, including Dissociative Disorders and deviant sexual personalities develop, or can be developed;
Psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and Applied Behaviour Analysis as tools for shaping or altering thoughts, personality and behaviour;
Principles of social conditioning;
Opinion formation and Public Relations theory, including strategies and techniques of persuasion, and how consent can be manufactured
The role for psychological disciplines in contributing to mass cultural and political transformation
Front organisations and secret societies typically peddle harmful social doctrines, destructive symbolism and disinformation, in the pursuit of certain socio-political ends.
Some specialise in developing Dissociative Identity Disorder in targets using techniques such as trauma-based mind control.
In the first instance, the disorientation and fracturing of the individual is a goal. Demoralised, confused and fearful individuals may stop acting logically, reasonably, or even in some cases, morally. Many cannot resist the programming which then follows.
Individuals at the receiving end of the most intense efforts to fracture and splinter the Mind typically can become psychotic, schizophrenic, suicidal, or otherwise dangerously unbalanced, depending on the type, severity and duration of the programming applied.
Guises and roles into which mind-controlled subjects are pushed may include: sex slave; sexual deviant; sexual exhibitionist; patsy (in the style of a maniacal terrorist or other cold-blooded murderer); ideological extremist; radical propagandist; impulsive, volatile and capricious person; manic depressive; or some combination of these.
Tavistock
Cyril Burt was a member of the London School of Differential Psychology and the British Eugenics Society. Amy Strachey was the wife of John Strachey (junior), a journalist whose father, John Strachey (senior), was a Labour politician with possible links to British intelligence.
Jimmy Savile was born in 1926. That same year, Cyril Burt and John Strachey junior appealed to the Commonwealth Fund for(i) funding to start training psychiatric social workers at the London School of Economics; and (ii) and support for child guidance.
Funds were duly granted, so that in 1929 the London School of Economics was able to establish Britain’s first course for training PSWs.The Association of Psychiatry Social Work was established that same year.Also in 1929, just three years after the birth of Jimmy Savile, the Jewish Health Organisation established the London Child Guidance Clinic.It was Britain’s first children’s psychiatric facility, and it also provided training to educational psychologists, social workers and social workers.The London Child Guidance Clinic later became the Tavistock Clinic.
Eve Savile
The Institute for the Study and Treatment of Delinquency (ISTD) was established in 1933 as the clinical arm of the Portman Clinic.
The Portman Clinic has long had close ties to the Tavistock Clinic and in 1994 joined with it to become the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust.
The General Secretary of the ITSD was a woman called Eve Saville, MBE.
“Whether she was related to Jimmy, OBE, I do not know,” writes Horsley. “The names Savile and Saville seem to be more or less interchangeable, and one easy way for Sir Jimmy (who called his mum ‘the Duchess’) to cover any possible aristocratic ancestral tracks might have been to remove one of the l’s”.
Horsley adds:
“ found a most unexpected affiliation between Eve Saville and Victor Neuburg, Crowley’s ill-fated homosexual partner and disciple …
Neuberg was one of the founding members of the ISTD.”
The TAVISTOCK CLINIC’S founding father was CLEMENT FREUD’S GRANDFATHER, Sigmund Freud. CLEMENT FREUD (who is related to self-confessed former Mossad spy Uri Geller) was a prolific paedophile.
Nick Ross’ father, Hans, had a sister named Dina. Dina become a child psychotherapist at the TAVISTOCK CLINIC (Nick Ross is linked to alleged Savile accomplice and Mossad asset Esther Rantzen. The wider familial and social circle around Nick Ross includes his wife Sarah Caplin, Dr Alan Farthing and Sir Cliff Richard, all of whom are alleged collaborators).
ROLF HARRIS approached the TAVISTOCK CLINIC and the NSPCC in the 1980s with his idea about making a film on child sexual abuse. Esther Rantzen’s Childwatch donated £15,000 for the film, ‘Kids Can Say No’, which was filmed on Hampstead Heath. An NSPCC committee reviewed and approved the film. After ‘Kids Can Say No’ the TAVISTOCK CLINIC also helped produce a ROLF HARRIS sequel to it.
Esther Rantzen went on to develop Childwatch into the Childline charity. In 2006 Dr Carole Easton, who was Childline’s chief executive at the time, persuaded the NSPCC to absorb Childline into the larger charity. Dr Easton trained as a child and adolescent psychotherapist at the TAVISTOCK CLINIC.
The late MP LEO ABSE has been investigated by police in connection with child sexual abuse allegations. His surviving niece, SUSANNA ABSE previously worked for the TAVISTOCK CLINIC as the CEO of Tavistock Relationships.
The TAVISTOCK CLINIC was originally established in TAVISTOCK SQUARE, the location of the slaughter of 13 bus passengers on 7/7 2005. Margaret Hodge, at the heart of the Islington Child Abuse Scandal, has said that her SISTER was working in TAVISTOCK SQUARE at the time of the explosion.
CLIFF RICHARD (allegedly) abused children at the Elm Guest House and elsewhere, it has been reported. Sir Cliff once owned a company called Blacknight Limited, an unusual moniker with distinctly occult connotations. Blacknight was registered to an address in TAVISTOCK SQUARE.
In another extraordinary coincidence, CLIFF RICHARD’s lawyer, Gideon Benaim, has his office in TAVISTOCK SQUARE. Benaim previously represented the notorious convicted paedophile, Roman Polanski.
EXARO NEWS, the investigative news website that specialised in reporting on establishment paedophilia, was liquidated by the accountants Menzies LLP (insolvency practitioners Freddy Khalastchi and Jonathan David Bass). Menzies LLP is located in TAVISTOCK SQUARE.
TAVISTOCK SQUARE was so-named because the estate on which it sits was owned by the Dukes of Bedford from TAVISTOCK, DEVON. In another coincidence, Exaro News’ former owner, DR JEROME BOOTH, grew up in TAVISTOCK, DEVON.
In an astonishing coincidence, another famous resident of Tavistock Devon is the late Michael Jackson’s bodyguard, Matt Fiddes. Michael Jackson’s circle of friends included the late serial child rapist GREVILLE JANNER, as well as the self-confessed former Mossad spy, Uri Geller, who is related to the late paedophile MP, Clement Freud.
Another famous resident of Tavistock Devon is the Marchioness of Tavistock, Henrietta Russell, who once co-authored a book with spooky Daily Mail journalist and friend of Louis Theroux’s mother, ANGELA LEVIN. Intriguingly, Angela Levin once also wrote a “fawning” biography on serial paedophile MAX CLIFFORD and books about Camilla Parker-Bowles and the family of Princess Diana. Moreover, Levin was warned about Jimmy Savile attacking young disabled children, but said nothing.
Adjoining Tavistock Square is TAVISTOCK PLACE, site of the National Institute of Social Work. The Institute’s former Director of Education was the notorious convicted paedophile PETER RIGHTON of the PAEDOPHILE INFORMATION EXCHANGE, who in 1979 sat on a steering committee with Janet Mattinson of the TAVISTOCK CENTRE. Righton was a friend of PIE treasurer Charles Napier; the pair have been linked to the national abuse network.
PRINCE CHARLES and Princess Diana both received psychiatric services from TAVISTOCK CLINIC trained psychiatrist Dr Alan McGashan. Laurens Van der Post has been identified as the paedophile who introduced Prince Charles to Dr McGashan. Quite incredibly, the prince was treated for 14 years by the Tavistock-trained doctor, according to one historian.
Cicely Meehan, one of the two sisters who helped raise alleged Dolphin Square child trafficker and child rapist DEREK LAUD, was a CHILD PSYCHOLOGIST. Was Cicely Meehan trained by, working for, or in any way connected to the TAVISTOCK CLINIC? Did Cicely Meehan use trauma-based mind control, and/or other methods, to create in Derek Laud a disturbed personality (Dissociative Identity Disorder?) as part of a Tavistock clinical experiment, sponsored by British and Israeli Intelligence, with links to the alleged Savile-Currie-Freuds-Hodges-Vaz-Rantzen-royalty network of VIP child traffickers and paedophiles?
Dr Valerie Sinason, founder of the Clinic for Dissociative Studies, was Consultant Child Psychotherapist at the TAVISTOCK CLINIC from 1987 to 1999; Consultant Psychotherapist at both the Anna Freud and Portman Clinics from 1994 to 1997; and from 1994 to 2006 a Consultant Research Psychotherapist/Psychoanalyst at St George’s Hospital Medical School. Strangely enough, Dr Sinason sits on the Advisory Council of Norwood, the prominent British-Jewish charity to which Jimmy Savile donated his time and talents.
Decades treating survivors of child abuse at the TAVISTOCK CLINIC and affiliated institutions has left Dr Sinason in no doubt that children across the UK were sexually abused by a network of VIP paedophiles – the Zionist fixer Jimmy Savile prominent among them – with ritual abuse a not uncommon feature of many of the episodes. Dr Sinason does not appear to realise, however, that a faction within her own former institution, the Tavistock Clinic, is itself heavily involved in the design and practice of projects to effect psycho-sexual trauma. (And what does Dr Sinason make of the late Jimmy Savile’s association with her own ‘Norwood’ Jewish charity?)
And even MORE coincidences?
Peter Parker was a member of the Medical Research Council and the chairman of the London School of Economics (there’s that university again) from 1988 to 1998
“As chairman of British Rail, it was Parker who brought in Jimmy Savile as the face of British Rail in the ad campaign.
Parker’s wife Lady Gillian Parker was a founder member of the British False Memory Syndrome Association.”
One anonymous commenter on a blog wrote:
“There had been some years of group psychiatric research conducted by Tavistock Institute on all the care home resident communities in UK of Leonard Cheshire Homes. This research had been commissioned by Dept of Health. But details of its legality and purpose are still refused disclosure by Attorney General (Dominic Grieve).”
On a different blog, another person said:
“Let’s not forget that the ‘talking treatments’ at the Tavistock mean that those who end up there and others place tell a lot of ‘secrets’ which can be usefully ‘shared'”
Psychosexual torture on children at Dolphin Square was Tavistock sanctioned experimentation?
The strange career of Sir Rodney Brooke.
Sir Rodney is a Member of the Council of the Tavistock Institute
He is Chairman of the Dolphin Square Trust
He is a Trustee of the Dolphin Square Charitable Foundation
He was the first permanent Chairman of the General Social Care Council
He was the Chief Executive of Westminster City Council and the Association of Metropolitan Authorities. (Westminster City Council was reportedly the ultimate landlord of Dolphin Square during the period when vulnerable boys from the Bryn Alyn Community, Kincora’ boys home, and other institutions were being trafficked there to be abused by certain of Shirley Porter’s Conservative councillors, as well as by certain parliamentarians.)
Did Tavistock-designed experiments in psychosexual trauma and mind-fracturing initiated at the birth of Jimmy Savile continue throughout the DJ’s sordid life?
Did the children and adults who suffered at the hands of JS and other paedophiles suffer because of Tavistock or its affiliates?
In the 1920s, as psychology and psychiatry became disciplines with their own treatment, research and teaching facilities such as the Tavistock Clinic and its affiliates, did some Zionist practitioners apply their expertise to a Zionist political agenda?
Has research into child and adult sexual trauma been carried out over decades because the Powers that Be have permanent requirements for – Paedophiles and demoralised victims of rape? – Aggressors and victims with personality disorders? – Mind-controlled (personality splintered) patsies to be used for dramatic, violent interventions into public life designed to generate huge socio-politicalimpact, such as staged terror events? – Mind-controlled (personality splintered) public figures to influence the society and culture in ways tending to disorientate and demoralise the population?
According to Operation Yewtree, there is “no clear evidence” he operated in paedophile rings, although “whether he was part of an informal network” is still being investigated.
However, according to the BBC, Savile “had different groups of friends in different places. They were his “‘teams’, he called them”. It appears from the above that Savile operated in the following “Teams” (to use his term instead of the usual ring, sect, covern, network or gang):
A paedophile “Team”/Ring in Scarborough, involving Mr Corrigan, Mr Jaconelli and possibly others.
A Satanist “Team”/Ring in Whitby, involving Mr Jaconelli and possibly others, centered on the property in Whitby which had “the chamber’ in it. Whilst we do not know what went on there and it could have been entirely innocent, when you have a cocktail of satanist and sadomasochistic paraphernalia, and Savile, an innocent explanation is unlikely.
There was also a fourth “Team”/Ring in Rochdale, led by Horgan, who was closely associated with Cyril Smith. Smith was certainly Savile’s oldest friend and a very close confidant.
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^ Prince Charles with his spiritual advisor – paedophile Peter Ball in 1992
How Prince Charles’s reputation survived devoted friendships with – to date – three paedophiles: Laurens van der Post, Jimmy Savile and an already cautioned offender, Peter Ball.
Peter Ball: Sex offender bishop dies
June 23 2019
A retired bishop who was jailed for a string of sexual offences against teenagers and young men has died.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) said Peter Ball “was able to sexually abuse vulnerable teenagers and young men for decades”.
He was jailed in 2015 after being found guilty of misconduct in public office and indecent assaults.
The Church of England confirmed Ball’s death and offered “prayers and thoughts” for “everyone affected”.
Bishop Peter Hancock, the Church’s safeguarding lead, said: “We have been made aware of the death of Peter Ball and our prayers and thoughts are with everyone affected by this news.”
Ball, of Langport in Somerset, was Bishop of Lewes between 1977 and 1992 and Bishop of Gloucester from 1992 until he resigned the following year.
After his trial at the Old Bailey he was sentenced to 32 months for offences against 18 teenagers and men between the 1970s and the 1990s.
Pervert Bishop Peter Ball was friends with Jimmy Savile, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth, Queen’s chaplain, Rev John Robson, Margaret Thatcher, Ian Gow, Chief Justice Lord Berwick, George Pell, Fergie, Duchess of York…
Enoch Powell was friends with Ian Gow
May 1988: Ian Gow, who brought along his friends, Enoch Powell and his wife.
Ian Gow, PPS to Thatcher, was also friends with Enoch Powell. Gow was good friends with Peter Ball who spoke at Gow’s memorial.
Enoch Powell at Gow’s funeral
Northern Ireland was Gow’s political passion. He knew and understood the province as few Englishmen do. From his days of military service he developed a feel for the people of Ulster, and after long years of study at the feet of Airey Neave, John Biggs Davison and Enoch Powell all of whom were romantic heroes to him he became the inheritor of their political mantle in Northern Ireland.
Tom Lawson, son of Lord Lawson and half-brother of Nigella, was educated at Eton before going to Oxford, and is now deputy head of Christ’s Hospital school in Horsham, West Sussex.
Lord Lawson say Police should stop funding investigations into historical abuse.
22/11/2015
alun;
The current headmaster (since 2016) at Eastbourne College is Tom Lawson, half-brother of Nigela and son of the Tory grandee Nigel who argued that no funds should be ploughed into historical child sex allegations.
Tom Lawson came to Eastbourne College from Christ’s Hospital where no fewer than 5 teachers have been convicted for CSA and where a common punishment used to be to send pupils down to Peter Ball’s house!
Some students were sent from Christ Hospital School to paedophile Bishop Peter Ball for punishment.
Another director of Eastbourne College was Alison ‘Butterfingers’ Saunders (2008 – 2014). Despite the collapse of an unprecedented number of abuse cases during her watch as DPP, she still insists she has done a good job:
10 Dec 1991 – Letter from Peter Ball to Enoch Powell
alun:
The address on that note from Bishop Ball to Enoch Powell is significant: It is the postal address for Eastbourne College, where Peter Ball was on the BOD between 1991 and 1992, a school ravaged by cases of child sexual abuse.
Two retired teachers who sexually assaulted a boy while they taught at his college are jailed for a total of 17 years
12 April 2017
Ex-history teacher Andrew Boxer, 67, was sentenced to 15 years in jail
Ex-music teacher Graham Jones, 63, was jailed for two years
Both taught at Eastbourne College, East Sussex, at the time of the abuse, while the victim was a pupil there
Andrew Boxer and Graham Jones were both convicted of several counts of indecently assaulting the same boy between 1988 and 1993, following a week-long trial.
Former history teacher Boxer, 67, was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for seven counts of indecent assault – six at the same address in Eastbourne, East Sussex and another in Cambridge.
Yet another director of Eastbourne College (1991 – 2004) was the Duke Of Devonshire Andrew Robert Buxton Cavendish, another close friend of Savile, BigEars and Bishop Ball, seen here giving Savile a silly handshake:
Prince Charles, Camilla Parker-Bowles and the Duke were close friends.
A punishment at Christ’s Hospital School was to be sent down for a few nights at Peter Ball’s house. I wonder whether those sending them down knew what their fate might be? And who were his ‘special friends’?
It would appear Tom Lawson was what is referred to as a ‘safe pair of hands’, stumbling from one paedo school to the next. He also worked at Winchester College for 15 years, where John Smyth QC abused boys:
Charles and the pervert: Prince tells child sex abuse inquiry he was ‘deceived’ by bishop Peter Ball but says he cannot remember who he was referring to when he said ‘I will see off this horrid man’ in letter to disgraced clergyman 21 years ago
Peter Ball would pray naked with them at the altar and encourage them to submit to beatings. At least five more victims were schoolchildren.
Mr Hughes has now indicated that new complainants came forward following the media coverage of Peter Ball’s sentencing. It was considered that it was not in the public interest to pursue these cases, as Peter Ball has recently been incarcerated.
The former Chancellor’s son was part of a Bullingdon set that caused ‘mayhem’ at a party in Kingston Blount that required 30 police officers to clear up.
EXCLUSIVE: Bullingdon Club 1996- Tom Lawson, the arms dealer’s son and the ‘mayhem’ that took 30 cops to shut down
Jimmy Savile acted as a kind of marriage counsellor between Charles and Princess Diana.
Whitehall is ‘covering up the past’: File on Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage, Lockerbie records and MI5 ‘link’ to Belfast lawyer death among documents blocked by government
28 July 2018
The Advisory Council on National Records and Archives released its latest report
Whitehall is supposed to send files to the National Archives after 20 years
Officials can block the release of files if they compromise National security
The number of blocked files has jumped from 4,300 to 5,900 in a year
Jimmy Savile acted as a kind of marriage counsellor between Charles and Princess Diana.
Jimmy Savile caused concern with behaviour on visits to Prince Charles
Former royal aide says TV presenter would greet young female assistants at St James’s Palace by ‘rubbing lips up their arms’
Savile is understood to have visited Prince Charles’s official London residence several times in the late 1980s when he was acting as a kind of marriage counsellor between Charles and Princess Diana.
Incredibly naive and unwise letters from Prince Charles to Peter Ball. Completely biased and one-sided. Showing only sympathy for the perpetrator. This is 2 yrs after Ball had accepted caution, admitting his guilt!
#iicsa #CSA #CSE #cofe #PrinceCharles
Astonishingly, here Prince Charles refers to the VICTIM, Neil Todd as a “ghastly & horrid man” and threatens to “see him off”, 4 yrs after Ball had admitted abusing him. HRH then buys Ball a substantial house. NEIL LATER TAKES HIS OWN LIFE
Camille Davis Russo@CDavisRusso
Wouldn’t you think with the sort of emotion he displays here he has inordinate affection for this sado-peado?
Peter Ball would pray naked with them at the altar and encourage them to submit to beatings. At least five more victims were school children.
Charles and the pervert: Prince tells child sex abuse inquiry he was ‘deceived’ by bishop Peter Ball but says he cannot remember who he was referring to when he said ‘I will see off this horrid man’ in letter to disgraced clergyman 21 years ago
Prince Charles denied he tried to influence an investigation into Peter Ball
The royal gave written evidence at a sex child abuse inquiry on Friday
Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes, sexually abused 18 men during ’80s and ’90s
27 July 2018
The Prince of Wales has told a public inquiry he was ‘deceived’ by disgraced bishop Peter Ball and said he ‘cannot shed any light’ on the ‘horrid man’ he referred to in a letter to the paedophile.
Prince Charles was friends with the ex-Bishop of Lewes for over two decades after he accepted a caution for gross indecency.
He only cut ties with him after he was convicted of sexually abusing 18 young men aged 17 to 25 over 30 years in 2015.
The convicted Bishop, 86, was released last year after serving half his sentence behind bars.
In written evidence today, Prince Charles refused to elaborate on a letter he wrote to Ball at the time of sexual misconduct claims, telling him: ‘I will see off this horrid man if he tries anything again.’
Ball had told the Prince a single accuser was behind allegations that led to him having to quit as the Bishop of Gloucester.
In a letter to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, the Prince said Ball had told him the complaint against him was false and had arisen from someone who had a grudge against him and was ‘persecuting’ him.
In extracts from one letter between the Prince and Ball, Charles says: ‘I can’t bear it that the frightful and terrifying man is on the loose and doing his worst.’
But in his letter to the inquiry on Friday, the Prince, who said he regrets having been ‘deceived’ by Ball, said: ‘I regret that I am unable to shed any light on references made in a letter dated 23rd March 1997 to a ‘horrid man’ or a ‘frightful and terrifying man’.
‘This seems to be a manner of speaking in the midst of a long letter written more than twenty years ago.
‘I do recall that Peter Ball felt that numerous individuals, including his critics in the media, were doing all in their power to disadvantage him unfairly.
‘I suspect, but cannot be certain, that the reference is to this issue in some way.’
The Prince says he did not know about the nature of the complaint against Ball and had not appreciated the meaning of a caution – the acceptance of guilt.
A lawyer for some of the former bishop’s victims has said it was difficult to see that ‘as anything other than willful blindness’.
Ball had previously boasted of being a confidant of Charles, and his court case heard that a member of the royal family was among a host of public figures who supported him when he avoided charges in 1993.
In a statement the Prince of Wales denied he tried to influence the police probe into Ball, as he also revealed the bishop told him he had quit his job over an ‘indiscretion’.
He is not giving evidence in person, and it is instead being read out from a prepared statement.
Today he was pictured meeting the UK’s first F-35 Lightening Squadron at the RAF base in Kings Lynn, Norfolk.
In another letter from the Prince to Ball in 1995 – two years after Ball’s caution – the future king said he wished he could ‘do more’.
He said: ‘I feel so desperately strongly about the monstrous wrongs that have been done to you and the way you have been treated.’
Charles also said he had been told by the then Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey the church was looking at bringing Ball back into public ministry.
In the 1995 letter he said it was ‘appalling’ that the Archbishop, now Lord Carey, had ‘gone back on what he told me’.
He said it was clear the Archbishop was ‘frightened of the press – what he calls ‘public perception’.’
Another letter from Charles the following year referred to the process of getting a Duchy of Cornwall property for Ball and his brother Michael, Bishop of Truro.
It said: ‘I long to see you both settled somewhere that suits you and gives you peace and tranquility – and not too far from here so you can come over more easily.’
The pair rented a Duchy property between 1997 and 2011.
Charles’s letter to the inquiry added: ‘My heart goes out to the victims of abuse and I applaud their courage as they rebuild their lives and, so often, offer invaluable support to others who have suffered.
‘I wish I could do more’: What the prince wrote to his friend the bishop as allegations swirled around
Sept 1993, Ball to Charles
Life continues to be pretty nasty for me for, it seems that my accusers still want to continue their malicious campaign. Luckily they are beginning to show some of their fraudulent plans.
Dec 1994, Charles to Ball
I saw the Archbishop the other day and he told me he is trying to bring you back to a public ministry. I do hope this will be all right and suit you, if and when it happens….
Feb 1995, Charles to Ball
I wish I could do more. I feel so desperately strongly about the monstrous wrongs that have been done to you and the way you have been treated. It’s appalling that the Archbishop has gone back on what he told me, before Xmas, that he was hoping to restore you to some form of Ministry in the Church.
I suspect you are absolutely right – it is due to fear of the media….If it is any consolation, the Archbishop has written me a letter (between you and me) in which it is also clear that he is frightened of the press – what he calls ‘public perception’, which in fact, perception of events and characters based entirely on lies, invention, speculation and sensation.
Dec 1995, Ball to Charles
The young man who accused me keeps on harassing. The last was a few weeks back with a fax, threatening to say more, when he has agreed not to and ending with the words ‘Your never forgiving rnbbrother in Christ’. That is both vile and blasphemous and oh that the police and CPS had seen and known from the beginning the nature of the young man. How I wish the Archbishop or someone would tell them.
April 1996, Ball to Charles
And I can honestly share the pain of it all having tried to break the crippling and unchristian powers of the ecclesiastical set up, and then being deserted in my hour of need.
June 1996, Charles to Ball
…I am so glad that [X] has been in touch as I requested. I pray the Duchy will be able to find something suitable for you both in due course, but it may take a little time to locate it! I long to see you both settled somewhere that suits you and gives you peace and tranquility – and not too far from here so you can come over more easily…
March 1997, Charles to Ball
[X] tells me that your house has been bought successfully – it looks rather nice – and I only hope the rent won’t be too bad!
I can’t bear it that the frightful, terrifying man is on the loose again and doing his worst… I was visiting the vicar… and we were enthusing about you and your brother and he then told me that he had heard that this ghastly man was up to his dastardly tricks again…. I’ll see off this horrid man if he tries anything again.
Aug 2001, Charles to Ball
I do however firmly believe that one day people will be forced to signing your resignation deed but, as you have been advised, I daresay that the establishment will close ranks and you will get nowhere. But how outrageous that now these people say sorry – and only in private….
Dec 2001, Charles to Ball
I saw [ ] the other day…he mentioned that you were thinking of going to the Archbishop and seemed a bit anxious about it… I daresay by now you will have approached the Archbishop but in your letter you so kindly asked me whether I had any objections – something which you certainly didn’t need to do.
The only thing I would say is that unless you really need to go to the Archbishop of Canterbury – for financial reasons particularly – I would have thought it might be better to let sleeping dogs lie…
Oct 2009, Ball to Charles
I am now nearly a broken man, because of what the Church has put me through after seventeen years of serving in retirement. They have smashed me with the bully of an assessor -…from a Child Protection Officer and no pastoral care, except two nice letters from the Archbishop. Suddenly, I am not allowed to baptise, or go to any parish without informing the Church Warden that I had a caution all those years back…
Ball included a letter that set out he was being risk assessed.
May 2010, Ball to Charles
…the horror that has come to me from the Bishop of Chichester with the Archbishop’s obvious hand in it. I have been told that I may not minister at all when we move, nor may I worship anywhere without signing a Declaration for the Protection of Children.
May 2012, Ball to Charles
Writes to say that the police are re-opening the investigation and are to question him. He says: ‘I thought it had been fully examined twenty years ago.’
July 2012, Ball to Charles
Life is ‘almost unbearable. I am being pursued and persecuted. In ways which it would not be discreet to enlarge on, though I am sure that you can guess their source and virulence’.
Dec 2012, Ball to Charles
Ball wrote to thank the Prince of Wales for phoning him, writing in the letter that the affair of twenty years ago had been ‘stirred up’ again by Lambeth.
‘It remains a source of deep personal regret that I was one of many who were deceived over a long period of time about the true nature of Mr Ball’s activities.’
He also said, in the six-page statement read by counsel to the inquiry Fiona Scolding, that he had not appreciated the meaning of the caution and that at the time the word of a bishop was generally seen as trustworthy.
He said he did not realise the truth of what had gone on until Ball’s conviction, adding that his main source of information until then had been the bishop himself.
Dismissing any suggestion he had ever tried to interfere in the police investigation into Ball, Charles said it was possible his name had been taken ‘in vain’.
In his statement, dated July 10 this year, Charles said: ‘At no stage did I ever seek to influence the outcome of either of the police investigations into Peter Ball and nor did I instruct or encourage my staff to do so.’
Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, is too ill to give evidence in person, the inquiry has heard.
But in a statement he referred to his relationship as having been one of ‘support and respect’.
Ball said: ‘I would strongly resist any suggestion that in some way I could bring pressure to bear on him to act on my behalf and have certainly never made a request for him to do so.’
On Monday the inquiry heard there had been lengthy discussions between Charles’s lawyers and the inquiry in which his legal team initially argued that the future king could not be compelled to produce a statement.
Clarence House has since said Charles was willing to help the inquiry and had voluntarily answered all questions asked of him.
Richard Scorer, a specialist abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon who represents a number of Ball’s victims, said Charles’s explanation that he was not aware of the meaning of a caution left his clients ‘dissatisfied’.
He said: ‘Prince Charles had access to the best legal advice that money can buy and, as a man in his position, a particular responsibility to check the facts.
‘It is difficult to see his failure to do so as anything other than wilful blindness.
‘His evidence, together with that of Lord Carey, the then archbishop of Canterbury, and other establishment figures who have given evidence this week, will do little to dissuade survivors from the conclusion that the British establishment aided and protected Ball and even now have failed to give a transparent account of their actions.’
Charles said in the six-page letter dated July 10 this year that it was his ‘deep regret’ that he and others had been ‘misled’ by Ball.
Elsewhere in his evidence, Charles said Ball had been invited to his home to give holy communion a number of times, from 1993.
He said: ‘Peter Ball occasionally wrote to me in respect of private, often spiritual, matters.’
Referring to his knowledge of the complaint against Ball, he added that in the 1980s and 1990s there was ‘a presumption that people such as Bishops could be taken at their word and, as a result of the high office they held, were worthy of trust and confidence’.
He said at the time ‘there was on my part a presumption of good faith’.
The inquiry is examining how the Church of England handled allegations of sexual abuse and has previously focused on the Diocese of Chichester – where Ball and several other convicted paedophile priests once officiated.
Ball accepted a caution for one count of gross indecency in 1993 and resigned due to ill health.
Prince Charles’ full statement to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
Dear Professor Jay
1. Thank you for inviting me to offer context on how I came to know former Bishop Peter Ball and on my dealings with him over the years, to assist your important Inquiry. I want to begin by applauding your work to ensure that the abuse of children is properly investigated and appropriate measures are taken to ensure they are fully protected. That is why I am pleased, on this occasion, to offer the following information, which I have set out to the best of my recollection after the passage of 25 years.
2. Over the years I have had, and continue to have, many interactions with the Clergy of the Church of England and of other Faiths, often on a daily basis. Set in that context, I first became aware of Peter Ball sometime during the 1980s, when I heard him preach. At that time, he came across as an interesting and engaging person. He was later appointed Bishop of Gloucester, in 1992. Since he had become my local Diocesan Bishop, near my home in Gloucestershire, I attended his Installation. He gave an impressive Address, which brought him to my attention again. At the same time I recall becoming aware of Michael Ball (Peter Ball’s brother) who was later appointed Bishop of Truro, to which I am also closely connected through the Duchy of Cornwall. Over the whole of my life, I have met countless senior Clergy who have been invited to preach and, on various occasions, I have myself invited them to give Holy Communion at my home. I extended such invitations to Peter Ball from time to time, starting in 1993.
3. As is well known, I maintain correspondence relationships with a great number of individuals. Peter Ball occasionally wrote to me in respect of private, often spiritual, matters. On each occasion I naturally replied as I believe that to be the polite thing to do, although there was often a significant delay on my part given other priorities which demanded my attention. My recollection is that these exchanges were normally instigated and driven by Peter Ball, in addition to a handful of telephone calls during the decades of our correspondence. Having refreshed my memory of our correspondence to try to help your Inquiry, I note this is borne out by the contents and dates of the letters in question.
4. With the significant passage of time, I cannot now recall with sufficient certainty when the following exchange took place and whether there was one particular conversation that concerned the reflections I offer below or more than one.
5. Peter Ball told me that he had been involved in some form of ‘indiscretion’, which prompted his resignation as my local Bishop at Gloucester. He emphasised that one individual, who I now understand to be Mr Neil Todd, had made a complaint to the Police; that the Police had investigated the matter; and that the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service had decided to take no action. This sequence of events seemed to support Mr Ball’s claim that the complaint emanated from a single individual; that the individual bore a grudge against him and was ‘persecuting’ him; that the complaint was false; but that the individual had nonetheless profited from the complaint by selling his story to the newspapers. The matter was described by him as ‘closed’. Peter Ball added that various people within the Church did not like him and had themselves used the complaint to curtail his ministry and force his resignation. When this exchange took place, I did not know about the nature of the complaint.
6. The true context and details of this complaint, and I now understand many others, against Peter Ball did not come to my attention until the time of Mr Ball’s trial and conviction in 2015. My main source of information before this was Mr Ball himself, though I should add that I was so fully occupied by my public role that Mr Ball’s situation was rarely at the front of my mind. As context, it seems important to say that in the 1980’s and 1990’s there was a presumption that people such as Bishops could be taken at their word and, as a result of the high office they held, were worthy of trust and confidence. That has changed over the years, as evidence has caused us all to be more challenging of what we hear and what we are told. But, at the time, there was on my part a presumption of good faith. I believe I was far from alone in taking this view.
7. I was certainly not aware at the time of the significance or impact of the caution that Peter Ball has accepted, or indeed sure if I was even told about it. Whilst I note that Peter Ball mentioned the word in a letter to me in October 2009, I was not aware until recently that a caution in fact carries an acceptance of guilt. I was aware that the Crown Prosecution Service had decided not to pursue a case against Mr Ball. This seemed to support Mr Ball’s defence of his position set out in his letter.
8. I recall that Peter Ball told me that following his resignation as Bishop of Gloucester he would lose the house in which he lived and that, as a consequence, both he and his brother Michael would become homeless. He told me that their monastic vows meant they had very little money. In this context, I occasionally sent the brothers small gifts of money, as I do for many people in need, and Pete Ball’s interest in becoming a tenant of a Duchy of Cornwall property then arose. A significant part of the Duchy’s business is in arranging and managing leases for properties and I mentioned the situation of the Ball brothers to the Duchy, as I do for others from time to time. The details of the eventual rental were handled, as usual, by Duchy staff. I was aware of the transaction but did not assist with the selection of the house. Some time later, in 1997, Peter and Michael Ball became tenants of a Duchy property until early in 2011, when they moved on.
Police investigations
9. At no stage did I ever seek to influence the outcome of either of the Police investigations into Peter Ball and nor did I instruct or encourage my staff to do so.
10. I understand from document ANG000021 that a member of Gloucestershire Police seems to recall that he ‘came under pressure’ in 1992 or 1993 which related in some way to some form of interest from myself and my staff in Peter Ball. This is untrue. Indeed, at the time of this Police investigation I had no knowledge of these particular matters. It follows, therefore, that I did not authorise – and could not have authorised – any such action. And nor would I have done.
11. Likewise, I have no recollection of any contact by one of my Personal Protection Officers or indeed any member of my staff with Gloucestershire Police. I was clear at the time, as I have remained clear, that the Police must be able to carry out their investigation in the proper manner without external pressure or influence. We have looked at our files and can find no record of any of these matters. It is always possible that my name was taken in vain, as can unfortunately happen from time to time. As I make clear elsewhere in this Statement, there is a gap between rumour and fact.
12. In a similar vein, I do not recall receiving a letter from Michael Ball in April 2013 as described by Detective Superintendent Carwyn Hughes (OHY000203). Having looked at our files we cannot find any record of such a letter. The occasional letters that I did receive from Michael Ball were of private and social nature and I am not aware of any interest from Sussex Police in this correspondence. Nevertheless, I have made available to you copies of the private correspondence received from Michael Ball, in case that could help your Inquiry in any way. I understand that a conversation took place between Sussex Police and the Metropolitan Police Royalty Protection team in 2013, and that Sussex Police informed the Metropolitan Police that they visited Peter Ball’s home and removed items which included a letter sent from me. I believe the Metropolitan Police asked whether or not this letter was relevant to the inquiry. I further understand that the Metropolitan Police emphasised clearly that they were not enquiring about the investigation itself and specifically wished to avoid any appearance of influence over it. They wished only to establish the facts about the property that had been removed and its correct ownership. The Metropolitan Police were told that the letter in question was not relevant and that it was to be returned by Sussex Police to Peter Ball.
The Church of England
13. Probably late in 1994 (although I cannot now be certain of the date) I recall seeing the then-Archbishop of Canterbury at an event and taking that opportunity to ask, among other issues, about Peter Ball as he had lately been my local Bishop. I remember the Archbishop was supportive of Peter Ball and thought him a good man and priest. I do not think we discussed any detail, though I recall that the Archbishop was perhaps thinking of ‘trying to bring [Peter Ball] back to a public ministry’ at some stage. I understood there were some complications, but these were not described. As this was clearly a matter for Church authorities, I took no personal position on it.
14. Other than this conversation with the then-Archbishop, I do not recall any specific conversations regarding Peter Ball, although I was aware that Mr Ball was himself keen to persuade the Church to ‘restore [him] to some form of Ministry in the Church’. The general view of members of the Clergy who occasionally mentioned him to me was that he was a capable and well-liked priest.
15. The Inquiry has asked about a note made by Andrew Purkis, of Lambeth Palace, following a lunch he had with my then-Private Secretary, Richard Aylard, on 30th August 1994 (ACE003034). My Private Secretary meets regularly with members of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Office to discuss a range of matters. Having reviewed the document it is clear that the meeting took place in the normal course of business and was for the purpose of discussing matters other than Mr Ball. I cannot shed any light on what appears to be a brief mention of Mr Ball at the end of the meeting. I have no recollection of discussing the matter. I have also been shown a copy of my letter of 14th December 2001 addressed to Peter Ball. As far as I can recall, this letter conveyed that I could not assist Peter Ball in any approach he was thinking of making to the Archbishop to seek a return to public ministry. I recall Peter Ball repeating this request around this time and again some time later and my declining to assist. It follows therefore that I was not involved in ‘any discussion with Lambeth Palace’ on this matter.
Contact with Institutions
16. You have asked about contact between myself and institutions in respect of Peter Ball between 1993 and 2015. To the best of my knowledge and belief I have dealt with these contacts in the information I have volunteered above, and I can only hope this will be of some assistance to you.
17. I have been shown an extract from an interview conducted by the Chair of the Church of England’s Inquiry into Peter Ball last year, Dame Moira Gibb, with Elizabeth Hall of the Church of England, suggested there were some rumours of an interest from me in Peter Ball being given some alternative employment (INQ000682). I can confirm that this is untrue: not for the first time, and as the Gibb Inquiry concluded in respect of my contacts with Peter Ball over the years, there is a gap between rumour and fact. I did not seek any such roles for Mr Ball and did not ask others to do so on my behalf.
18. I regret that I am unable to shed any light on references made in a letter dated 23rd March 1997 to a ‘horrid man’ or a ‘frightful and terrifying man’. This seems to be a manner of speaking in the midst of a long letter written more than twenty years ago. I do recall that Peter Ball felt that numerous individuals, including his critics in the media, were doing all in their power to disadvantage him unfairly. I suspect, but cannot be certain, that the reference is to this issue in some way. It of course needs to be read in the context of my understanding at the time, namely that Peter Ball had been falsely accused of a single offence (the nature of which was unknown to me) by an individual whom the relevant judicial authorities and many others had themselves not believed. Events later demonstrated beyond any doubt, to my deep regret, that I, along with many others, had been misled and the reverse was true. At the time, however, it would have followed that people seeking to disadvantage Peter Ball, including from gaining employment, were behaving unfairly. What I can say with certainty is that I did not express this view to anyone else or take any action associated with it.
19. In conclusion, I would like to state that, throughout my life, my position has occasionally brought me into contact with prominent people who have subsequently been accused of serious wrong-doing. Rather than rushing to private judgement, I have always taken the view that the judicial process should take its course. I am then able to ground my opinions in facts tested by law, rather than hearsay. In many cases, including two very prominent cases of false accusation last year, this has proved a sensible course. It follows that I ceased contact with Mr Ball once the judicial process had concluded and he was found guilty of serious offences against young people. My heart goes out to the victims of abuse and I applaud their courage as they rebuild their lives and, so often, offer invaluable support to others who have suffered. It remains a source of deep personal regret that I was one of many who were deceived over a long period of time about the true nature of Mr Ball’s activities. That is why I wanted to volunteer the facts in this letter, which I believe to be true, in the hope that they might be able to help your important work.
Yours sincerely
DPA
Prayers at Highgrove and a friendship that lasted decades
By Sam Greenhill for The Daily Mail
Peter Ball, who made his young victims roll in the snow naked before beating them until they bled, once described Prince Charles as a loyal friend.
The pair had prayed together at Highgrove and exchanged more than 50 letters, many of them deeply spiritual.
And even after his ‘indiscretion’ with a boy of 17, the bishop was given a Duchy of Cornwall house to live in, for which he thanked the ‘wonderfully kind’ prince.
Yesterday Charles expressed deep regret that he had ever put his faith in Ball, saying he had been horribly deceived by the paedophile bishop.
Charles said that in the 1980s, when he first knew him, and the 1990s, there was ‘a presumption that people such as bishops could be taken at their word’
It is now believed that sadistic Ball preyed on more than 100 boys and men in a 20-year reign of abuse.
Born in 1932, he went to Lancing College public school in West Sussex and Cambridge University before establishing a monastery in Gloucestershire with his twin brother, Michael.
Ball showed ‘favouritism’ to novice monks, and targeted schools to deliver sermons.
He was made Bishop of Lewes in 1977 and Bishop of Gloucester from 1992, during which time he handpicked 18 vulnerable victims to commit acts of ‘debasement’ in the name of religion.
He would pray naked with them at the altar and encourage them to submit to beatings. At least five more victims were schoolchildren.
As Bishop of Gloucester, Ball’s diocese covered Charles’s country home Highgrove, and the prince was among the guests at his enthronement.
By now, he was one of the church’s best known characters, refusing to wear the ceremonial purple of a bishop in favour of simple, monastic robes, sleeping on the floor and taking vows of celibacy.
Eight months after the enthronement, Ball was arrested. Yesterday the prince recalled: ‘Peter Ball told me he had been involved in some sort of “indiscretion” which prompted his resignation as my local bishop.’
In fact he had been horrifically abusing 16-year-old trainee monk Neil Todd, forcing him to perform sex acts as they lay naked in bed together, take ice-cold, early-morning showers while reading the Bible and stand side by side naked reciting psalms in front of a figure of Christ.
Mr Todd was so tormented he eventually committed suicide aged 38 in 2012.
In his letter to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, Charles said he was unaware of the true nature of the clergyman’s behaviour until more than 20 years after allegations first surfaced.
Ball got away with a police caution in March 1993 despite confessing his guilt. For his part, Charles said he had accepted Ball’s claim that Mr Todd had borne a grudge and made false allegations.
So Ball resumed his ministry, even officiating over communion at Highgrove.
He was also provided with Manor Lodge, a pretty cottage on Charles’s Duchy of Cornwall estate in the village of Aller, Somerset.
Clarence House has been at great pains to say it was the Duchy of Cornwall, the private estate which funds the heir to the throne, and not Charles himself that had purchased the lodge that Ball rented.
It subsequently emerged that police went easy on Ball in 1993 and cited his royal connections.
In documents unearthed by the BBC, retired police detective Wayne Murdock is said to have discussed with Ball’s legal team ‘the need to prevent a scandal, especially as Peter was a frequent visitor to Sandringham and is friendly with Prince Charles’.
It also emerged that the bishop’s lawyers had claimed to have a ‘letter of support from a member of the Royal Family’, who was not named. It is unclear whether this could be the same letter as the one that emerged yesterday.
Either way, no such letter was ever produced in any court hearings, and an official report found there was no evidence any royal had sought to intervene in the judicial process.
But the mother of the trainee monk was scathing about Prince Charles allowing Ball to live on his Duchy estate. Speaking in 1998, she said of the bishop: ‘He is pure evil, a beast, and he’s hiding behind God.
This is quite unbelievable. I don’t know what Prince Charles thinks he is doing.’
Yesterday Charles said he had always believed in allowing the judicial process to take its course ‘rather than rushing to private judgement’.
In 2006 Ball’s status in royal circles was confirmed in spectacular style when he was invited to read the homily at the funeral of the father of Camilla Parker Bowles.
He continued as a Church of England priest until 2010.
But justice was slowly catching up with him. Police re-opened their investigation in 2012 after new allegations, and this time a flood of Ball’s victims came forward.
If Charles was anxious, that might explain why in 2013 a royal aide contacted the chief constable of Sussex Police to ask whether information gathered during its investigation could ‘be embarrassing to Prince Charles or the monarchy in general’. Apparently they were reassured.
In 2015, Ball’s crimes were finally laid bare at the Old Bailey which heard shocking details of his reign of abuse. His trial heard he had been protected by ‘Cabinet ministers, the Royal Family, MPs, JPs and a lord’, not to mention the Church of England.
The Church has since expressed its ‘true sorrow’ at its shocking failures.
Ball, now 86, was released in February last year and lives a free man back in Aller, Somerset.
Clarence House was quick to insist last night that he is definitely not living in any of Charles’s properties.
Extracts from correspondence between Prince Charles and Peter Ball
Peter Ball to Prince Charles
8/12/95 “The young man who accused me keeps on harassing. The last few weeks back
Prince Charles to Peter Ball
16/02/95 “I wish I could do more. I feel so desperately strongly about the monstrous wrongs that have been done to you and the way you have been treated. It’s appalling that the Archbishop has gone back on what he told me, before Xmas, that he was hoping to restore you to some form of Ministry in the Church. I suspect you are absolutely right- it is due to fear of the media…If it is any consolation, the Archbishop has written me a letter (between you and me) in which it is also clear that he is frightened of the press – what he calls “public perception” of events and characters based entirely on lies, invention, speculation and sensation.”
Prince Charles to Peter Ball
11/12/94 “I saw the Archbishop the other day and he told me he is trying to bring you back to a public ministry. I do hope this will be all right and suit you, if and when it happens…”
Peter Ball to Prince Charles
16/11/93 “Life continues to be pretty nasty for me for it seems that my accusers still want to continue their malicious campaign. Luckily they are beginning to show some of their fraudulent plans.”
In extracts of letters published today by the inquiry, the Prince told Ball his accuser was a “frightful, terrifying man” who was “up to his dastardly tricks again.”
The Prince adds in the letter to Ball in 1997: “I’ll see off this horrid man if he tries anything again.”
The Prince also accuses Lambeth Palace – the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury – of being “frightened of the press” for forcing Ball to resign his ministry.
In fact, it was clear it was Peter Ball – not his accuser – who was lying to the Prince.
No charges were brought, and he took his own life shortly before an investigation into sexual abuse allegations spanning some 30 years was reopened in 2012.
Charles denies trying to influence inquiry into sex abuse bishop
27 July 2018
Prince Charles has denied that he tried to influence a police investigation into disgraced bishop Peter Ball.
In written evidence to a child sex abuse inquiry, the heir to the throne said claims by a former police officer that he “came under pressure” as a result of interest from himself were “untrue” and argued there was “a gap between rumour and fact”.
The Prince of Wales also revealed that following his resignation as bishop of Gloucester, he had sent Ball’s and his brother “small gifts of money” and also assisted them in getting one of his Duchy of Cornwall property’s.
He said: “It remains a source of deep personal regret that I was one of many who were deceived over a long period of time about the true nature of Mr Ball’s activities.”
The written statement from Charles was read out during the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) investigation as it examines how allegations against the former Church of England bishop were handled.
Now 86, the former bishop of Lewes and then Gloucester was jailed for 32 months in October 2015 for sexually abusing 18 young men over 30 years. He was released in February last year after serving half his sentence behind bars.
Imagine the fear and loathing at @ClarenceHouse – what happened to Butler-Sloss? Le Ponce was promised this would never happen…first Savile, now this..we need a D notice now….
InquiryCSA Verified account @InquiryCSA
Mr O’Donnell, from Slater and Gordon is making a final submission:
“Here is an abuser (Peter Ball) at the very heart of the establishment, he was selected by the executive and he had the judiciary, the legislature and the monarchy behind him.”
Mr. Nigel Giggin QC closing submission to the #AngilcanHearing from the Archbishops Council:
“No one on the facts that were known at the time should have thought that Peter Ball could be described as, and I quote “a wonderful priest and bishop.”
We are now hearing a read statement from HRH The Prince of Wales.
I want to begin by applauding the your work to ensure the abuse of children is properly investigated and appropriate measures are taken to ensure they are protected.
Over the years I have had, and continue to have, many interactions with the clergy of the Church of England, and of other faiths, often on a daily basis.
I first became aware of Peter Ball in the 1980’s when I heard him preach. At that time, he came across as an interesting and engaging person
Peter Ball occasionally wrote to me in respect of private, often spiritual matters. On each occasion I naturally replied as I believe that to be the polite thing to do.
Peter Ball told me he had been involved in some form of ‘indiscretion’ which prompted his resignation as the Bishop of Gloucester. The matter was described by him as ‘closed’. When this exchange took place I did not know the nature of the complaint.
I was certainly not aware at the time of the significance or impact of the caution Peter Ball had accepted, or indeed sure if I was even told about it.
I occasionally send the brothers small gifts of money, as I do for many people in need, and Peter Ball’s interest in becoming a tenant of a Duchy of Cornwall property then arose.
Probably late in 1994, I recall seeing the then Archbishop and of Canterbury at an event, and taking the opportunity to ask, among other issues, about Peter Ball as he had lately been my local Bishop.
Other than this conversation, I do not recall any specific conversations regarding Peter Ball, although I was aware that Peter Ball himself was keen to persuade the church to restore him to some form of ministry in the church.
I remember the Archbishop was supportive of Peter Ball and thought him a good man and priest.
“In conclusion, I would like to state that, throughout my life, my position has occasionally brought me into contact with prominent people that have subsequently been accused of wrongdoing.
“Rather than rushing to public judgement I have always taken the view that the judicial process should take its course.
“It follows that I ceased contact with Peter Ball once the judicial process was completed and he was found guilty of serious offences against young people.”
“My heart goes out to the victims of abuse, and I applaud their courage as they rebuild their lives and, so often, offer invaluable support to others who have suffered.
“It remains a source of deep personal regret that I was one of the many who were deceived over a long period of time as to the true nature of Peter Ball’s activities.”
We are now hearing extracts from letters between HRH The Prince of Wales and Peter Ball. These extracts are available on our website.
InquiryCSA Verified account @InquiryCSA
A letter is now being read which was sent from Lord Lloyd of Berwick to Mr Murdock: “He (Peter Ball) is the most upright, gentle and saintly man, I find it difficult to accept such an awful fate has befallen such a man.”
We are now hearing from Lord Berwick regarding a telephone call he made to Wayne Murdock, SIO in the Peter Ball case from Gloucestershire police.
Judge phoned officer during bishop Ball inquiry
A senior judge and close friend of a bishop accused of sex offences telephoned the detective handling the case in the middle of the police investigation, a public inquiry was told yesterday.
Lord Justice Lloyd, now Lord Lloyd of Berwick, an appeal court judge who became a law lord, called Wayne Murdock, then a detective inspector. “I said to him, ‘You do realise that I’m the investigating officer’,” Mr Murdock told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
Mr Murdock also criticised Lord Carey of Clifton, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, for not passing letters from Peter Ball’s victims to the police and said a private investigator hired by the church came close to perverting the course of justice.
Ms Scolding is now discussing with Lord Berwick his support of Peter Ball returning to the church ministry. He thought it acceptable to go back to the ministry as he had resigned as a bishop and could not be left with nothing to do for the rest of his life.
Lord Berwick:
“I got to know Ball Peter Ball very soon after he became Bishop of Lewes, because I wast hen the chairman of the Chichester Diocesan Board of Finance, and, accordingly, I would meet Peter Ball at meetings of the Bishops’ Council. But I got to know him well when he became our nearest neighbour in Berwick. He was a very remarkable – he had very remarkable gifts, spiritual gifts….I liked him very much. We then became very good friends, and we still are.”
If you were trying to provide a character reference…, why didn’t you simply write to Peter Ball’s solicitors and provide this information…Why did you think it was appropriate for you to directly write to the Chief Constable of Gloucestershire? …Because obviously it as written from you in your –saying …”I am Lord Justice Lloyd”, wasn’t it?
The Archbishop of Canterbury agreed that Peter Ball should be given names letters of complaint about him. (Peter Ball)
It was very bad practice wasn’t it?
Nobody’s Friends
In 2018 the club was subject of a question in the IICSA hearing into abuse in the Church of England. Lord Lloyd had sent a letter of influence in the Peter Ball case to Archbishop Carey prefaced with the phrase “May I presume on a brief acquaintanceship at dinners of Nobody’s Friends?”[17] When asked about the club in his evidence to the Inquiry, Lord Lloyd described Nobody’s Friends as “simply a club, half consisting of the clergy, members of the clergy, and half consisting of members of the laity, which dine together probably twice a year, very often in Lambeth Palace.”
The IICSA counsel pointed out that the Daily Mail had once described it as “centred on a strong core of bishops, ex-Tory ministers and former military top brass, a highly secretive, all-male group representing Britain’s most entrenched professions and institutions.” Lord Lloyd replied, “That’s a typical Daily Mail description of something they don’t particularly like, but I can assure you that Nobody’s Friends is a perfectly ordinary dining club…” The same article that IICSA drew upon in the hearing indicated that Prime Minister Tony Blair had been keen to join the club in 2003.[18][19][20]
Stephen Parsons commented in an influential blog, following the IICSA hearing, that the forum Nobody’s Friends provided for influence in the Peter Ball case suggested a “toxic masculinity” in the Church of England. He went on to say:
A men-only dining club that meets regularly at Lambeth Palace, known as Nobody’s Friends, appears to be a gathering for socially very well-connected Anglicans. Although originally high church in its origins, the club provides an opportunity for a privileged church group to network and sometimes lobby those in authority in the Church …… The Nobody’s Friends dining group has been described as ‘private’ rather than a secret group, but it still represents an exclusive world of male privilege within the heart of the Anglican establishment. When Bishop John Bickersteth once revealed that his appointment to Bath and Wells followed his being ‘spotted’ at a Nobody’s dinner, we began to get the feeling that the values of our church may incline towards corporate and institutional interests rather than a personal morality based on the Sermon on the Mount.[21]
Gilo writes: Safeguarding the Secrets part 1 – Nobody’s Friends
I was recently given a copy of Nobody’s Friends 1800-2000, a biography and historical diary of the Lambeth Palace dining club which featured in the Peter Ball hearings at IICSA. It emerged at the Inquiry that Lord Lloyd of Berwick had cited their mutual membership of the secretive club to Archbishop Carey in one of many ‘letters of influence’ in support of Ball. Nobody’s Friends is a gathering which quietly fosters establishment links between church and Westminster (mostly the Tory bits of it) and meets in the Guards Room at Lambeth Palace. Newly elected members ‘justify’ themselves during congratulatory speeches which honour any advancement in the various pecking orders (episcopal, judicial, political) of its members. It undoubtedly offers a fulcrum of patronage to any senior cleric lucky enough to be elected member, who might aspire to a mitre.
Membership has included many bishops and archbishops, headmasters from a sprinkling of top schools, various Archbishop’s Appointments Secretaries, Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretaries, Leaders of the House of Commons and House of Lords, Tory peers, Admiralty figures, judicial figures and church lawyers. Such heavyweights as Sir Michael Havers (later Lord Chancellor), Lord Pym, Douglas Hurd, Lord Justice Bingham (former Master of the Rolls) have graced its tables. Several of the senior clerics on the board of Ecclesiastical have also enjoyed membership, and one of the headmaster directors of the church’s insurer. The current club President is believed to be Sir Philip Mawer, who was on the directors board of Ecclesiastical when he was also at same time Secretary General of Synod.
Jonathan Fletcher, Archbishop Welby’s friend and a regular participant at the Iwerne camps from the early 1950s has been a member since 1983. His father, Lord Fletcher, was also a member. The club seems to have had a culture of nepotism in which the scion of ennobled members themselves become elected members.
But another name kept ringing bells. Sir William Van Straubenzee, Tory minister in Northern Ireland under Heath and later a prominent Synod member and Church Estates Commissioner, became a member in 1973. In 1988 he was elected Vice President of the club, and in 1991 elected President of Nobody’s – a position he held until his death in 1999. Clearly very well connected, his London home was a grace-and-favour apartment in Lambeth Palace in the Lollard’s Tower. This pied-à-terre gave name to a group of Tory wets, the Lollards, who met there during Thatcher’s premiership.
Straubenzee was cited in government files in relation to abuse at the Kincora boys home in Belfast. Sir Anthony Duff sent an MI5 dossier on Straubenzee to Sir Robert Armstrong (now Lord Armstrong) in 1986. Kincora may have have been run under the watchful eye of the secret services who used it as a ‘dirty tricks’ blackmail operation, although the findings of the Hart report (Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry HIA Inquiry 2014-2016) disputed this. The involvement of MI5 in Kincora has never meaningfully been investigated. And although three men who shared in the running of the home were prosecuted and jailed in the 1980s – figures from the political and establishment worlds named in connection with the abuse and trafficking of boys from this and other homes in Belfast did not face questioning.
Armstrong himself was also a member of Nobody’s from 1984, and may be still as far as anyone knows. It’s unlikely that other members had awareness at the time when the senior mandarin from Number 10 received this intelligence from MI5. Armstrong appears to have remained tight-lipped, although it is recorded that these files were passed to the Prime Minister. So two men, one of whom had grounds from the security services to suspect possible abuse activities by the other – both toasted the club’s customs and membership alongside assorted archbishops during coffee and mint thins. It’s a disconcerting image.
Equally as disconcerting, there seems to be no indication that the Church of England shared this information with IICSA. Nor following the Peter Wanless and Richard Whittam QC Review when the material from the Cabinet Office first came to public light in 2015 after their report.
Despite judicial interest in these matters, the suffering of victims and survivors, and the need for transparency – the Church of England did not seem to offer this information to these inquiries? Presumably many current Nobody’s Friends, including many bishops, have copies of this rare publication. It did not occur to any of them, nor to the club Treasurer, that this might be helpful information – not least because it might shed light on the culture of protectionism afforded by these private clubs.
Another Lambeth Palace dining club offers a deeper picture of privilege and protection. In 1993 a former chairman of the Nikaean Club and head of Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge went to court for abusing a boy between the ages of 14 and 16. Canon (later Bishop) Christopher Hill, also a member of the Nikæan Club, accompanied Patrick Gilbert to court. Gilbert was also able to brandish a character witness letter from another Nikaean member – former Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Coggan. Gilbert, who was also secretary of the wine committee at The Athenaeum, admitted a previous conviction for indecent assault on two 13-year-old school boys in 1962. Despite this and despite the seriousness of the charge, and almost certainly owing to the protecting influence of a Lambeth Palace dining club, he received a suspended sentence and sympathy from the judge for the considerable stress he had endured. As the judge explained, he decided not to jail the bachelor because of his health and ‘very severe punishment’ he had already undergone through loss of reputation. Both Hill and Coggan were also members of The Athenaeum. It’s not who you know… but who you dine with.
Returning to Nobody’s it is oddly disturbing that its members are likely to have their own copies of this book, and many older members will remember Straubenzee as President of the club. They will have presumably been aware of media reports in recent years of the mention of Straubenzee in secret service reports to the Cabinet Office.
A culture of ‘say nothing unless asked’ is a culture still reluctant to move on from subtle complicity and subterfuge. This mindset has already led to the current existential crisis of the bishops and senior ‘management’ of the Church. The time for keeping of secrets Luca Brasi-style to protect the reputation of a Lambeth Palace eliterie should long be over. The Church should no longer entertain disposition to this kind of omerta. A church with secrecy riven in its bones is not a church with a healthy and redemptive future. It is hardly worth the candle.
Incidentally I was interested to find that two senior figures I had told of my abuse – were both members. Stephen Platten, former Bishop of Wakefield, and John Eastaugh, former Bishop of Hereford.
With no little irony, I give the last word of this essay to Lord Lloyd. When questioned at the Inquiry, his description of Nobody’s Friends was that it was a “perfectly ordinary dining club”.
Looking back at his history, it appears Lord Lloyd of Berwick was Prince Charles’ attorney general at the same time Nicholas Soames was his equerry… Would they have worked together in any capacity?
Nicholas Soames:
I knew Harvey Proctor slightly. He had been in the House for four years when I was first elected in 1983. We were not political soulmates, but I was one of those Members of Parliament proud to rally around to help him to set up his shop in Richmond following his conviction in 1987, which resulted in his leaving the House.
The Aegis connection? Oh, and here’s the Wardrobe with the Little Key out canvassing in 1983 with Ted Heath, the man who would have been questioned under caution for the abuse of children.
The Aegis connection? Nicholas Soames was always on hand to give the paedophile Harvey Proctor a leg-up in times of need:
Bud McFarlane relevant here… not only a director of Aegis Defence (like Soames & Boateng) also involved with Iran Contra (and it’s ties to @FranklinScandal). Le Cercle Member too…
7/ Another Western Goals man, Robert McFarlane was involved in ContraGate and on the board of Aegis, Soames’ defence company. Soames (Wardrobe with Little Key) is of course a close friend of Denby mate Proctor and likely facilitated his St. (V)Ermin’s PR conference.
The Aegis connection? Chairman Soames and Princess Diana:
The Aegis connection? Another non-executive director of Aegis is Paul Boateng, a man with connections to paedophile John Carroll and the Angel Rd. children’s home.
Anthony John Leslie Lloyd, Baron Lloyd of Berwick, Kt, PC, DL (left)with Sir John Birch Director of Aegis
One of Prince Charles closest friends, Nicholas Soames is chairman of Aegis
Charles later admitted his adultery and Soames apologised. When questioned by the inquest into the death of Diana, Soames said that he saw his job as “to speak up for the Prince of Wales”, he denied threatening Diana, and warning her, “accidents happen” in the months before she died.[6]
The Aegis connection? Despite Bishop Ball’s seriously perverted character, Lloyd of Berwick still fawns over him:
In 1969 Lloyd was appointedAttorney-General to the Prince of Wales, serving until 1977.
He was made a Privy Counsellor
He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of East Sussex in 1983.
We are now hearing from Ms Kate Wood, the Safeguarding Consultant for the Diocese of Chichester and retired detective inspector looking at child sexual abuse and domestic abuse. She contacted the Church of England in 2007 to support investigations into child sexual abuse
In 2008/09 Ms Wood notes that Peter Ball did not have a risk assessment while he was working in Bath & Wells. She conducted a past cases review in 2009. She described a “disturbing pattern of behaviour” from Peter Ball.
Ms Wood raised concerns in 2008/09 that a 17 year old who was attending school, who Peter Ball to masturbate in front of him. The file notes said it was no offence, but it was an offence of gross indecency.
Ms Wood recalls asking Peter Ball what indecent assault is. He replied “oh yes, I did do that.” She then explained what gross indecency was. He again replied: “I did have an emmission.” Ms Wood was surprised that Peter Ball had admitted behaviour after years of denial.
The Inquiry is now hearing from Dame Moira Gibb. Last year, Ms Gibb published a report into the Church’s handling of the Peter Ball case:
Ms Scolding has asked Ms Gibb about the limits of her report into Peter Ball. She confirms that she had no difficulties in accessing information from the Church of England, however had difficulties with Northamptonshire Constabulary and Gloucestershire Constabulary.
Ms Scolding notes that former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey raised a number of concerns in his witness statement about conclusions in Dame GIbb’s report. In the report Ms Gibb noted degrees of cover up and collusion in relation to Peter Ball.
“Failure to pass the letters to the police (detailing allegations in relation to Peter Ball) must give rise to a perception of deliberate concealment.” Dame Moira Gibb tells the #AnglicanHearing
Dame Moira Gibb is now explaining why she used the word “careless” in her report. She notes carelessness in the attitude of the Church towards the victims of Peter Ball.
Prince Charles aide asked police if anything could ’embarrass’ him during inquiry into paedophile bishop
25 July 2018
An aide to the Prince of Wales contacted police in 2013 to ask about “embarrassing” material it may have collected during an investigation into a paedophile bishop, the independent child sex abuse inquiry has heard.
A member of the Prince’s staff contacted the chief constable of Sussex Police to ask whether information gathered during its investigation into Peter Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and of Gloucester, could “be embarassing to Prince Charles or the monarchy in general”.
Ball, now 86, was convicted in 2015 of misconduct in public office after admitting the sexual abuse of 18 young men.
According to the evidence of Detective Chief Inspector Carwyn Hughes, who worked on the investigation, the disgraced bishop had a “long-lasting friendship” with the Prince of Wales and the pair had exchanged several letters.
The contact was made after Peter Ball’s brother Michael Ball sent a letter to the Prince.
On Wednesday the officer told the inquiry he examined the police’s records to see if they had collected any material which could “damage the reputation of Prince Charles”, and did not find any.
Calling the contact “highly unusual” on account of the prince’s status, he said it prompted him to consider whether the prince could be a witness in the inquiry.
He insisted that Prince Charles was not treated differently from “the man on the street”, and that while he would have been notified if there was any relevant information, this would also have been the case for a member of the public.
“If there was evidence in the investigation that was of relevance to the person on the street, they would also be a potential witness,” he said, adding that he felt “no pressure” and did not feel the investigation had been influenced as a result of the contact.
The inquiry also heard that pre-charge publicity around Bishop Ball encouraged 12 victims to come forward to police.
The Inquiry is due to hear read evidence on Friday from the Prince of Wales, who maintained contact with the bishop after Ball was cautioned in 1993 for gross indecency.
He is expected to say in his statement that he did not know the caution involved an admission of guilt.
On Wednesday morning the inquiry heard from Wayne Murdock, formerly of Gloucestershire Police, who had presided over the earlier inquiry, which ended with the caution.
Mr Murdock said that he believed the outcome of his investigation could have been different had then-Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey handed over letters sent to Lambeth Palace by victims and their families.
“He knew we were carrying out an investigation, and for some reason he withheld them,” he said.
On Tuesday Lord Carey admitted that the letters should have been handed over, but added that he had “assumed the police were investigating this thoroughly”. The inquiry continues.
Another extraordinary day @InquiryCSA we hear a former Bishop @DioTruro may have perverted the course of justice and that Prince Charles’ staff officer asked Sussex Police in 2013 if they had any embarrassing information about the Prince of Wales.(They said No.) @churchofengland
Peter Ball received around £12,500 between 1992 and 1994 from @churchofengland Lord Carey tells @InquiryCSA as a retired Bishop Peter Ball needed help and I was glad to give it.
Peter Ball’s defence solicitor wrote to the Crown Prosecution Service saying he had received 1284 letters in support and to consider the impact of a prosecution on @churchofengland@InquiryCSA
Cassandra Cogno@CassandraCogno
Just like Dame Butler “we don’t want to give the press a bishop” Sloss …
Janet Cope, Jimmy Savile’s secretary, showing his files – letter from Prince Charles next to a clipping about the Cleveland Inquiry
Dame Alun Roberts @ciabaudo
Now here’s a thought: Is the Sloshed Butler Royalty’s safe pair of hands when embarrassing material may emerge and a coverup is needed?
Given her past failures and her closeness to paedophiles, it was the incredible and shameful choice of Butler Sloss as first chair of @InquiryCSA which really took the biscuit though:
Butler Sloss was commissioned to look into abuse in the Diocese of Chicester. During that review she uttered the infamous words she didn’t want to ‘give the press a Bishop.’ The Bishop was Peter Ball.
According to the BBC, investigating officer Detective Inspector Wayne Murdock is said to have discussed with Ball’s legal team in the documents “the need to prevent a scandal in the press, especially as Peter was a frequent visitor to Sandringham and is friendly with Prince Charles”.
In a separate document released by Gloucestershire Police in response to an Freedom of Information request, Mr Murdock writes that after a meeting at Lambeth Palace, it was suggested that “any form of Church investigation instigated by the Archbishop of Canterbury would be ‘fairly low key and private’.”
He said the Church had displayed a “considerable amount of naivety” over the case as it took no action when advised in early September 1992 of “irregularities” concerning Ball.
Gloucestershire Police received messages of support for the former clergyman from MPs, former public school heads, JPs and a Lord Chief Justice, and Mr Murdock said: “According to defence sources they claim to have in excess of two thousand letters of support for Bishop Peter Ball, including letters from Cabinet ministers and Royal Family.”
Mr Hughes carried out an investigation into Lord Carey following the Peter Ball sentencing considering whether any legal action was to be taken as there were letters not disclosed to the police from Carey.
craftymuvva@craftymuvva
This should have made headline news this evening. I bet it didn’t:
Ms McNeill is now asking whether it was unusual to receive a call from the Prince of Wales office regarding Operation Dunhill. Mr Hughes has confirmed that it was indeed unusual for this call to have been made.
Operation Dunhillbegan as a direct result of the safeguarding officer at Lambeth Palace raising concerns about Peter Ball following a church initiated review of files.
A man who was 12 when he alleges he was abused by the former bishop of Lewes was among those who came forward, according to a spokesman for Sussex police’s Operation Dunhill
Mr Hughes on the delay of the CPS decision on charges of Peter Ball: “There was a growing theory that there had been some sort of establishment cover up.”
We are now looking at a case conference with the CPS, where Mr Hughes was made aware of a letter sent to Peter Ball regarding his police cautions.
Mr Hughes: “As far as I was concerned, this was highly unusual.”
It gave Mr Hughes little time to speak to complainants before a press conference was to be held. Mr Hughes confirms it would be useful for the CPS to give more time to notify victims before issuing details to the press.
Mr Hughes on discussing two complainants in the Peter Ball case. “I can see from their prospective that they did not get justice in this case.”
Mr Hughes has now indicated that new complainants came forward following the media coverage of Peter Ball’s sentencing. It was considered that it was not in the public interest to pursue these cases, as Peter Ball has recently been incarcerated.
Sean O’Neill @TimesONeil
In the light of Cliff Richard judgment: senior detective says pre-charge publicity around Bishop Peter Ball encouraged 12 victims to come forward to police
InquiryCSAVerified account@InquiryCSA
Mr Hughes carried out an investigation into Lord Carey following the Peter Ball sentencing considering whether any legal action was to be taken as there were letters not disclosed to the police from Carey.
Mr Hughes concluded that there was no legal action to take against Lord Carey. He found that there was gross misconduct at that time at Lambeth Palace but considered that it did not cross any threshold for criminal proceedings.
We are now hearing read evidence on behalf of Ian David Stafford Beer CBE.
Mr Beer: “He first met Peter Ball through his mother in law. The Ball twins created the society of the Glorious Ascension.”
Peter Ball claimed to Mr Beer that he had been given a letter by the then Archbishop of Canterbury giving permission to officiate anywhere in the UK, however, the Bishop of Gloucestershire declined to give permission for Peter Ball to officiate the wedding of his son
Inquiry counsel Fiona Scolding QC is hearing evidence from Mr Wayne Murdock, formerly of Gloucestershire Police
Mr Murdock states that it’s not true to say that he would cease the investigation if Peter Ball would accept a caution. These matters needed proper investigation. ‘I wouldn’t cut corners’
Mr Murdock, when showed notes from PB’s solicitors on meeting – that he would supply them with notes of the investigation – said ‘Rubbish … I would be knocking on the door of perverting the course of justice, and I would not do that’ – watch live:
Mr Murdoch: ‘I made it clear [at the meeting with PB’s legal team] that I would report back to the DPP, the offer of the caution, and I clearly made no promises… I certainly did not recommend a caution.
Mr Murdock wrote a 633 page report to the Crown Prosecution Service which contained all witness statements and at the end, Mr Murdock, as SIO could give his views, opinions and summarise what he believed what offences should be charged.
Mr Murdock’s report recommended the DPP considers charges of gross indecency and indecent assault. and also wish to consider additional offences which resulted from the police investigation – Offences under section 18 of offences against the person ACT (sec 18 is GBH)
FSQC – You say in your report that you invite the CPS to consider that Peter Ball has been less than truthful [in his evidence] – and has been quite calculating in the manner in which he presents himself.
FSQC: You also flag to the CPS that the reputation of the Church would suffer if PB was prosecuted-that didn’t really matter did it? Mr Murdock: It’s my job to point out the risks to the CPS the decision lies with them whether or not to prosecute.
Credne’s Cod Peace @CrednesCodPeace
It’s quite strange that one of the best mate’s with many paedophiles including Jimmy Saville is allowed to get away without giving verbal evidence or being cross examined. Long live the monarchy, we like our feudal lords & masters.
Prince Charles tried to keep links to paedophile bishop Peter Ball private
July 24 2018
Prince Charles argued that information about his connection with Bishop Peter Ball was “private and confidential”
The Prince of Wales staged a lengthy legal fight against demands from a public inquiry for him to provide evidence about his long friendship with a paedophile Anglican bishop, it has emerged.
Lawyers for Prince Charles protested that requests for evidence from the child abuse inquiry about his connection with Bishop Peter Ball were beyond its powers, unfair and a breach of the prince’s human rights by seeking to obtain “intensely private and confidential” material.
Alexis Jay, chairwoman of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), issued a statutory notice requiring the prince to provide evidence but met continued resistance from Clarence House.
When the prince’s evidence was submitted last week the inquiry was surprised that it came in the form of a letter to Professor Jay rather than a formal witness statement “finalised with a statement of truth and signed”.
Richard Scorer, solicitor for six of Ball’s victims, told an inquiry hearing that the prince’s refusal to provide a statement in the usual way “will feed concerns that the letter is less than entirely frank about his relationship with Peter Ball”.
The Times revealed last week that the prince’s draft evidence admitted that he maintained a friendship with Ball, 86, former Anglican Bishop of Gloucester, for more than 20 years after the cleric accepted a police caution for gross indecency in 1993.
The prince invited Ball to his Highgrove home and to royal occasions, gave him “small gifts of money” after he was forced to resign his ministry and helped to arrange a Duchy of Cornwall house for him to live in.
His evidence said he did not understand that a criminal caution involved an admission of guilt and did not cut contact with Ball until he was convicted and jailed at the Old Bailey in 2015. The prince expressed “deep personal regret” that he had been deceived by the bishop.
The investigation of the Ball case is part of the IICSA’s wider inquiry into the handling of child abuse cases by the Church of England.
The inquiry counsel Fiona Scolding, QC, said the IICSA had heard from 32 men who were victims of grooming, abuse and sexual exploitation by the bishop when they were teenage boys or young adults.
At the time of the initial police inquiry into Ball in 1992-93, police and prosecutors received 24 letters from prominent figures — including senior clergy, MPs, an appeal court judge and public school headmasters — lobbying on his behalf.
Ball exploited his royal and establishment connections in a voluminous letter-writing campaign in which he pressed, with success, for his return to Church duties. He was given permission to officiate at services and between 1996 and 2002 preached at 25 schools.
William Chapman, counsel for some of Ball’s victims, said the cleric had been able to “call upon the willing assistance of the establishment — including the heir to the throne”.
He told Professor Jay and the inquiry panel: “These establishment helpers claim they were duped by Peter Ball. You will have to consider whether that is credible — given what they must have known or could easily have found out about Peter Ball. Prince Charles has many advisers, he only had to ask what a ‘caution’ meant.”
Mr Scorer also argued that the prince could have inquired about the accurate legal position concerning Ball. “Prince Charles apparently decided not to seek clarification of the legal position. To my clients, this extraordinary lack of curiosity looks like wilful blindness,” he said.
Ms Scolding said that the format of the prince’s eventual evidence “was not what had been requested” but the IICSA was satisfied that it did answer the questions put to Prince Charles.
She said: “The last sentence of the letter does make clear that the material set out within it is true. The inquiry considered that this complies with the requirements of a statement of truth and that the letter received contained all the evidence required.”
Ms Scolding said the inquiry had withdrawn the statutory demand for the prince to provide evidence and had “adjusted its requests in some respects”. She added, however, that the IICSA “did not resile from its demands the need to obtain this evidence or accept the contention that the prince should be treated in a way that was different from any other witness”.
The prince’s evidence will be read at the inquiry on Friday but he will not be called to answer questions.
A Clarence House spokesman said: “The prince made it clear that he was willing to help the inquiry and voluntarily answered all the questions asked in the form of ‘free flowing text’ as requested by the inquiry itself. The final submission includes a statement of truth in common with all witness statements.
“The legal exchanges, which have been extensively referred to by the inquiry’s solicitors, were necessary to ensure clarity regarding both the structure, relevance and content of the statement. Once resolved, the inquiry raised no objection to the format of the prince’s submission.”
Lord Carey to face questions
Lord Carey of Clifton, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, faces intensive public questioning today about his handling of the case of the disgraced bishop Peter Ball.
Lord Carey, 82, will appear at the child abuse public inquiry to explain why he wrote to senior police and prosecutors in support of Ball when the Bishop of Gloucester as he was then was under criminal investigation in 1993. When he was lobbying on Ball’s behalf, the former archbishop was aware that Lambeth Palace had received further allegations of sexual misconduct against Ball. Only one letter was passed to the police.
The peer will also be asked to explain why he tried to rehabilitate Ball after his criminal caution by giving him permission to conduct church services.
The inquiry was told yesterday that in 2014 Lord Carey again wrote to officers claiming that the bishop had “served the church with great distinction”.
Ms Scolding QC asks former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey why Peter Ball was given money to go on holiday, when his victims received no counselling. He responds, we didn’t care enough for the victims at the time, and I would gladly have given money for that end.
Ms Scolding QC asks do you think it was appropriate to give a bishop who had been found guilty of gross indecency discretionary funds? At the time we felt that Peter Ball needed help, after careful scrutiny of his finances Lord Carey responds.
A letter from Peter Ball to Lord Carey in 1994 he asks for £10,000 to help with legal funds. In the letter, Peter Ball describes allegations as a “little nuisance”.
Ms Scolding QC asks do you think it was appropriate to give a bishop who had been found guilty of gross indecency discretionary funds? At the time we felt that Peter Ball needed help, after careful scrutiny of his finances Lord Carey responds.
Ms Scolding QC asks Lord Carey why Peter Ball was allowed to attend Stowe School and Radley College in 1996/97. He says he thought there would be proper supervision. Ms Scolding also notes there is no evidence schools were warned about Ball’s previous behaviour.
Daisy Law@theDaisyLaw
What, like the supervision which the church undertook by their conspiracy to cover up his crimes against children? Carey is looking like a fellow poacher rather than a gamekeeper trying to protect the flock. Corruption & shady networking are phrases which come to mind.
alun:
Surely I-Don’t-Carey must have been aware of this:
@craftymuvva
For a man that wrote numerous letters proffering his opinions on political matters to the PM (this proving his continued interest and knowledge of current affairs), Charlie is certainly very selective about what he knew…
Linda Woodhead@LindaWoodhead
IICSA … on the Peter Ball scandal: hears of the extraordinary lengths to which Prince Charles’s lawyers went to wiggle out of complying with IICSA’s request that the Prince give a witness statement to the Inquiry like everyone else. Even invoking European convention HRights!
William Chapman, counsel for survivors @InquiryCSA : “Were they really as ignorant as they claimed about the nature of Peter Ball’s activities? Prince Charles has many advisers, he only had to ask. So did the Archbishop of Canterbury.”
Under current @churchofengland procedures Peter Ball is still able to call himself, Bishop, with the title, Right Reverend”
Prince Charles refused to give formal statement to sex abuse inquiry
23 July 2018
Prince Charles refused to provide a formal witness statement to the child sex abuse inquiry, lawyers told a hearing on Monday.
The inquiry is currently hearing evidence relating to abuse carried out by Peter Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and of Gloucester, who knew the prince and exchanged letters with him.
Lawyers for the Prince of Wales used human rights law to object to block efforts to compel him to send a witness statement in the format used by the inquiry, instead sending a signed letter.
Fiona Scolding, lead counsel to the investigation into the Anglican church, said that his lawyers had previously argued that compelling him to give evidence was outside its powers.
Ball was convicted in 2015 of misconduct in public office after admitting abusing 18 teenagers and young men between the 1970s and 1990s.
His abuse had first been reported to the church in 1992, but police and CPS decided to give him a caution, and he was stripped of his role as bishop.
Ms Scolding said there would have been “no doubt” about what the inquiry’s lawyers were asking for, as they sent a template for the document and used the word “statement” five times in one letter asking for the document to be signed.
“Despite lengthy correspondence, including assertions from the Prince’s solicitors that the Inquiry’s requests for evidence were outside its powers, i.e. ‘ultra vires’, there was never any suggestion at any point that the statement would be provided by letter,” she said.
The prince’s law firm Harbottle & Lewis also tried to argue that asking for a witness statement was “unfair”, and constituted a request for “intensely private and confidential” personal data.
Following “lengthy and extensive correspondence” an agreement was reached and the inquiry has decided to treat the letter, which ends with a sentence saying that its contents are true, as equivalent to a witness statement, she said.
The Prince will not give evidence in person but will have the statement read out at the hearing on Friday.
Earlier in the hearing Richard Scorer, of law firm Slater and Gordon, who is representing victims and survivors, expressed “surprise and concern” at the decision.
“This will inevitably raise concerns that the letter may be less than entirely frank about his relationship with Peter Ball and that it contains matters to which he s reluctant to attach a formal statement of truth,” he said.
The prince’s statement is expected to say that he was “not aware at the time of the significance or impact of the caution that Peter Ball had accepted”, including the fact that a caution involves admission of guilt.
On Tuesday the Inquiry is expected to hear evidence in person from former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, who was found in an independent inquiry last year to be among senior church figures who “colluded” with Peter Ball.
Earlier in the day the inquiry heard that the church was dealing with a “turbulent” period in 1992, with Lord Carey raising the “constitutional crisis” caused by the Prince’s split with Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as the decision to allow women to be priests.
A Clarence House spokesman said: “The prince made it clear that he was willing to help the Inquiry and voluntarily answered all the questions asked in the form of ‘free flowing text’ as requested by the Inquiry itself.
“The final submission includes a statement of truth in common with all witness statements. The legal exchanges, which have been extensively referred to by the Inquiry’s solicitors, were necessary to ensure clarity regarding both the structure, relevance and content of the statement.
“Once resolved, the Inquiry raised no objection to the format of the prince’s submission.”
Elizabeth Butler Sloss, 1st IICSA chair, member of the establishment protected Bishop Peter Ball
Establishment ‘rallied to help ex-bishop later jailed for abuse’
Prince Charles and Lord Carey among powerful backers of Peter Ball, abuse inquiry told
23 July 2018
Members of the establishment, including the heir to the throne, the then archbishop of Canterbury and a senior member of the judiciary, rallied to the support of Peter Ball, a Church of England bishop accused of sexual abuse, an independent inquiry has heard.
“The story of Peter Ball is the story of the establishment at work in modern times,” said William Chapman, representing survivors. “It is the story of how the establishment minimised the nature of Peter Ball’s misdeeds … and silenced and harassed those who tried to complain.”
One survivor told the inquiry the C of E’s response to his disclosure of abuse amounted to “enduringly cruel and sadistic treatment”.
The independent inquiry into child sexual abuse is examining how the church handled allegations. A five-day hearing this week is scrutinising the church’s response to claims of sexual abuse against Ball, a former bishop of Lewes and then Gloucester, who was jailed in 2015.
Ball was able to call upon the “willing assistance of members of the establishment”, said Chapman. “It included the heir to the throne, the archbishop and a senior member of the judiciary, to name only the most prominent.”
Between them, they provided Ball with money and accommodation, legal advice, a private detective, references and approaches to the police and the prosecuting authorities.
“The alacrity and the extent of the response by Peter Ball’s friends to one of their own in trouble was impressive. It makes a horrible contrast to the way Peter Ball’s victims were treated,” Chapman said.
He told the inquiry: “These establishment helpers claim they were duped by Peter Ball … But you will have to consider if it is credible, given what they must have known or could easily have found out about Peter Ball, whether they were really as ignorant as they claimed they were about the nature of Peter Ball’s activities.
“Some claimed they did not know what a caution meant. Well, Prince Charles has many advisers; he only had to ask. So does the archbishop of Canterbury.”
Ball’s friends were willing to “add their weight” against the due criminal process. “They went far beyond the normal obligations of friendship.”
Allegations were first made against Ball in 1992, but he accepted a police caution and resigned his position as bishop. An independent review of the case commissioned by the C of E and published last year found evidence of collusion and a cover-up at the highest levels.
Richard Scorer, also representing survivors, said that Ball found in his fellow bishops the “perfect accomplices, prepared to turn a blind eye to his abuse over many decades”.
None bore greater responsibility than Lord Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, Scorer said. “We fear that when we hear from him this week, the usual litany of excuses will be trotted out,” he said, adding that Carey must give a “transparent account of his actions”.
Prince Charles’s assertion that he did not understand the significance of a caution was “frankly astonishing”, he said. The prince has access to “the best legal advice that money can buy,” Scorer added.
The prince chose not to clarify the legal position. “To my clients, this extraordinary lack of curiosity looks like wilful blindness,” he said.
In her opening statement, Fiona Scolding, senior counsel to the inquiry, said that Ball’s “fall from grace was a huge shock to the church”.
She added: “He was a very senior clergyman with enormous spiritual authority. He also had power and charm.”
People inside and outside the church had attested to Ball’s charisma and oratorical brilliance. She said that power had been “further enhanced by his cultivation of influential friends both within and outside the church”.
As an example, Ball had told people after his arrest that four cabinet ministers had offered him a “bolthole from the press”.
“He did not stint from mentioning those friends in prominent places when he thought it would assist his cause,” Scolding added.
She told the hearing of a scheme set up by Ball for young men interested in religious life that gave him the opportunity to groom them for sexual abuse and exploitation. The men were encouraged to pray naked, and engage in massage and spanking. One, Neil Todd, who first made allegations against Ball, killed himself in 2012.
Scolding said that Ball, now 86, was too unwell to give evidence either at the inquiry or by video link. But in one of two statements he had submitted he made an apology and said he had “neither been open nor shown penitence in the past”.
The hearing heard from three survivors who described their abuse by Ball. One, the Rev Graham Sawyer, who has waived his right to anonymity, said: “The sexual abuse that was perpetrated on me by bishop Peter Ball pales into insignificance when compared to the enduringly cruel and sadistic treatment that has been meted out to me by officials, both lay and ordained, in the Church of England.”
He described the culture within Anglicanism as an “ecclesiastic protection racket – and anyone who seeks in any way to threaten the reputation of the church and institution has to be destroyed”.
Safeguarding should be taken out of the church’s hands he said, as “it cannot police itself with any credibility”.
At the start of proceedings, Alexis Jay, the chair of the inquiry, said she had ordered an investigation into the leaking to the media of the Prince of Wales’s letter.
She said the leak was a “very serious breach of confidence by someone with direct access to information in this investigation” and promised “firm action” should the source be uncovered.
Scolding said a suggestion reported by the Times that the timing of the statement, to be read on the final day of this week’s hearings, was to prevent the prince being called for cross-examination “could not be further from the truth”.
She said: “There is no requirement for him to attend in person as his evidence, whilst important, is not of central relevance to many of the issues raised by this case study.”
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey admits ‘fobbing off’ sex abuse victims
July 24 2018
A former Archbishop of Canterbury has admitted “fobbing off” victims of sex abuse who complained about a paedophile bishop.
Lord Carey of Clifton said Lambeth Palace failed to deal properly with letters sent by victims and their families after the arrest of Peter Ball in December 1992.
Ball, then the bishop of Gloucester, was arrested following disclosures by Neil Todd, who had been a pupil on his scheme for young men considering a monastic life, that Ball had sexually abused him.
Lord Carey also admitted that the church had “mishandled” the case, after the inquiry heard evidence that many of the letters had received holding responses and victims had been forced to follow up to gain a proper reply.
“We have been fobbing people off. They should have had direct replies. We should have carried on our enquiries and dealt with it in a much more serious and adult manner than we did,” he admitted.
The inquiry also heard that a “personal message” from the former Archbishop had been sent to the diocese of Gloucester in January 1993, several weeks after the allegations had been received, expressing a hope that the ongoing police enquiry would “clear his [Ball’s] name”.
He also wrote to the chief constable of Gloucestershire and the director of public prosecutions in 1993 on Ball’s behalf after the bishop’s psychiatrist told him that he was suicidal, and wrote to Ball himself telling him “you are in my prayers”.
Lord Carey, who was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1991 and 2002, oversaw Ball’s return to ministry and the payment of thousands of pounds to the bishop, including money for holidays, which came from his own discretionary funds, used to support church leaders in need.
The inquiry also heard that Ball was given the role as Bishop of Gloucester in 1992 after then-appointments secretary to the Prime Minister Sir Robin Catford wrote a glowing letter recommending him, including mentioning that he was a “squash blue” at Cambridge and that he had a “quite extraordinary sparkling personality” and was “loved and revered by everyone who crossed his path”.
Powerful evidence by Rev Graham Sawyer, victim of Peter Ball : “ It is an ecclesiastical protection racket… anyone who threatens the reputation of the Church has to be destroyed. That is the culture within Anglicanism.”
Ball was able to call upon the “willing assistance of members of the establishment”… it included Prince Charles, the archbishop and a senior member of the judiciary…they provided Ball with money and accommodation, legal advice, a private detective, references and approaches to the police and the prosecuting authorities.
Peter Ball (right) and his twin brother Michael Ball, pictured in 1989
Bishops were ‘perfect accomplices’ for ‘nauseating’ Peter Ball, IICSA hears
23 July 2018
PETER BALL found the “perfect cover” for his sex-offending in the Church of England, and the “perfect accomplices” in fellow bishops who turned a blind eye to his actions, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) has heard.
The details of the abuse carried out against vulnerable adults by Mr Ball, the disgraced former Bishop of Gloucester, during his ministry were heard on Monday at the start of a week-long hearing being conducted by IICSA, as part of its investigation into the extent to which the Anglican Church failed to protect children from child sex abuse.
The first hearing, in March, used the diocese of Chichester as a case study (News, 9 March). This week is to focus on the repeated failures of the police, Crown Prosecution Service, and the Church to identify, prevent, and prosecute abuse carried out by Ball over several decades, the lead counsel to the Anglican investigation, Fiona Scolding QC explained.
Ball received a three-year sentence in 2015, having admitted to a series of indecent assaults and the abuse of 18 young men aged 17-25 (News, 7 October 2015).
The offences included praying naked with vulnerable young people who had joined the monastic-community scheme Give a Year to God, which Ball had founded and run in Littlington, East Sussex, in the 1980s, when he was Bishop of Lewes.
Summarising the evidence received by the Inquiry, which included more than 100,000 documents, Ms Scolding said that Ball had admitted to being naked with, caressing, anointing, and physically assaulting young men, who would sleep in his house, sometimes in his bed, and with whom he would prayer naked, embrace, and masturbate. The victims were told that these practices were an expression of humiliation, penitence, and devotion to Christ.
One of his victims was the late Neil Todd, who was repeatedly abused during the 1980s and ’90s, and who later took his own life. His allegations brought about the police investigation in 1993, which resulted in Ball accepting a police caution, thereby admitting his guilt.
Ms Scolding also quoted several senior clerics who had held Ball in high esteem, most of whom had “flooded to defend him” after the police investigation and, latterly, his conviction. It had become clear in the Chichester hearing that abusers were required to “manipulate and charm” everyone around them, not just their victims, she said.
Among his defenders was Michael Ball, his twin brother and a former Bishop of Truro, who repeatedly urged Lambeth Palace to restore Peter Ball to ministry during the 2000s in what has been described in evidence as “manipulative” campaign which drew on connections with senior figures, including the Prince of Wales.
A lawyer representing six survivors of Ball, Richard Scorer QC, said that in the Church Ball had found the “perfect cover” for his offending.
“If a charlatan with an insatiable appetite for abuse wanted to secure a continuous supply of vulnerable young victims, there was no better way of achieving this than by founding a religious order not subject to any external supervision, and by making his victims participation in the abuse a religious duty obligated by their oath of absolute obedience.
“Not for the first time, theology and religious ritual provided the ideal mask for abuse, with the evil of what Peter Ball did being compounded by his nauseating claim that the abuse was spiritually uplifting.
“Most of all, however, Peter Ball found in his fellow bishops in the Church of England the perfect accomplices, prepared to turn a blind eye to his abuse over many decades, to collude in the lie that the abuse of Neil Todd was an uncharacteristic aberration, to cast doubt on his guilt, to smear his victims, and to rehabilitate him.”
Mr Scorer also criticised Prince Charles for not making efforts to check the position of Ball in 1993, after the bishop accepted a caution. “This extraordinary lack of curiosity looks like wilful blindness. . . He failed in that responsibility and therefore failed the victims.”
At the start of the hearing, the chair of the Inquiry, Professor Alexis Jay, expressed her disappointment at the “serious breach of confidence” after the content of a draft witness statement of Prince Charles was leaked to the press last week (News, 13 July).
The statement from Prince Charles had been disclosed to core participants on 9 July, Professor Jay said. “The panel is disappointed by the leaking of the draft statement. Deliberate leaking of information to the media before evidence is made public by the Inquiry not only undermines the ability of the Inquiry to get to the truth, but can also erode confidence in the Inquiry at all levels.”
Sussex police documents, released under an Freedom of Information (FOI) request, indicate Ball associated with other sex offenders in the clergy and that he was investigated in 2008 for being part of a suspected paedophile ring.
You would expect that anybody with nothing to hide would be completely open and have no fear. This behaviour gives the appearance of someone feeling the need to hide something. It actually draws attention to what that ‘something’ could possibly be. Extremely odd.
LazerLight@Lazer_Light23
So, Inquiry has no power to insist on statements from anyone?
According to evidence given to iiCSA today, Peter Ball would spend an hour each day praying in the nude… next to an open window. He also watched young clergy take cold showers each morning.
InquiryCSA@InquiryCSA
Rev’d Graham Sawyer: Let me make this clear – the sexual abuse that I suffered at the hands of Peter Ball, pales into insignificance when compared to the cruel/sadistic nature metered out to me
Esther Baker@Esther9982
I do wonder if the lawyers acting for the CP’s ought to challenge the lawyers running the @InquiryCSA on the basis that they are now accepting the accused (and their reps) words rather than truth seeking as their powers allow?
Recent examples of this would be a) allowing royalty to not give pertinent evidence because he’s royalty. B) inaccurately issuing a statement that I am under investigation for PCJ, and only removing it at the insistence of the police – because an ex-MP said it so it must be true
Peter Ball was a governor of both Lancing College but also the wider Woodard Group, which is a group of Anglican boarding schools
Peter Ball appointed to the Anglican Scouting Fellowship
In January 1996 Lord Carey agreed that Ball should be permitted to preach at a public school, provided that the school were made aware of possible hostile press interest. He further agreed in March that Ball could conduct confirmations and preach at two more schools. Ball was still the President of the Anglican Fellowship in Scouting and Guiding 17 and the Archbishop agreed that he could attend their Annual General Meeting and celebrate the Eucharist at their headquarters in Gilwell
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Peter Ball developed a scheme called “Give a year to God”. He set this up informally with the approval of Bishop Kemp.
The Anglican Fellowship in Scouting and Guiding was formed in 1983. It is not clear when Ball’s involvement with the Fellowship came to an end. The Scout Association has advised that Ball was also
appointed to a subcommittee of the Association’s Board in 1983.
Robert John Alston, (right) retired British diplomat. Alston was educated at Ardingly College and New College, Oxford. He is Chairman of Governors at Ardingly College (2005 – 2010). He served as British Ambassador to Oman between (1986–1990)
Paul Righton attended Ardingly College from 1940 to 1944
Righton’s Ardingly College obituary – with mention of Richard D Alston (G1953-63)
Dame Alun Roberts@ciabaudo
“Evil bishop drove me to suicide”- Telegraph article about Ball’s abuse was published 14 Mar 1993 in the Sunday Telegraph
If he didn’t know, he’s hardly fit to be King …
2006 Prince Charles and Camilla with evil Bishop Ball
Richard Scorer: My clients accept the Prince of Wales (Prince Charles) has many interactions with Church of England clergy. However our clients do not accept that he claims he was not aware that a caution means an acceptance of guilt.
Scorer claims senior leaders in the Church knew of Peter Ball’s offending but Lambeth Palace did not hand over letters to police:http://ow.ly/M5yK30l4wJe
Mr William Chapman: There’s a reluctance to trust the secular authorities to handle the matter and a willingness to forgive and reintegrate Peter Ball, no matter what he’d done
Elizabeth Hall, Nat Safeguarding Advisor, recommending a further review of Peter Ball information which should involve trying to find all files/documents
Both Michael Ball and brother Peter Ball were not shy about using the name of the Prince of Wales to seek to influence others. Bishop Michael Ball wrote to Lord Carey in Dec 1992 saying that his brother was receiving support from 2 Cabinet Ministers and Prince Charles Peter Ball often mention their friendship.
On 8 March 1993 Peter Ball received a caution for one count of gross indecency against Neil Todd. He resigned immediately. Peter Ball alleged to the Church of England shortly that he either did not wish to resign, and accepted a caution to avoid a trial.
“This Inquiry has been provided with details of allegations made by a total of 32 individuals. These all relate to an alleged abuse of power by Peter Ball for the purposes of his sexual gratification.”
The former Bishop of Lewes, Peter Ball was convicted of two offences of indecent assault, and an offence of misconduct
Peter Ball admitted when pleading guilty that he received sexual gratification from the deliberate manipulation of vulnerable young men, that the contact was consistent with grooming and that he abused his position as a Bishop in the Church of England
In January 1996, Ball was permitted by Archbishop Carey to preach at a particular public school and, to conduct confirmations at other specific schools later on in that year
(1) Why he was permitted to return to ministry in this fashion? (2) Why did no-one think to carry out some kind of risk assessment? (3) Whether or not senior clergy simply thought that Peter Ball’s pleas of innocence should be believed?
“I really appreciate your sympathetic understanding in preventing a scandal with a trial which would have affected the Royal family and establishments in this crucial time of turmoil within the Church of England.” Bishop Kemp comments on a 1990s investigation into Peter Ball
2006 Peter Ball former Bishop of Lewes with his good friends Prince Charles and Camilla at a memorial for her father Bruce Shand
Paedophile Peter Ball remained a confidant of Prince Charles right up until 2012
Although it took him time to accept the facts, the Prince has now cut the cleric out of his life. It was a difficult decision because Ball had become a spiritual advisor to the Prince
A risk assessment carried out by the Church in 2009 identified that Peter Ball could be identified as a sexual predator given the length and scale of his offending
Both Michael + Peter Ball were not shy about using the name of the Prince of Wales to seek to influence others. Bishop Michael Ball wrote to Lord Carey in Dec 1992 saying that his brother was receiving support from 2 Cabinet Ministers + the PoW. PB often mention their friendship.
Cassandra Cogno@CassandraCogno
Will we be told the 2 cabinet ministers didn’t understand a caution as an admission of guilt too? Or will they never be mentioned again
Gilo@seaofcomplicity:
That tiny handful of letters (I believe there were 2000+) shows the extent to which the great and the good brought undue influence to bear. Why write such letters … unless intending to influence judicial proceedings? There cannot be any other reason.
And Carey quietly sat on 6 letters from parents and victims – letters which had they gone to police in mid 90’s would almost certainly have led to prosecution. This was a cover-up involving lambeth palace archbishops, bishops, and other assorted figures.
Gibb Report said Lord Carey “set the tone for the Church’s response to Ball’s crimes and gave the steer which allowed Ball’s assertions that he was innocent to gain credence”. But will IICSA find anything more than this? In 5 days and with so few witnesses.
During his time in Lewes, Ball got to know Savile well and he was the bishop’s principal entree into the Waleses’ household
Peter Ball was propelled into the royal circle by two people, I understand. One was prebendary Willie Booth, a former chaplain at Westminster School, who’d taken over from Caesar. The other was Jimmy Savile.
During his time in Lewes, Ball got to know Savile well and he was the bishop’s principal entree into the Waleses’ household. After his appointment to Gloucester was announced, Ball became a regular visitor to Highgrove and was held in such high regard that Charles attended his enthronement.
Charles, meanwhile, must surely have been advised to keep Ball at arm’s length — just as he had been advised to distance himself from Jimmy Savile.
‘The Prince did receive letters from the public complaining about Savile,’ says a senior aide. ‘But the writers were dismissed [by him] as jealous or mad.’
Prince Charles kept in touch with ex-bishop later jailed for abuse
Prince told inquiry he was deceived by Peter Ball, who called him a ‘loyal friend’
20 July 2018
Prince Charles maintained contact with a former bishop who was later jailed for abusing young men and occasionally gave him money because he was deceived over the man’s crimes, he has told the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.
In a written submission to be read at the inquiry next week, the Prince of Wales has said he did not understand that Peter Ball’s caution for gross indecency in 1993 involved an admission of guilt, according to a report in the Times.
In the statement, described as a draft, Charles said he had “decades of correspondence” with Ball and occasionally sent him “small gifts of money, as I do for many people in need”.
The former bishop has described the prince as a “loyal friend”.
Ball was invited to give Communion at Highgrove, the prince’s home, preached at the funeral of Bruce Shand, the Duchess of Cornwall’s father, in 2006 and lived in a Duchy of Cornwall property from 1997 to 2011.
Charles said the bishop told him he had been involved in an “indiscretion” and that an individual with a grudge had been persecuting him.
The prince added: “I was certainly not aware at the time of the significance or impact of the caution … Whilst I note that Peter Ball mentioned the word in a letter to me in October 2009, I was not aware until recently that a caution in fact carries an acceptance of guilt.”
He expressed “deep personal regret” that he had been deceived by Ball.
Next week’s hearings at the inquiry are to investigate “whether there were inappropriate attempts by people of prominence to interfere in the criminal justice process after [Ball] was first accused of child sexual offences”.
Ball, 86, the former bishop of Gloucester, was sentenced to 32 months for charges relating to 18 teenagers and young men between the 1970s and 1990s when he was bishop of Lewes. He admitted one count of misconduct in public office and two counts of indecent assault relating to two young men.
Ball was first accused in 1993 by Neil Todd, who tried to kill himself three times as a result of his abuse, and went on to do so in 2012.
Sussex police investigated Todd’s claims, and six other victims came forward. But support flooded in for Ball from within the establishment and he was never charged. Instead he received a caution for gross indecency, resigned his post as bishop and was allowed by Carey to continue officiating at church services.
Last year, an independent review of the C of E’s handling of the Ball case, conducted by Dame Moira Gibb, found senior church figures colluded with the accused bishop over a 20-year period. The report said: “The church appears to have been most interested in protecting itself.”
George Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, will also give evidence to the inquiry, in person and including cross-examination. He resigned his position as an honorary assistant bishop after being criticised in the Gibb report. His “permission to officiate” was reinstated earlier this year.
A Clarence House spokesperson said on Thursday: “IICSA has asked the Prince of Wales if he could help the part of their inquiry that deals with Mr Peter Ball. Whilst the prince made it clear that he was unaware of Mr Ball’s behaviour, he indicated that he was happy to volunteer context on his contact with Mr Ball if that would help.”
The spokesperson also referred to findings in the Gibb report, which said it had found no evidence “that the Prince of Wales or any other member of the royal family sought to intervene at any point in order to protect or promote Ball”.
The Rev Barry Kinsman or ‘Mr. Padstow’ as he was known locally was found dead in the sea off Padstow. Now why would a man of the cloth be worried about the coverage given to the Savile inquiry and of it spreading to Cornwall?
Barry Kinsmen may have known Jimmy Savile through the Ball brothers.
Kinsmen (Truro Diocesan Adviser in Religious Education (1979-95) would have known Bishop Michael Ball as Truro Bishop (and Peter Ball who was friends with Jimmy Savile) Peter Ball resigned as Bishop of Gloucester in 1993 after he received a police caution for gross indecency.
It has now emerged he replaced his identical twin Michael, then Bishop of Truro, at services and official duties on an unknown number occasions in the 1990s.
The Diocese of Truro has appealed for information from churchgoers to investigate what happened when the two men were together in Cornwall between 1993 and 1997.
Of course, affordable housing is always an important issue, but what did Kinsman know about abuse in Cornwall, after all he was a leading light at the Padstow Echo and a former head teacher.
Let’s stay in Padstow for a while because it’s such a nice place and home to eccentrics such as Ed Prynn and his ladyfriend Glynis, whose spiritual mentors were Billy Graham (friend of croaker Cliff Richard) and Jimmy Savile:
On March 5th, 1993, the paedophile Bishop Ball was notified by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that despite “sufficient admissible, substantial and reliable evidence”, it was prepared to deal with the matter out of court.
In October 1985 Daniel Bryant was pictured in the North Devon Journal receiving the British Empire Medal for services to youth from the Lord Lieutenant of Devon, the Earl of Morley, at a ceremony in Exeter.
Paedophile police officer Daniel Bryant brought to book FORTY years after abusing boys
He now faces jail after admitting abusing a string of boys in the 1960s, 70s and 80s
6 OCT 2013
Daniel Bryant served as a constable over three decades and was honoured for his youth work – but led a secret double life as a predatory pervert.
Russel first reported Bryant in 1987 but was told the allegations were uncorroborated, even though a second lad had also alleged abuse.
Bryant continued as a PC in Devon and Cornwall Police’s juvenile bureau for another five years until he was suspended when a third victim came forward in 1993.
Just a year later, aged 44, he retired on a medical pension on the grounds of ill health. He avoided prosecution until this year when he was finally charged.
Police surf club coach Danny Bryant took advantage of weekends away to commit abuse
On leaving the force Bryant became a leading figure in a club for the competitive sport of surf lifesaving, where he worked with many more children.
Bryant admitted ten indecent assaults, against five boys between 1969 and 1985, at Taunton Crown Court in August.
Russel was preyed on by Bryant after joining a police lifesaving club run by the pervert. Following one vile assault he quit the club but was tormented by flashbacks.
Gallingly, the following year Bryant was awarded the British Empire Medal for his youth work.
His family took out a private prosecution but police refused to reinvestigate until eventually a probe was launched in February. Bryant pleaded guilty.
Bryant helped run a Surf Life Saving GB club affiliated at Saunton Sands in the 1980s when Russel Dawson said he was abused a number of times.
Esther Pearson, chief executive of Surf Life Saving GB (SLSGB), said the organisation had been unaware of the allegations until it received a letter from Mr Dawson on 19 October last year.
A police officer continued to work with children at a force lifesaving club following accusations of child abuse, a BBC investigation has found.
Danny Bryant was jailed last November for abusing boys between 1974 and 1985, including at Devon and Cornwall Police Surf Life Saving Club.
Derek Fisher, the former police boss of Bryant and the then secretary of the Devon and Cornwall Police Surf Life Saving Club, told BBC Inside Out South West that he took action to remove Bryant immediately from the club in 1988 after an accusation was brought to his attention.
He said Bryant “took no further part in that club from that time on”.
However, BBC Inside Out has found evidence that Bryant was part of the club until 1993:
Devon and Cornwall Police correspondence in October 1989 showed Mr Fisher inviting Bryant to an award ceremony at the club
Further correspondence shows Bryant retained an organisational role in 1991
Minutes from 1992 show Bryant was listed as club captain
In the same year when Diana Princess of Wales opened the clubhouse, Bryant was part of the reception committee
In 1993, Bryant became the new chairman of Saunton Sands Surf Lifesaving Club after the original club was disbanded
Bryant also held a senior role with Surf Lifesaving GB until 2012 and in the previous year was awarded one of the sport’s highest accolades: Knight in the Order of Lifesaving.
Surf Lifesaving GB was aware of an accusation of assault in 1993, but said it was only told of another case in October 2012.
The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Nxivm: Nigel Havers’ step-daughter arrested over claims she funded secret ‘sex cult’ that branded women with symbol
Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman has been arrested on charges of racketeering conspiracy after allegedly using her fortune to help finance the group
25 July 2018
The step-daughter of actor Nigel Havers has been arrested over claims she funded a suspected US sex cult.
Investigators in America allege Seagram liquor heiress Clare Bronfman used her fortune to help finance the operations of Nxivm.
The 39-year-old is the daughter of Georgiana Bronfman, who is the Chariots of Fire star’s third wife.
Bronfman was arrested on Tuesday along with three others on charges of racketeering conspiracy.
She later appeared in a Brooklyn federal courtroom pleading not guilty to charges of running a criminal enterprise.
A judge ordered she be held under house arrest as the judge considered the prosecutor’s request for a $100 million bond.
Bronfman’s lawyer said her client “did nothing wrong”.
Her attorney, Susan Necheles, said in a statement that Nxivm was “not a criminal enterprise” but “an organisation that helped thousands of people”.
“The charges against Clare are the result of government overreaching and charging an individual with crimes just because the government disagrees with some beliefs taught by Nxivm and held by Clare,” Necheles said.
Nxivm co-founder Nancy Salzman, 64, her daughter, Lauren Salzman, 42, and the group’s 60-year-old bookkeeper, Kathy Russell, were also charged with racketeering conspiracy.
Six people have now been charged in the Nxivm inquiry, including 35-year-old actress Allison Mack, who starred in the TV show Smallville.
The US Department of Justice says all six committed “an array of crimes, including identity theft, extortion, forced labour, sex trafficking money laundering, wire fraud and obstruction of justice”.
They included Nicki Clyne, an actress who appeared on Battlestar Galactica, Bronfman’s sister Sara, a son of former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, and India Oxenberg, a daughter of Dynasty actress Catherine Oxenberg.
In an indictment, prosecutors said Mack, who played a teenage friend of Superman in the CW network’s Smallville, helped Raniere recruit women to a secret sub-society within NXIVM whose members were branded with a surgical tool with a symbol that resembled his initials.
Women were expected to be subservient to “masters”, prosecutors said, including giving in to demands for sex.
In February, Havers credited his wife for saving him from grief following the death of his second wife, Polly Williams.
The actor was happily married to Polly Williams for many years before her death from ovarian cancer in 2004 at the age of 54.
Despite criticism for years by ex-followers who called NXIVM a cult and a pyramid scheme, the organisation’s intense self-improvement classes had, at one point, earned it thousands of adherents, including some with Hollywood ties.
They included Nicki Clyne, an actress who appeared on Battlestar Galactica, Bronfman’s sister Sara, a son of former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, and India Oxenberg, a daughter of Dynasty actress Catherine Oxenberg.
In an indictment, prosecutors said Mack, who played a teenage friend of Superman in the CW network’s Smallville, helped Raniere recruit women to a secret sub-society within NXIVM whose members were branded with a surgical tool with a symbol that resembled his initials.
Women were expected to be subservient to “masters”, prosecutors said, including giving in to demands for sex.
In February, Havers credited his wife for saving him from grief following the death of his second wife, Polly Williams.
The actor was happily married to Polly Williams for many years before her death from ovarian cancer in 2004 at the age of 54.
The Bronfman family has very close ties to the Rothschild banking dynasty, with members of both families belonging to many of the same companies, including their joint financial firm, Bronfman & Rothschild.
At Bronfman & Rothschild, Donald Trump’s, the Clinton’s and Jeffrey Epstein’s friend, “Lady” Lynn Forester de Rothschild, is on the Board of Directors:
Edgar Bronfman Jr. is also in the “little black book” of paedo billionaire Jeffrey Epstein
Nigel Havers’ step-daughter, Clare Bronfman – her brother Edgar Bronfman Jr is in convicted billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s black book
The Havers family has a long history with paedophiles:
Nigel Havers’ father Lord Michael Havers tried to stop Geoffrey Dickens from naming Sir Peter Hayman
Brother of child abuse inquiry judge Elizabeth Butler-Sloss was accused of ‘cover up’
Late brother of Baroness Butler-Sloss, judge formerly in charge of Westminster child abuse inquiry, was attorney general who refused to prosecute paedophile spy Peter Hayman
Sir Michael Havers, the late brother of Baroness Butler-Sloss, was accused of a “white-wash” after he backed a decision not to prosecute Sir Peter Hayman.
Baroness Butler-Sloss, a former president of the Family Division of the High Court who led the inquest into the death of Princess Diana, has been appointed by Theresa May to lead an independent inquiry into allegations that child sex abuse was covered up by state bodies, the church, political parties and the BBC. The Home Office said she had “impeccable credentials”.
Elizabeth Butler Sloss covered up for Bishop Peter Ball
Elizabeth Butler Sloss, 1st IICSA chair, member of the establishment protected Bishop Peter Ball
Establishment ‘rallied to help ex-bishop later jailed for abuse’
Prince Charles and Lord Carey among powerful backers of Peter Ball, abuse inquiry told
23 July 2018
Members of the establishment, including the heir to the throne, the then archbishop of Canterbury and a senior member of the judiciary, rallied to the support of Peter Ball, a Church of England bishop accused of sexual abuse, an independent inquiry has heard.
“The story of Peter Ball is the story of the establishment at work in modern times,” said William Chapman, representing survivors. “It is the story of how the establishment minimised the nature of Peter Ball’s misdeeds … and silenced and harassed those who tried to complain.”
One survivor told the inquiry the C of E’s response to his disclosure of abuse amounted to “enduringly cruel and sadistic treatment”.
The independent inquiry into child sexual abuse is examining how the church handled allegations. A five-day hearing this week is scrutinising the church’s response to claims of sexual abuse against Ball, a former bishop of Lewes and then Gloucester, who was jailed in 2015.
Ball was able to call upon the “willing assistance of members of the establishment”, said Chapman. “It included the heir to the throne, the archbishop and a senior member of the judiciary, to name only the most prominent.”
Between them, they provided Ball with money and accommodation, legal advice, a private detective, references and approaches to the police and the prosecuting authorities.
“The alacrity and the extent of the response by Peter Ball’s friends to one of their own in trouble was impressive. It makes a horrible contrast to the way Peter Ball’s victims were treated,” Chapman said.
He told the inquiry: “These establishment helpers claim they were duped by Peter Ball … But you will have to consider if it is credible, given what they must have known or could easily have found out about Peter Ball, whether they were really as ignorant as they claimed they were about the nature of Peter Ball’s activities.
“Some claimed they did not know what a caution meant. Well, Prince Charles has many advisers; he only had to ask. So does the archbishop of Canterbury.”
Ball’s friends were willing to “add their weight” against the due criminal process. “They went far beyond the normal obligations of friendship.”
Allegations were first made against Ball in 1992, but he accepted a police caution and resigned his position as bishop. An independent review of the case commissioned by the C of E and published last year found evidence of collusion and a cover-up at the highest levels.
Richard Scorer, also representing survivors, said that Ball found in his fellow bishops the “perfect accomplices, prepared to turn a blind eye to his abuse over many decades”.
None bore greater responsibility than Lord Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, Scorer said. “We fear that when we hear from him this week, the usual litany of excuses will be trotted out,” he said, adding that Carey must give a “transparent account of his actions”.
Prince Charles’s assertion that he did not understand the significance of a caution was “frankly astonishing”, he said. The prince has access to “the best legal advice that money can buy,” Scorer added.
The prince chose not to clarify the legal position. “To my clients, this extraordinary lack of curiosity looks like wilful blindness,” he said.
In her opening statement, Fiona Scolding, senior counsel to the inquiry, said that Ball’s “fall from grace was a huge shock to the church”.
She added: “He was a very senior clergyman with enormous spiritual authority. He also had power and charm.”
People inside and outside the church had attested to Ball’s charisma and oratorical brilliance. She said that power had been “further enhanced by his cultivation of influential friends both within and outside the church”.
As an example, Ball had told people after his arrest that four cabinet ministers had offered him a “bolthole from the press”.
“He did not stint from mentioning those friends in prominent places when he thought it would assist his cause,” Scolding added.
She told the hearing of a scheme set up by Ball for young men interested in religious life that gave him the opportunity to groom them for sexual abuse and exploitation. The men were encouraged to pray naked, and engage in massage and spanking. One, Neil Todd, who first made allegations against Ball, killed himself in 2012.
Scolding said that Ball, now 86, was too unwell to give evidence either at the inquiry or by video link. But in one of two statements he had submitted he made an apology and said he had “neither been open nor shown penitence in the past”.
The hearing heard from three survivors who described their abuse by Ball. One, the Rev Graham Sawyer, who has waived his right to anonymity, said: “The sexual abuse that was perpetrated on me by bishop Peter Ball pales into insignificance when compared to the enduringly cruel and sadistic treatment that has been meted out to me by officials, both lay and ordained, in the Church of England.”
He described the culture within Anglicanism as an “ecclesiastic protection racket – and anyone who seeks in any way to threaten the reputation of the church and institution has to be destroyed”.
Safeguarding should be taken out of the church’s hands he said, as “it cannot police itself with any credibility”.
At the start of proceedings, Alexis Jay, the chair of the inquiry, said she had ordered an investigation into the leaking to the media of the Prince of Wales’s letter.
She said the leak was a “very serious breach of confidence by someone with direct access to information in this investigation” and promised “firm action” should the source be uncovered.
Scolding said a suggestion reported by the Times that the timing of the statement, to be read on the final day of this week’s hearings, was to prevent the prince being called for cross-examination “could not be further from the truth”.
She said: “There is no requirement for him to attend in person as his evidence, whilst important, is not of central relevance to many of the issues raised by this case study.”
“within the records of the 1992 investigation…there are both oblique and direct references noting that Prince Charles or the royal family were interested inthe matter…there was also internal correspondence
Dame Alun Roberts@ciabaudo
If he didn’t know, he’s hardly fit to be King …
Richard Scorer: My clients accept the PoW has many interactions with Church of England clergy. However our clients do not accept that he claims he was not aware that a caution means an acceptance of guilt.
Scorer claims senior leaders in the Church knew of Peter Ball’s offending but Lambeth Palace did not hand over letters to police:http://ow.ly/M5yK30l4wJe
Mr William Chapman: There’s a reluctance to trust the secular authorities to handle the matter and a willingness to forgive and reintegrate Peter Ball, no matter what he’d done
Elizabeth Hall, Nat Safeguarding Advisor, recommending a further review of Peter Ball information which should involve trying to find all files/documents
Both Michael Ball and brother Peter Ball were not shy about using the name of the Prince of Wales to seek to influence others. Bishop Michael Ball wrote to Lord Carey in Dec 1992 saying that his brother was receiving support from 2 Cabinet Ministers and Prince Charles Peter Ball often mention their friendship.
On 8 March 1993 Peter Ball received a caution for one count of gross indecency against Neil Todd. He resigned immediately. Peter Ball alleged to the Church of England shortly that he either did not wish to resign, and accepted a caution to avoid a trial.
“This Inquiry has been provided with details of allegations made by a total of 32 individuals. These all relate to an alleged abuse of power by Peter Ball for the purposes of his sexual gratification.”
The former Bishop of Lewes, Peter Ball was convicted of two offences of indecent assault, and an offence of misconduct
Peter Ball admitted when pleading guilty that he received sexual gratification from the deliberate manipulation of vulnerable young men, that the contact was consistent with grooming and that he abused his position as a Bishop in the Church of England
In January 1996, Ball was permitted by Archbishop Carey to preach at a particular public school and, to conduct confirmations at other specific schools later on in that year
(1) Why he was permitted to return to ministry in this fashion? (2) Why did no-one think to carry out some kind of risk assessment? (3) Whether or not senior clergy simply thought that Peter Ball’s pleas of innocence should be believed?
“I really appreciate your sympathetic understanding in preventing a scandal with a trial which would have affected the Royal family and establishments in this crucial time of turmoil within the Church of England.” Bishop Kemp comments on a 1990s investigation into Peter Ball
A risk assessment carried out by the Church in 2009 identified that Peter Ball could be identified as a sexual predator given the length and scale of his offending
Prince Charles gives evidence to inquiry into Peter Ball
The Prince of Wales says he was aware that Peter Ball, who lived in Aller, near Langport, had been given a police caution, but claims he did not realise it amounted to an admission of guilt.
Details of Prince Charles’s relationship with Ball will be revealed at an inquiry into the case on Friday.
The next in line to the throne had “decades of correspondence” with Ball and occasionally sent him “small gifts of money”, according to the draft copy of his statement to the inquiry, The Times has reported.
The statement will add that Ball confided in him in 2009 that he had been involved in an “indiscretion” years previously, which he blamed on a person with a grudge.
Peter Ball abuse inquiry requests statement from Prince Charles
Wed 06 Jun 2018
By Press Association
The Prince of Wales has been asked to give a witness statement to a public inquiry about a paedophile bishop who was jailed after abusing young men.
Peter Ball was sentenced to 32 months in 2015 for a string of offences between the 1970s and 1990s, and the handling of allegations against him is now being examined by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
At a hearing on Wednesday, counsel to the inquiry Fiona Scolding QC said that statements had been requested from the prince and his principal private secretary.
According to a transcript posted on the inquiry website, she said: “We have also requested a witness statement from both His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and his principal private secretary.
“The Prince’s solicitors have indicated their client’s willingness to assist us and have raised a number of important issues for us to consider.
“This has led to lengthy and complex discussions and we are currently considering the latest points they have raised. We hope to be able to provide an update to core participants on this in the next couple of weeks.”
Charles had exchanged a series of letters with Ball, the former Bishop of Gloucester, whose diocese covers Highgrove, the prince’s country home.
A spokesman for the prince told the Daily Mail last year that the correspondence contained nothing of relevance to the clergyman’s offending.
Lawyer Richard Scorer from Slater and Gordon, who is representing complainants at the IICSA, said: “It is imperative that the inquiry leaves no stone unturned in its efforts to establish how Peter Ball was able to evade justice for two decades.
“If this means calling Prince Charles and other prominent establishment figures as witnesses then the inquiry should do so without fear or favour.”
George Bell was ‘fond’ of paeodophile bishop Peter Ball and sponsored him for ordination, an inquiry has heard.
As former bishop of Chichester, Bell is considered one of Anglicanism’s heroes. However, it emerged in 2015 the Church of England paid £16,800 to the woman, known as Carol, in a legal settlement after she accused Bell of sexually abusing her as a child.
Now it can be revealed Peter Ball, who was jailed for a string of sex offences against teenagers and young men in 2015, was close friends with Bell.
Bishop Ball sentenced to 32 months in prison but served only 16 months.
Ball was initially rejected in his attempt to become a priest in 1951 but Bell wrote to the selection panel in support of Ball’s application.
When Ball applied for ordination a second time it was Bell who sponsored him through the process.
In his witness statement to an inquiry investigating child sex abuse within the Church of England, Ball denied that Bell had ‘overruled’ the selection board allowing him to be ordained.
However he said that after his ordination Bell would visit his parish to take services, adding he was ‘aware that he was “fond” of me’.
In response to a question about Bell’s involvement in his ordination, Ball told the inquiry: ‘It is not right therefore to say that Bishop Bell “overruled” the selection board in order for me to be ordained.
Courtesy of Jimmy JamesBishop George Bell is an iconic figure for the Church of England and was bishop of Chichester from 1929 to 1958.
‘Although Bishop Bell had indicated in 1951 in a letter to the first Selection Board who did not recommend me for ministry that he would be “prepared to accept me for ordination” even though the Selection Board had not recommend me for training at that time, that is not how matters proceeded.’
He went on: ‘After theological college, it was Bishop Bell ultimately who did sponsored [sic] me for ordination, but with the approval of the Selection Board. Bishop Bell then placed me in the parish of Rottingdean where I undertook my first curacy.
‘He would visit my curacy on occasion to carry out confirmations and to take services.
‘We had a good working relationship; I was aware that he was “fond” of me. He was someone who I looked up to when I was a young curate starting out in the Church.’
Bell, who died in 1958, was revered by Anglicans before the abuse allegations against him emerged. However a report earlier this year heavily criticised the Church’s handling of the accusations and found it ‘rushed to judgement’ and failed to give proper consideration to Bell’s rights.
But the archbishop of Canterbury refused to back down and said a ‘significant cloud is left over his name’.
Ball went on to become bishop of Lewes in the diocese of Chichester and then bishop of Gloucester. He was accused of gross indecency against a 16-year-old in 1992 but escaped with a police caution after he received backing from a member of the Royal Family and a number of other establishment figures. He was told to step down from his role as a bishop. However he continued to minister in churches and schools until 2010 before he was eventually arrested.
At the age of 83 he was sentenced to 32 months for misconduct in public office and 15 months for indecent assaults in 2015. He was released after serving 16 months.
The independent inquiry into child sexual abuse has been investigation how the diocese of Chichester handled allegations of child sexual abuse as a case study for the wider Church of England.
In his concluding remarks today solicitor David Greenwood said the CofE was more ‘malign’ than the Catholic Church in its response to abuse and accused it of ‘a conscious effort to treat survivors badly’.
The archbishop of Canterbury in his evidence said he had ‘learnt to be ashamed again of the Church’ and warned child sexual abuse would ‘destroy the Church’ if not addressed.
Ex-Archbishop ‘faces probe into Church sex abuse cover-up’: George Carey accused of ‘colluding’ with senior clergy to protect jailed bishop
05 Mar 2018
The former Archbishop of Canterbury could face a police probe over claims the Church covered up the activities of a sex abuse bishop, it was reported last night.
George Carey was last year accused in a report of ‘colluding’ with senior clergy to protect Bishop Peter Ball.
Ball, who groomed and abused 18 vulnerable men from 1977 and 1992, was allegedly not added to a list of questionable ministers in 1993 that enabled him to carry on working.
Bishop Peter Ball, who groomed and abused 18 vulnerable men from 1977 and 1992, was allegedly not added to a list of questionable ministers in 1993 that enabled him to carry on working
Even though the Metropolitan Police has not started a criminal investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is discussing whether to press charges against Lord Carey, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Prosecutors are said to be reading a 70-page report by Dame Moira Gibb, which was released last summer, in order to decide whether to prosecute.
A spokesman for Operation Hydrant – the investigation into historical allegations of child abuse – said: ‘The matters under consideration are complex, and advice is currently being sought from CPS to understand whether anything contained within the report suggests criminal offences have been committed.
‘This does not equate to a criminal investigation being underway.’ Solicitor David Greenwood, who has represented several of Ball’s victims, criticised the length of time prosecutors were taking.
He said: ‘What’s taking the CPS so long? It’s a 70-page report which was published nine months ago.’ Ball, a former suffragan bishop of Lewes, was let off with a caution for molesting a teenage novice monk in 1993. Although the Church knew of other allegations against him, it was not until 2015 that Ball was finally prosecuted and jailed.
He admitted abusing 18 teenagers and young men who had sought spiritual guidance from him between 1977 and 1992. Last summer the report into the scandal by Dame Moira, titled Abuse of Faith, described the Church’s handling of the scandal as ‘lamentable’.
It found Mr Carey ‘colluded’ with senior clergy to protect Ball. The independent inquiry into the scandal found that the Church of England knew of a string of allegations against Ball, then bishop of Gloucester, but failed to alert the police.
Justin Welby, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, urged his predecessor to step down from his role as an assistant bishop after the report covering his time as head of the Church of England.
Some of Ball’s victims called for a criminal investigation into senior clergy after the report found that the Church was ‘more interested in protecting itself’ than helping those he had abused, and that at least nine bishops knew allegations had been made against him.
In a Christmas letter last year, Lord Carey attacked his successor Mr Welby for commenting on his handling of allegations against Ball. The 82-year-old lashed out at the ‘unjust’ request for him to step down over his supposed failings 24 years ago.
The news comes as the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse prepares to begin today. The inquiry will spend three weeks analysing the actions of the Anglican Church, and is expected to hear from Mr Welby. A spokesman for the Church of England said it would always cooperate with police, but declined to comment.
A spokesman for the Carey family also declined to comment.
George Carey allowed church role despite part in abuse cover-up
Former archbishop of Canterbury was criticised in report into abuse by Peter Ball
13 July 2018
George Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury who was heavily criticised in an independent report for his part in the cover-up of sexual abuse carried out by a bishop, has been allowed to resume an official role in the Church of England.
Lord Carey stepped down last year as an honorary assistant bishop at the unprecedented request of Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, after a damning report which found the church had colluded over the abuse.
But it emerged this week that Carey has been granted “permission to officiate” (PTO) by Steven Croft, the bishop of Oxford, allowing him to preach and preside at churches in the diocese. Croft is reportedly under police investigation for allegedly failing to respond properly to a separate report of clerical sexual abuse.
The decision to grant the PTO was made in February despite expectations of further revelations this month about Carey’s role in the case of Peter Ball, a former bishop of Gloucester, at the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA).
The inquiry will spend a week scrutinising the C of E’s handling of the Ball case, starting on 23 July. Ball was jailed in 2015 for the grooming, sexual exploitation and abuse of 18 vulnerable young men between 1977 and 1992. Prince Charles has been asked to give a witness statement to the inquiry about his correspondence with Ball.
Carey, who was archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, resigned his honorary post after the publication of an independent report on the Ball case by Dame Moira Gibb.
She concluded that senior figures in the church had “colluded [with the abuser] rather than seeking to help those he had harmed”. She said: “The church appears to have been most interested in protecting itself.”
Carey had “set the tone for the church’s response to Ball’s crimes, and gave the steer which allowed Ball’s assertions that he was innocent to gain credence”, said Gibb.
The former archbishop responded to the report, saying it made “uncomfortable reading” and that he accepted its criticisms of him.
In February this year, Carey contacted the diocese of Oxford to request a PTO, which was granted by Croft. It followed letters from members of the congregation where Carey worships that requested he be allowed to resume ministry at their church.
A spokesperson for the diocese of Oxford said: “The granting of PTO enabled Lord Carey to preach and preside in the church where he worships, a church where his ministry is much valued. The granting of a PTO does not indicate a planned return to the role of assistant bishop.”
It is understood that Carey underwent fresh checks on his criminal record and C of E safeguarding training.
The church’s national safeguarding team was not consulted on whether the PTO should be granted.
A survivor of abuse by Ball said he was extremely concerned to learn that Carey had been granted a PTO. “It’s a real stab in the back for Ball survivors,” he said, adding that it would have been prudent to wait until further evidence had been heard by IICSA.
Croft is one of several senior church figures, including John Sentamu, the archbishop of York, who are reportedly being investigated by South Yorkshire police over alleged failures to act on disclosures of an alleged rape of a teenage boy by a clergyman in the 1980s. The force declined to confirm or deny an investigation was under way.
Matthew Ineson claims he was raped by the Rev Trevor Devamanikkam, and in 2012 and 2013 reported the crime to senior figures in the church, including Croft. He alleges they failed to follow proper procedures and did not advise him to tell police.
Devamanikkam was later charged with indecent assault and buggery without consent, but killed himself in 2017 before coming to trial.
A spokesperson for the diocese of Oxford said: “Written records and notes taken at the time give a different picture to the one Mr Ineson is presenting about how his case has been handled.”
An independent review had been commissioned by the C of E’s national safeguarding team, the spokesperson said.
Ineson told the Guardian: “Steven Croft may disagree about the wording of my disclosures, but nonetheless accepts I did tell him of my abuse. No word of apology has ever been forthcoming for what I have been put through.
“Given the circumstances it is incredible that Croft is still in a position to decide whether PTO should be given to George Carey or anybody else who has been so involved in the dreadful case of Peter Ball or any other safeguarding case.”
PTOs are mostly granted to retired priests who wish to continue their ministry by preaching, taking communion and providing holiday or sickness cover to serving clergy. PTOs are granted at the discretion of the local bishop.
And he didnt even consult the National Safeguarding Team.
NST deal with all high profile cases. @Steven_Croft didn’t even consult them. Another failure. Bishop under investigation for safeguarding failures gives PTO to a bishop under investigation for safeguarding failures etc
If anyone has doubts about @Steven_Croft poor safeguarding record, have a look at the independent Scie safeguarding audit on Sheffield diocese covering Crofts time-scary reading. Add to that my case & now he gives PTO back to Carey who had to resign cos of the Peter Ball cover up
Revd Canon John Rees with Archbishop Welby
Gilo @seaofcomplicity
This is just plain weird that Archbishop Welby’s provincial registrar kept such conflict-of-interest hidden. Not good. Whole structure needs reform if CofE legal officers can do this?
Legal advisor to the worldwide Anglican Consultative Council is Canon John Rees – chaplain to the Queen. His first curacy was in a parish in Yorkshire where he was trianied by parish priest Rev Trevor Devamanikkam – Ineson’s abuser. Small world!
Canon Rees said he was “deeply honoured” to become a Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II
England: Anglican legal advisor named Queen’s Chaplain
March 17, 2014
The legal adviser to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) and Provincial Registrar for the Archbishop of Canterbury has been appointed as a Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II.
Canon Rees is currently Registrar for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Diocesan Registrar for Oxford, Legal Adviser to the ACC (since 1995) and Senior Partner of Winckworth Sherwood – Vice-Chair of the Legal Advisory Commission of the C of E, an honorary Provincial Canon of Canterbury Cathedral.
His primary employer Winckworth Sherwood – described as a lawyer who, “specialises in ecclesiastical, educational and charity law and has a wealth of experience in advising on charity constitutions for national and international bodies; financial structures; disciplinary issues, subsidiary companies and asset management; press handling issues. As well as the full range of freehold and leasehold, registered and unregistered matters; and all types of ancillary issues e.g. rights of way; complicated redevelopment schemes, title investigations, contaminated land remediation issues, boundary disputes, unusual property matters such as dealing with consecrated land, burials and exhumation.”
Now the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is discussing with Scotland Yard detectives whether to pursue criminal charges against Lord Carey, the Telegraph understands.
The Metropolitan Police said it had not launched an official criminal investigation into Lord Carey. A spokesman for the Carey family declined to comment.
Sex abuse bishop Peter Ball and brother seek Catholic switch
06 December 2017
A former bishop jailed for sex offences and his twin brother have said they are looking to join the Catholic Church to “live and worship in anonymity”.
Peter Ball, who is now 85, was jailed for 32 months in October 2015 for offences against 18 teenagers and men.
The former Bishop of Lewes and of Gloucester carried out the abuse between the 1970s and 1990s.
Ball’s identical twin and former bishop Michael Ball said in an email events had “wearied and reduced us”.
In the email, mistakenly sent from Michael Ball to BBC South East’s Colin Campbell among others, the brothers said having been “battered by the Church” they would be looking to join the Roman Catholic Church.
They said they would like to “end our days in a church where we can live and worship in anonymity and without constant fear”.
The BBC contacted Michael Ball about the email and he said a move to the Catholic Church was “a possibility”.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton said in a statement: “We confirm that Peter Ball has been in contact with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton, in which diocese he now lives, expressing an interest in becoming a member of the Catholic Church.
“This matter is subject to discussions between Clifton Diocese and the statutory authorities, who are the lead with regards to Peter Ball’s risk management in the community.”
Dame Moira said he had received seven letters from families and individuals following the arrest and cautioning of Ball in 1992 for gross indecency – when he stood down as Bishop of Gloucester – but failed to pass six of them to the police.
Lord Carey had also failed to put Ball on the the “Lambeth List” which names clergymen whose suitability for ministry had been questioned.
Dame Moira also heard Bishop Michael Ball allowed his brother to attend functions in his place, even after his resignation, and on one occasion Peter Ball had introduced himself as his brother.
In 1994 Michael Ball campaigned to Lord Carey to return his brother to the ministry, with one bishop calling the brothers’ activities “manipulative”, Dame Moira reported .
Between 1995 and 1997, with Lord Carey’s backing. Peter Ball returned to church ministry, eventually undertaking duties such as confirmations.
After a series of investigations Balls’ ministry ceased in 2011, Dame Moira reported.
Former Bishop of Truro Michael Ball and his paedophile ex-bishop twin Peter want to become Catholics so they can live in anonymity
8 DEC 2017
Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester who boasted of links to royalty, has asked to join the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton in Bristol, a spokesman for the Church confirmed.
His identical twin brother Michael Ball, who was Bishop of Truro from 1990 to 1997, also sent an email to friends telling them of the idea.
From the email…”The events of the last years and rightly or wrongly the battering by the Church have totally wearied and reduced us.
“We will probably be joining the Roman Catholic Church soon.
…Michael Ball’s complaint of taking a “battering” from the Church was “flippant” and it was “disgusting” the pair were acting as though they were the victims.
A spokesman for the Roman Catholic diocese of Arundel and Brighton said: “We confirm that Peter Ball has been in contact with the Roman Catholic diocese of Clifton, in which diocese he now lives, expressing an interest in becoming a member of the Catholic Church.
“This matter is subject to discussions between Clifton diocese and the statutory authorities, who are the lead with regards to Peter Ball’s risk management in the community.
Disgraced paedophile former bishop Peter Ball with close friend Prince Charles
Peter Ball’s sentence came 22 years after the abuse first surfaced. He eventually admitted misconduct in a public office and two counts of indecent assault.
The court heard how Peter Ball had convinced some of his victims to strip naked to pray and even suggested they submit to beatings between 1977 and 1992.
The first of his victims to come forward took his own life in 2012 after hearing Sussex Police had reopened the case.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey resigned as honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Oxford after the public inquiry into child sex abuse last year heard he delayed a “proper investigation” into Peter Ball’s crimes for two decades by failing to pass information to police.
There were fears Peter Ball may have taken the place of his twin, who was Bishop of Truro in the Nineties, and therefore duped congregations in other parts of the UK.
The Diocese of Truro was understood to be looking into the evidence that Peter Ball conducted services in Cornwall.
Now it has emerged the Archbishop of Canterbury’s headquarters received at least six letters from other alleged victims detailing “potentially criminal” and “totally inappropriate behaviour” by Peter Ball in the early 1990s but did not pass them on to police until years later.
“The Church appears to have resorted to staggering levels of deceit in order to prevent the true extent of Ball’s offending coming to light,” said Richard Scorer, a solicitor who is representing victims of Peter Ball.
Details of the letters, all sent to the Church between December 1992 and February 1993, reveal that Peter Ball encouraged victims to pray naked, perform sex acts in front of him and share his bed.
Anglican officials who reviewed the letters in 2009 suggested that, had such evidence been given to detectives in 1993, Peter Ball may have been convicted of serious sexual offences rather than merely cautioned.
But instead of being made public, the letters were kept in confidential files at Lambeth Palace.
It was not until 2012, after several internal inquiries, that the Church finally released documents to police.
An independent review is also currently under way into the way the Church of England responded to the case involving Peter Ball.
Church knew about allegations before Cornish preacher went on to abuse boys, investigation reveals
The diocese failed to investigate the accusations against Jeremy Dowling
25 MAY 2018
Dowling became such an important and valued worker and volunteer during a 40-year association with the diocese that a special service of thanks was given in his honour when he retired in 2009
A leading figure in the Church of England in Cornwall went on to commit child sex offences for several years after allegations about his behaviour with young boys were raised with the diocese and not acted upon, an official investigation has revealed.
The diocese failed to investigate the accusations against Jeremy Dowling, a lay preacher, allowing him to rise to influential positions including communications officer to the bishop, an independent review for the church concludes.
The report, released today, says there were “historic failings” within the diocese in dealing with the allegations, first raised in 1972. There was “ongoing knowledge” of the situation among senior figures in the diocese “well into the 1980s” with references to “a big fat file” on Dowling.
After the first allegations of Dowling abusing boys at a North Cornwall school where he taught were dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions – because of a lack of corroborative evidence – the then Bishop of Truro Maurice Key wrote: “I suppose the problem will now be to find him some other work”.
Dowling became such an important and valued worker and volunteer during a 40-year association with the diocese that a special service of thanks was given in his honour when he retired in 2009.
In 2015 he was jailed for seven years after pleading guilty at Truro Crown Court to 15 charges of sexually abusing boys under 16.
In 2016 he was jailed for an additional eight years after being found guilty of six further charges of indecently assaulting a boy between 1973 and 1977. Those offences happened when he befriended the boy while a lay preacher at a church in Budehaven – and took place after concerns were first raised with the diocese.
The report’s author said the lack of action by the diocese allowed Dowling to gain credibility and authority.
“Because they didn’t take it any further it enabled Jeremy Dowling to reach a position where he made up his own rules, and his position within the church lent him credibility and authority,” said Dr Andy Thompson, an academic, magistrate and member of the Diocesan Council.
The Bishop of St Germans, Rt Revd Dr Chris Goldsmith, apologised for the lack of action and the suffering that resulted.
The diocese failed to investigate the accusations against Jeremy Dowling, a lay preacher, allowing him to rise to influential positions including communications officer to the bishop, an independent review for the church concludes.
The report, released on Friday (May 25), says there were “historic failings” within the diocese in dealing with the allegations, first raised in 1972. There was “ongoing knowledge” of the situation among senior figures in the diocese “well into the 1980s” with references to “a big fat file” on Dowling.
Dowling became such an important and valued worker and volunteer during a 40-year association with the diocese that a special service of thanks was given in his honour when he retired in 2009.
In 2015 he was jailed for seven years after pleading guilty at Truro Crown Court to 15 charges of sexually abusing boys under 16.
In 2016 he was jailed for an additional eight years after being found guilty of six further charges of indecently assaulting a boy between 1973 and 1977. Those offences happened when he befriended the boy while a lay preacher at a church in Budehaven – and took place after concerns were first raised with the diocese.
One of the leaders who was named in the report was Michael Ball, 86, who was Bishop of Truro from 1990 to 1997. The Right Reverend Ball told the diocese he had been informed of the allegations about Dowling but had not seen any need to take action as there had not been a prosecution.
His identical twin, Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester who boasted of links to royalty, was jailed for 32 months in October 2015 for offences dating back to the 1970s against 18 young men at his home in East Sussex.
His sentence came 22 years after the abuse first surfaced. He eventually admitted misconduct in a public office and two counts of indecent assault. The court heard how Peter Ball had convinced some of his victims to strip naked to pray and even suggested they submit to beatings between 1977 and 1992.
The first of his victims to come forward took his own life in 2012 after hearing Sussex Police had reopened the case.
There were fears Peter Ball may have taken the place of his twin, who was Bishop of Truro in the Nineties, and therefore duped congregations in other parts of the UK.
The Diocese of Truro was understood to be looking into the evidence that Peter Ball conducted services in Cornwall.
Last year the brothers decided they wanted to become Catholics so they could live in anonimity. Peter Ball asked to join the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton in Bristol and both said they wanted to switch faith from the Church of England so they could “live and worship in anonymity” within the Catholic Church.
Former Bishop of Truro was Michael Ball, twin brother of convicted paedophile/friend of the royal family and Jimmy Savile – Bishop Peter Ball.
Jeremy Dowling
The Right Reverend Michael Ball – Bishop of Truro from 1990-97 – told the diocese he had been informed of the allegations but had not seen any need to take action as there had not been a prosecution.
A RECENT service at Truro Cathedral paid tribute to the work of Jeremy Dowling, the Diocese of Truro’s Communications Officer, who steps down at the end of December after more than 25 years in post. He has lived in the Bude area for more than 40 years.
On a wet and windswept evening, a congregation made up from clergy and people from across the diocese enjoyed a service that included readings, hymns and a sermon given by the former Bishop of Truro, Bishop Bill Ind. Also present were the current Bishop of Truro, The Rt Rev Tim Thornton, the Dean of Truro, The Very Rev Dr Christopher Hardwick, both Archdeacons and Mr Martin Follett, the Diocesan Registrar.
During his sermon, Bishop Bill paid tribute not only to the work that Jeremy undertook as Communications Officer but also his very substantial other work for the Diocese including nearly 40 years as a Reader,
seventeen years as Chairman of the House of Laity of the Diocesan Synod, one of the first people to be made Lay Canons of the Cathedral, a member of the General Synod for 27 years, as well as sitting at one time or another on virtually every Board and Committee of the Diocese.
He said, “Jeremy’s media and broadcasting skills are second to none.”
His experience and expertise in the television broadcast area was particularly noted, especially the background work he was able to do which led to programmes such as the very successful and popular BBC series ’Seaside Parish’ featuring Boscastle and the surrounding parishes, which enjoyed weekly audiences if over three million, ’Island Parish’ featuring the Isles of Scilly and ’The Monastery.’
Summing up, Bishop Bill said: “He has been a critical friend, someone who has told me the truth as he sees it. He has made me and indeed others both laugh and think and for both these things and much else I remain profoundly grateful. The Diocese owes him an enormous amount and so indeed do I and a host of others.”
Jeremy Dowling has lived in the Bude area of North Cornwall for more than forty years, with thirty years spent in the parish of St Gennys, and he is Chair of Governors of Budehaven Community School.
In his thanks and response to Bishop Bill, Jeremy noted how the communications role had changed greatly with much more emphasis today on electronic media. He acknowledged with gratitude the work of the local press and media, recognising its essential vitality and the key role it played in championing issues which were important for the church and for society.
“We have enjoyed excellent relations with the westcountry media” he said “and it has been a privilege to work with local journalists and broadcasters.”
He concluded by saying: “In my view, the strength of the Church remains in the local community. There is a lot going on. And the thread which runs through most of the stories is undeniably positive. They chronicle a vigorous, interesting, dynamic, eccentric and imaginative life in the church in Cornwall. Long may it
continue.”
After refreshments, a large bouquet was presented by Bishop Tim to Daphne Dowling in recognition of her support for her husband, and Jeremy was presented with a substantial cheque from parishes and individuals in the Diocese
BIG SOCIETY: Pictured above, with Prime Minister David Cameron and North Cornwall MP Dan Rogerson, are Co-founder of Community Action Through Sport (CATS) and volunteer Denise Jane May, CATS trustee and volunteer Jeremy Dowling, CATS Project Development Manager Karen Hemmings, CATS Project Development Assistant Louise Anne Harris and CATS trustee and volunteer Sharon Caroline Marshall.
Ex Truro Diocese worker Jeremy Dowling sexually abused boys
5 June 2015
An ex-Diocese of Truro press officer has admitted sexually abusing boys over a period of more than 10 years.
Jeremy Dowling, 76, carried out the assaults on five children, aged between 12 and 15, from 1959 to 1971.
Truro Crown Court heard Dowling abused the boys at sporting events and in toilets while working as a teacher in Devon.
The Bishop of Truro described Dowling’s offences as “deeply shocking” and said his thoughts were with the victims.
Sentencing was adjourned until July 10 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
Dowling, of Church Path, Bude, retired from the Diocese of Truro in 2009 after 25 years of service.
‘Damaging impact’
He pleaded guilty to 13 counts of indecent assault on boys aged 12 to 15 and two counts of indecency with a child.
The court heard one assault was carried out on a boy at a cricket match. Others took place in an attic, in storage rooms at a sporting pavilion and in outside toilets.
The Right Reverend Tim Thornton, Bishop of Truro, said many people would have known Dowling as a reader at St Michael’s Church and St Genny’s Church in Bude and as a member of the Diocesan and General Synods.
Bishop Thornton said: “Offences like this will have a damaging and lasting impact on people’s lives.
Former Cornwall preacher Jeremy Dowling ‘assaulted boy’
The assaults happened when Jeremy Dowling was a lay preacher at two churches in the Bude area of Cornwall, Truro Crown Court was told.
Mr Dowling met the boy when he was 10 through church activities and “took him under his wing”.
He has denied six counts of indecent assault on a child and two counts of gross indecency with a child.
The assaults happened in the 1970s before Mr Dowling became a press spokesman for the Diocese of Truro, the court heard.
‘Long time ago’
Jo Martin, prosecuting, said some of the assaults took place at Mr Dowling’s house after the boy had been invited for dinner and on one occasion he was taken to a church on the north coast.
She said Mr Dowling took him up a tower and showed him the view, then took him to a room and assaulted him.
The alleged victim did not tell anyone when he was a child but later, when he was married, told his wife about the assaults.
He said when his wife rang up Mr Dowling, accusing him of being a paedophile, Mr Dowling replied “that was a long time ago”.
He said he eventually went to the police after reading in news reports that Mr Dowling had admitted abusing five boys when he was a teacher at a private school in the 1960s.
Mr Dowling is currently serving a jail term for those offences.
A RECENT service at Truro Cathedral paid tribute to the work of Jeremy Dowling, the Diocese of Truro’s Communications Officer, who steps down at the end of December after more than 25 years in post. He has lived in the Bude area for more than 40 years.
On a wet and windswept evening, a congregation made up from clergy and people from across the diocese enjoyed a service that included readings, hymns and a sermon given by the former Bishop of Truro, Bishop Bill Ind. Also present were the current Bishop of Truro, The Rt Rev Tim Thornton, the Dean of Truro, The Very Rev Dr Christopher Hardwick, both Archdeacons and Mr Martin Follett, the Diocesan Registrar.
During his sermon, Bishop Bill paid tribute not only to the work that Jeremy undertook as Communications Officer but also his very substantial other work for the Diocese including nearly 40 years as a Reader,
seventeen years as Chairman of the House of Laity of the Diocesan Synod, one of the first people to be made Lay Canons of the Cathedral, a member of the General Synod for 27 years, as well as sitting at one time or another on virtually every Board and Committee of the Diocese.
He said, “Jeremy’s media and broadcasting skills are second to none.”
His experience and expertise in the television broadcast area was particularly noted, especially the background work he was able to do which led to programmes such as the very successful and popular BBC series ’Seaside Parish’ featuring Boscastle and the surrounding parishes, which enjoyed weekly audiences if over three million, ’Island Parish’ featuring the Isles of Scilly and ’The Monastery.’
Summing up, Bishop Bill said: “He has been a critical friend, someone who has told me the truth as he sees it. He has made me and indeed others both laugh and think and for both these things and much else I remain profoundly grateful. The Diocese owes him an enormous amount and so indeed do I and a host of others.”
Jeremy Dowling has lived in the Bude area of North Cornwall for more than forty years, with thirty years spent in the parish of St Gennys, and he is Chair of Governors of Budehaven Community School.
In his thanks and response to Bishop Bill, Jeremy noted how the communications role had changed greatly with much more emphasis today on electronic media. He acknowledged with gratitude the work of the local press and media, recognising its essential vitality and the key role it played in championing issues which were important for the church and for society.
“We have enjoyed excellent relations with the westcountry media” he said “and it has been a privilege to work with local journalists and broadcasters.”
He concluded by saying: “In my view, the strength of the Church remains in the local community. There is a lot going on. And the thread which runs through most of the stories is undeniably positive. They chronicle a vigorous, interesting, dynamic, eccentric and imaginative life in the church in Cornwall. Long may it
continue.”
After refreshments, a large bouquet was presented by Bishop Tim to Daphne Dowling in recognition of her support for her husband, and Jeremy was presented with a substantial cheque from parishes and individuals in the Diocese
Former Archbishop of Canterbury could face police probe into whether he broke the law by covering up for a paedophile bishop
Police are considering a formal inquiry into Church of England’s former leader
Lord Carey, 82, could face being interviewed under caution in investigation
Rev Peter Ball indecently assaulted 18 boys and young men from 1977 to 1992
Former leaders could face criminal charges for not passing on abuse complaints
25 November 2017
The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, could face a police investigation into whether he broke the law by covering up for a paedophile bishop.
Officers are understood to be considering a formal inquiry to determine whether the former leader of the Church of England and other senior church officials should face criminal charges over their failure to pass on sex abuse complaints made against ex-bishop Peter Ball.
Such an investigation would be highly controversial and may involve 82-year-old Lord Carey being interviewed under caution.
Sources say police are collecting evidence and scrutinising a scathing Church of England report commissioned by the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.
It concludes that senior church figures ‘colluded’ to protect Ball and says the decision by Lambeth Palace not to pass the complaints to police ‘must give rise to a perception of deliberate concealment’.
Lawyers representing victims of Ball, who have called for a police investigation, believe the former Archbishop could face a charge of misconduct in a public office, for which the maximum penalty is life imprisonment.
Ball, a friend of the Prince of Wales, (and other members of the royal family) was jailed for 32 months in 2015 after indecently assaulting 18 boys and young men between 1977 and 1992 in one of the biggest scandals ever to rock the Church of England.
It has been claimed, however, that he might have been convicted more than 20 years earlier had Lord Carey and his staff at Lambeth Palace not withheld from the police six letters making other claims about his behaviour. The letters were sent in by members of the public after allegations against Ball surfaced in the 1990s. Ball was arrested and subsequently resigned as Bishop of Gloucester in 1993.
But his only punishment at that time was a caution for gross indecency for molesting a teenage monk and he was later allowed a licence to work as a retired priest.
Peter Ball, pictured with Prince Charles, was jailed for 32 months in 2015 after indecently assaulting 18 boys and young men between 1977 and 1992
Last year, The Mail on Sunday revealed that Anglican officials who had privately reviewed the case suggested that had the letters been given to detectives in 1993, Ball may have been convicted of serious sexual offences.
The report commissioned by Archbishop Welby, published this summer, concluded that the ‘greatest failure’ of the handling of the case was the ‘management’ of the correspondence, in which Lord Carey was ‘significantly involved’.
Lord Carey strongly denies any cover-up or collusion. His supporters have also argued that Ball could still have received a caution in 1993 even if Lambeth Palace had handed the letters to the authorities.
David Greenwood, the head of the child abuse department at Switalskis solicitors and who represents a number of victims of Peter Ball, said the failure to pass them on provided ‘reasonable grounds’ for the Metropolitan police to open a formal investigation.
The Met and Lord Carey both declined to comment.
Lord Carey is already facing questioning next year by the Government’s independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.
The court heard that police documents in the 1990s revealed they received telephone calls of support for the disgraced bishop from dozens of people, including MPs, former public school headmasters, magistrates and a judge. In addition, his defence team claimed to have more than ‘two thousand letters of support… including letters from cabinet ministers and Royal Family,’ said prosecutor Bobbie Cheema-Grubb QC at the Old Bailey.
Keith Porteous Wood, National Secular Society executive director, commented: “Such volumes could not have been achieved without an huge orchestrated campaign. Copies of the letters should be examined, as complete a list as possible of writers and callers obtained, particularly for those of high profile as their support would have been especially influential. It should be established whose idea this was, who masterminded it and who carried it out.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has recently commissioned an independent review of how the Church dealt with the allegations, but the National Secular Society has expressed concerns that the review will not have the scope required to establish the full extent of wrongdoing.
Speaking after sentence was handed down, Mr Wood said: “Much more important than Ball’s sentence is that this case has demonstrated the power the Church which has even recently bullied victims into silence and sought to curry favour with the law to let off perpetrators, or let them off lightly and impose reporting restrictions.
“Ball’s case is a disgraceful catalogue of the legal system letting him off at every juncture. Just last month, two serious charges were inexplicably ordered to ‘lay on the court file’ – presumably to be ignored at least until Ball becomes too old or unfit to stand trial, a ruse he has already tried.
“Abuse victims’ lives are often ruined by the abuse, they are much more likely to be substance abusers and vulnerable to suicidal impulses. One of Ball’s victims, Neil Todd, killed himself and another, Graham Sawyer of Briercliffe, said that he had wished at times that he were dead. He was adamant that ‘people at the highest levels of the Church are more concerned with ‘saving face’.”
Mr Wood said there were numerous examples of this evident in Ball’s case alone.
“Evidence abounds of an institutional culture of intimidation of victims, in effect compounding the abuse, robbing the victims of justice, and not just allowing the perpetrator to escape justice, but enabling them to continue the abuse.
“The extent to which the Church’s attitude has changed is as yet unclear. Several survivors were recently reported to have been told by Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham (responsible for dealing with abuse), that ‘the Church was too busy working on banking reform’ to have time for abuse responses, and his statement when Ball pleaded guilty was perfunctory, given the depth of the Church’s complicity and the extent to which that had increased the suffering of victims. Sawyer maintains that Bishop Butler ‘is out of his depth, and should step aside’.
Moira Gibb Report on the Church of England and convicted paedophile Bishop Ball:
25 June 2017
The report of Dame Moira Gibb into the Church of England’s handling of the abusive bishop Peter Ball makes shocking reading. It reveals a concern for appearance over reality, for the institution over the individual and, most of all, for the strong and powerful over the weak and vulnerable. From the moment the first victims came forward, the response of the church up to the highest level was one of institutional self-protection.
The complaint was not reported to the police, but only to the archbishop of Canterbury, then George Carey, who persisted long past the point of reason in hoping that his colleague was innocent.The police were not told until after the first victim to come forward, Neil Todd, had attempted suicide twice – and even then it was his parents and not the church who made the complaint. The diocese of Gloucester hired a former policeman to investigate, and if possible discredit, the witnesses.
After news of Bishop Ball’s arrest broke, Lambeth Palace received seven independent accusations about his earlier behaviour. Two were seen by Archbishop Carey, who replied to them personally. Only one of the seven, though, was passed to the police, and that the least damning. Lord Carey’s message to the diocese after Bishop Ball was arrested urged prayers for the bishop and said nothing about victims. After Bishop Ball had retired on spurious grounds of ill health and accepted a caution – though remaining in denial about his crimes – Lord Carey worked to have him rehabilitated. True, he did so with less ingenuity than Peter Ball’s identical twin Michael, himself a bishop, who has admitted allowing his twin to deputise for him at “one or two events”, even after his disgrace.
Lord Carey nevertheless gave Peter Ball £12,000 from church funds, leading to loud complaints from the brothers, who had wanted £20,000. He deliberately kept Peter Ball’s name off the Lambeth blacklist of unemployable clergy; he had the disgraced bishop to stay at Lambeth Palace twice; he attempted to find him work in South Africa (writing to Desmond Tutu for this scheme) and in prisons; he wrote to an American parish that “Peter was possibly the victim of a plot but that, of course, cannot be proved”. Lord Carey’s only objection to a full rehabilitation of Bishop Ball as a retired bishop was that it might provoke unfavourable publicity.
This was disgraceful, and the result has been a deserved disgrace. But it was part of a culture of privilege, power and make-believe that corrupted more than one bishop. Lord Carey’s successor, Rowan Williams did nothing to help Bishop Ball but very little and very slowly to hinder him either.
In 1993 the CPS agreed to issue Ball with a caution, rather than prosecute, after the personal intervention of then-Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey.
Alun:
In no way would I wish to influence the decision about Bishop Ball. No? But you did so pull the other one next time!
Alun:
I have only 2 explanations for this: 1) Carey condones abuse, or 2) he was protecting a friend of Bishop Ball.
Dr Andrew Watt@DrAndrewWatt
It’s important to know if Prince of Wales helped Ball. cf
Goddard inquiry: Outrage as bishop Peter Ball jailed for sex offences given public funding for legal team
30 July 2016
A lawyer close to the inquiry said: “I was really surprised Ball was given funding. The issue is about how he was allowed to get away with it by the Church not about his offending. He has already been investigated and pleaded guilty.”
Bishop Peter Ball, convicted, to Enoch Powell, fascist and alleged satanist and child abuser:
Peter Ball sending the love of God to Enoch and Pam! What a mistake!
Further evidence of close relationship between godly convict Bishop Ball and ‘Rivers of Blood’ Enoch:
Oh, just remind me again who were Enoch’s two aides and buddies! Ah, yes. Proctor and Denby!
Denby – Powell aide on the run
It is thought the armed hold up incident in Down St not far from MI5 offices, may have been linked to Ulster Loyalist terrorist organisations. The following day, Denby phoned an old friend – far right Tory MP Harvey Proctor – and told him he was going abroad.
Denby is said to have visited Ulster several times.
A specialist on shipping law, Denby visited both Iran and Iraq,
He is also alleged to have twice broken into the home of a former senior partner to search for private papers and to have falsified information to a building society so he could extend the mortgage on his Islington home.
Interesting that Barbara Hewson says satanic sexual abuse doesn’t exist while her cousin worked for Enoch Powell who is accused of just that
Why does the Gin Goblin so categorically deny the existence of satanic child abuse like this in Proctor’s home county?
Satanism in Sussex
LazerLight @Lazer_Light23
‘Four months earlier, in the weeks before Christmas, someone had visited churches in Lewes and smashed the model nativity scenes, tearing the heads off the plaster figures.’
Interesting that Enoch Powell corresponded both with Ball and Montagu who were both let off the hook by Skelhorn.
Can you see what it is yet?
Rev Peter Ball was one of many to correspond with Enoch. Others included Atkinson friend Tonypandy, another alleged abuser.
MI5 knew of cover-up over Cyril Smith child abuse, inquiry hears
9 Oct 2017
MI5 knew the country’s chief prosecutor had covered up a sex abuse inquiry into Cyril Smith but did nothing because it was not its job to expose paedophiles, an inquiry has heard.
Files released by the intelligence agency show it was aware that the Director of Public prosecutions (DPP) had lied to a newspaper over its decision not to prosecute Smith. But it decided not to make the information public because its duty was to ‘defend the realm’ rather than to expose a prominent politicians accused of being a paedophile.
The disclosure came during the first day of hearings into how Smith, the former Liberal MP, was able to abuse boys at Cambridge House hostel and Knowl View residential school in Rochdale. Smith died in 2010, having never faced prosecution.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) last night released an MI5 briefing note which showed how Sir Thomas Hetherington, the then DPP, had lied to a local newspaper about the existence of a 1970 police inquiry into allegations of gross indecency made against Smith.
Had the DPP admitted Smith had been under investigation, it would have led to a new inquiry and Smith being put on trial in his lifetime.
Hetherington had called a legal adviser in the intelligence agency to inform him of the press interest from David Bartlett, a journalist with the Rochdale Alternative Press. The briefing note states: “After consultations, the DPP’s press representative had untruthfully told Bartlett that they had no record of this case. In fact their file closely accorded with the details given by Bartlett.”
The MI5 file from 1979
The memo, from the MI5 legal adviser and written in April 1979, goes on to suggest that the South African intelligence agency had been “trying to obtain compromising information about political figures” and that Smith was one of them.
The police investigation into Smith had been closed nine years earlier in 1970 by Hetherington’s predecessor Sir Norman Skelhorn who decided it was unlikely to lead to a prosecution.
Skelhorn’s decision was made despite a senior detective warning that the “sordid” accusations against Smith “stood up”.
Brian Altman QC, IICSA’s lead counsel, told the inquiry: “The documents show that the Security Service’s legal adviser was informed of the false representations to the press from the DPP’s office.
“Based upon their review of the information they hold, the Security Service considers they took active steps to ensure that those involved in investigating allegations of child sexual abuse against Smith were made aware of all information of relevance to their inquiries.
Rathbone was not only David Cameron’s godfather; he was also a relative. David Cameron is related to Queenie. Is that the secret to the support to Ball?
Establishment figures who helped disgraced bishop avoid prosecution for sex abuse revealed
Harvey Proctor being pronounced a saint by his buddies reminds me of the way Don’t-Carey took Ball under his wings.
Alun:
Interesting how Ball associated with Apartheid supporters but was in turn aided by Rathbone, an opponent of Apartheid.
Former Lord Justice Anthony Lloyd and David Cameron’s late godfather Tory MP Tim Rathbone among figures who wrote in support of former Bishop of Gloucester, Peter Ball, one said he was a “saint”
Interesting how Ball associated with Apartheid supporters but was in turn aided by Rathbone, an opponent of Apartheid.
Bishop of Chichester Eric Kemp labelling Ball’s accusers as ‘mischief makers’
Dame Alun Roberts@ciabaudo
Northleach = Ball = Harding = Jennings (lifelong Ball friend) = Prince Charles Coincidence?
Church of England colluded with bishop who abused boys, says Welby
Report about bishop Peter Ball, finding collusion over 20 years, is ‘harrowing reading’
Collusion: Secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy
Senior figures in the Church of England colluded for a period of 20 years with a disgraced former bishop who sexually abused boys and men, a damning independent report has found.
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said the report on the church’s handling of former bishop Peter Ball made “harrowing reading”.
“The church colluded and concealed rather than seeking to help those who were brave enough to come forward. This is inexcusable and shocking behaviour,” he said.
“To the survivors who were brave enough to share their story and bring Peter Ball to justice, I once again offer an unreserved apology. There are no excuses whatsoever for what took place and the systemic abuse of trust perpetrated by Peter Ball over decades.”
Two former archbishops of Canterbury, George Carey and Rowan Williams, apologised to the victims of Peter Ball after being criticised for their failures in relation to him.
Ball, the former bishop of both Gloucester and Lewes, was jailed in October 2015 for the grooming, sexual exploitation and abuse of 18 vulnerable young men aged 17-25 who had sought spiritual guidance from him between 1977 and 1992. He was released from prison in February after serving 16 months.
His trial heard that after Ball was first accused in 1993, a string of senior establishment figures – including Carey, an unidentified member of the royal family, cabinet ministers and a high court judge – came forward in his support, writing letters to the police and Crown Prosecution Service.
Ball was cautioned by police. He resigned his post as bishop and retired to a rented cottage on the Prince of Wales’s Duchy of Cornwall estate butcontinued to officiate in 17 public schools until 2007. A fresh investigation was opened in 2012 which led to his conviction.
One of Ball’s victims, Neil Todd – the first to come forward with allegations of abuse – attempted suicide three times before killing himself in 2012.
Welby ordered an independent review of the church’s handling of the case, chaired by Dame Moira Gibb, former chief executive of Camden council.
The report said Ball’s case was dealt with at the highest levels within the church. He “was seen by the church as the man in trouble who the church needed to help”.
Ball was portrayed as a victim, and the review found “little evidence of compassion for Neil Todd even though from the outset it was clear that he was a vulnerable young man who had come to harm”.
It added: “The church appears to have been most interested in protecting itself.”
In the foreword to her report, An Abuse of Faith, published on Thursday, Gibb said the serious sexual wrongdoing of Ball “is shocking in itself but is compounded by the failure of the church to respond appropriately to his misconduct, again over a period of many years”.
“Ball’s priority was to protect and promote himself and he maligned the abused. The church colluded. The church colluded with that rather than seeking to help those he had harmed, or assuring itself of the safety of others.”
The report added, “progress has been slow and continuing, faster improvement is still required”.
Gibb made 11 recommendations in her report, including improving support to survivors of clerical abuse and taking steps to “demonstrate the individual and collective accountability of bishops”.
Peter Hancock, the C of E’s lead safeguarding bishop, who received the report on behalf of the church, said it had failed Ball’s survivors. “Having read the report I am appalled and disturbed by its contents … As a church we colluded, we failed to act and protect those who came forward for help. There are no excuses. We accept all the recommendations and are working to action them.”
Rowan Williams: ‘It is clear I did not give adequate priority to sorting out the concerns and allegations surrounding Peter Ball.’
He added: “For the survivors, it may feel this is all too late.”
According to the report, Ball intimated “on many occasions, to Lord Carey and others, that he enjoys the status of confidant of the Prince of Wales” and “sought to exploit his contact with members of the royal family in order to bolster his position”.
Bishop Ball with Prince Charles and Camilla. Ball gave the homily at the funeral of Camilla Parker Bowles’s father, Major Bruce Shand, in 2006
Moira Gibb is made a Dame CBE by the Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace back in 2012
However, Dame Moira Gibb’s report went on, it “found no evidence that the Prince of Wales or any other member of the royal family sought to intervene at any point in order to protect or promote Ball”.
Carey was criticised in the report, which said he “set the tone for the church’s response to Ball’s crimes and gave the steer which allowed Ball’s assertions that he was innocent to gain credence”.
In a statement responding to the report, Carey said it made “uncomfortable reading” and he accepted its criticisms of him. “I apologise to the victims of Peter Ball. I believed Peter Ball’s protestations and gave too little credence to the vulnerable young men and boys behind those allegations.”
Carey said he regretted not putting Ball’s name on the Lambeth List – names of people whose suitability for ministry is under question – after he was cautioned.
Under the leadership of Williams, the church began reviewing past cases, a move which ultimately led to the criminal case against Ball being reopened, the report said. However, he was criticised as being “lamentably slow” in making change.
In a statement, Williams said: “Having read the report and reflected on its details, it is clear I did not give adequate priority to sorting out the concerns and allegations surrounding Peter Ball at the earliest opportunity. I recognise such a delay is likely to have increased the pressure and distress experienced by the survivors of his abuse and I am sincerely sorry for this.”
He’s one of the gatekeepers I’ve seen campaigning in Lords to clear name of another Bishop Bell from 1950s. Children don’t feature at all
Sex abuse bishop Peter Ball released from prison
4 February 2017
Peter Ball, 84, was jailed for 32 months in October 2015 after admitting a string of historical sex offences against 18 teenagers and young men.
The former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester was released from jail on Friday after serving 16 months.
Phil Johnson said he had served “less than a month for each of the victims”.
Richard Scorer, a lawyer representing a number of Ball’s victims, said his early release was “an affront to justice” and “a huge blow to his victims”.
“This was a man whose appalling crimes represented a gross and systematic abuse of trust spanning decades,” he said.
He said the sentence handed down to him was “in no way proportionate to the crimes committed”, and it seemed he had been freed “at the earliest opportunity”.
Mr Johnson said its publication was not likely “for several more months”.
“I think it’s utterly ridiculous that it’s taken longer to write a report on what happened than it has for Peter Ball to serve his jail sentence,” he said.
Prince Charles’ bishop ‘friend’ is freed from prison early – despite committing horrific sex offences against 18 teenagers and young men
4 February 2017
A predatory bishop who had links to Prince Charles has been freed from prison halfway through his sentence for sex offences.
Peter Ball, described as a ‘monster’ by his victims, served only 16 months for grooming and molesting aspiring novice monks. One victim committed suicide while others have suffered long-lasting trauma.
Survivors condemned the early release of the 84-year-old former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester.
He was jailed for 32 months in 2015 for offences against 18 teenagers and young men between 1977 and 1992, but was allowed out on licence at the halfway point of his sentence.
Richard Scorer, an abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon who represented some of Ball’s victims, said his early release after ‘a gross and systematic abuse of trust spanning decades’ was ‘an affront to justice’.
Ball was first investigated in 1992 but escaped with a caution. It emerged later that an unnamed royal was among Establishment figures who had written in support of Ball at the time.
After his caution, Ball was provided with a Duchy of Cornwall home by Prince Charles. Ball counted Charles as a ‘loyal friend’
Mr Scorer added: “What is equally frustrating is that despite his conviction we still have not got to the bottom of which establishment figures – including MPs, cabinet ministers and members of the Royal Family – came out in support of him in the 1990s and prevented justice being served then.
“This is a disgrace and those who suffered at Ball’s hands deserve answers.”
One of Ball’s victims said: “Ball’s crimes led to one of his victims committing suicide so how can 16 months in jail be justice?
“There are still many questions that need answers about who helped him cover up his crimes and what happened.
“What is crucially important is that the inquiry into child abuse answers these questions before it is too late.”
The CoE said Ball has been prohibited from ministry for life.
However the National Probation Service has had to draw up “bespoke” licence conditions with the Church so he can continue to exercise his right to worship.
It is understood that the bespoke licence conditions in place are very strict, and include Ball being forbidden from doing or wearing anything that would give him clerical status, or from leading a service.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said sex offenders are “robustly risk assessed and subject to a strict set of conditions”.
“If they fail to comply, they can be recalled to prison,” the spokesman said.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Rev Justin Welby, has commissioned an independent review – led by Dame Moira Gibb according to reports – into how the Church dealt with the allegations against Ball.
Revealed: Charles’ dozens of letters to ‘calculating’ paedophile bishop as victims demand they are made public
Jan 27 2017
Prince Charles is believed to have written to paedophile bishop Peter Ball
Ball was jailed two years ago for using his position to groom 18 young men
The former Bishop of Gloucester exchanged letters with Prince Charles
Clarence House stressed the letters are not connected with Ball’s case
Victims of a paedophile bishop last night called for dozens of letters he received from Prince Charles to be made public.
Extensive correspondence is understood to exist between the future king and Peter Ball, the ‘calculating’ former Bishop of Gloucester, who was jailed after admitting exploiting his position to groom and abuse 18 young men.
The prince’s letters now have been handed to an independent inquiry into the case, launched after Ball was convicted two years ago.
It is not clear what role, if any, they will play in the inquiry which is examining the Church’s handling of the Ball case, but Charles has not given any evidence to it either formally or informally nor has he or his team been asked to.
The content of the letters is unknown, but in a statement yesterday, Clarence House said they believed there was nothing in them which pertained to the case.
A spokesman for the prince said: ‘We do not believe that the letters have any bearing on the issues before the inquiry, but we have not objected to them being shared for their consideration.’
Royal sources insist it would be perfectly normal for the future king to write to the priest, who in 1992 became Bishop of Gloucester, the diocese in which Charles’ country home, Highgrove, sits.
One said that the existence of letters between the two simply reflected their ‘long-standing acquaintance’.
Ball was Bishop of Gloucester which covers Prince Charles’s Highgrove Estate
It is not clear if the prince continued to write to Ball after his well-publicised earlier arrest and police caution for gross indecency against a 17-year-old boy in 1993.
Ball escaped prosecution for this offence, despite investigators knowing of ‘many’ more allegations against him, after the police received dozens of supportive letters and calls from MPs, former public headmasters, JPs and even a Lord Chief Justice.
At the time his lawyers also told the police they had a letter of support from a member of the Royal Family, but prosecutors said they had not seen this correspondence and there is no evidence that this letter even existed.
However, Ball clearly did continue to enjoy cordial relations with the royals as he read the homily at the funeral of the father of the Duchess of Cornwall in 2006
Prince Charles awarding honour toDame Moira Gibb. Moira Gibb is made a Dame CBE by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace back in 2012
The letters from Charles are understood to have been handed to the Church of England’s independent inquiry, which is being led by former council chief executive Dame Moira Gibb.
A Church of England spokesman said: ‘We are supplying the inquiry with all information relevant to the inquiry’s purposes as set out in its Terms of Reference.’
The Government’s separate child abuse inquiry is also due to investigate whether there were ‘inappropriate attempts by people of prominence to interfere in the criminal justice processes’ after Ball was first accused of child sexual offences 24 years ago.
Phil Johnson, one of Ball’s victims and chairman of the Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors group, last night called for the letters to be made public in the ‘spirit of openness.’
He said: ‘I think the victims have a right to know what is in them. They may of course just be innocent letters between friends. But given the grave concerns about how the case was handled, the public also have a right to know what the future head of state wrote to Ball for the avoidance of any doubt.’
After his second arrest in 2015, Ball claimed his victims had been ‘spiritually uplifted’ by his treatment of them. The court heard how he targeted young men seeking spiritual instruction on the Bishop’s ‘Give a Year for Christ’ scheme.
He changed his plea at the last minute and admitted to offences against 18 teenagers and young men between 1977 and 1992. He was sentenced to 32 months for misconduct in public office and 15 months for indecent assault, to run concurrently.
The lawyer for some of those he abused said the way establishment figures closed ranks around him had ‘compounded his victims’ anguish’.
Two years ago, 27 letters that Charles sent to ministers between September 2004 and April 2005 were published after a decade-long legal battle over their release that went to the Supreme Court
Second member of Fiona Woolf inquiry admits controversial links with Lord Brittan
Dame Moira Gibb, who is to sit with Fiona Woolf on the Government’s child sex abuse inquiry, confirms she also has a link with Lord Brittan
Dame Moira Gibb – who was appointed to sit on the panel along with a number of other experts – has admitted a close personal friend worked with Lord Brittan during part of the period which will be closely scrutinised by the inquiry.
In a letter to Theresa May, the Home Secretary, on October 17 Dame Moira said she had no “direct interest in the matters to which the inquiry relates”.
But just five days later she was forced to write to Mrs May again.
She wrote: “I would like to set out that Mr Gerald Malone, whom I declared as a personal friend, informed me last night that he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Lord Brittan in 1985 when Lord Brittan was Secretary of State for Trade and Investment, and a Government whip from 1986-1987.
Gerald Malone was a Conservative MP in Baroness Thatcher’s and Sir John Major’s governments.
As a trusted worker for Lord Brittanin the 1980s it is conceivable the sex abuse inquiry may wish to take evidence from him about Lord Brittan’s tenure at Home Office.
Other career politicians on the board of General Mediterranean or its subsidiaries are former Liberal party leader Lord Steel, former president of the European commission Jacques Santer, former Conservative chancellor Norman Lamont and former Tory health minster Gerry Malone, who is chairman of Regent.
People don’t like Gerry Malone much. He’s seen as arrogant, unclubbable. ‘I had few friends in politics and it remains so.’ He’s a pal of Andrew Neil’s. John Major’s, too.
He now has a non-executive role in several companies, including Regent GM Laboratories, Ultrasis and Chiltern Invodex.
link
20 May 2003
It has been a long and varied career path from engineering student to teacher, social worker and senior director. …management experience on a four-strong executive board running Kensington and Chelsea council, west London.
She joins a growing list of social services directors making it to the very top in local government, moving to the north London borough of Camden as its £140,000-a-year chief executive.
Director of social services in Kensington and Chelsea since 1990
Gibb’s long path to the top began after a two-year engineering course at Glasgow University. She decided it was not for her, moved into teaching – secondary modern in Newham, east London -but soon decided to move on.
“I had a friend who was a social worker and, while I did not know what they did, I was enthusiastic,” Gibb says. She returned to Scotland for a social work degree course in Edinburgh, and then spent five years in Newcastle upon Tyne, working in the city’s tough Scotswood area.
After a spell teaching social work in Preston, she moved south to Surrey, becoming an adviser in child care, then joined the west London borough of Ealing – rising to assistant social services director, before joining Kensington and Chelsea in 1988 as deputy director. She was promoted to director two years later.
Dame Moira Gibb is a non-executive member of the UK Statistics Authority.
Dame Moira is Chair of Skills for Care and Chair of City Lit Adult Education College.
She is a non-executive director of the NHS England and chairs its Investment Committee.
She is a member of the Council of Reading University. Her career was in social services and local government, latterly as Chief Executive of Camden Council. She was a Civil Service Commissioner from 2012-15 and a Director of the London Marathon from 2005-11.
Malone is married to a leading Scottish doctor, Anne Blyth. He made tabloid headlines in 1995 when, still a minister, he attended a live sex show.
Mr Malone, who was a health minister in John Major’s government and is now editor of the European, has issued a formal apology to the title’s features editor, Nicola Davidson, after making a drunken sexual approach to her and then hitting her around the head when he was rebuffed.
…He initially became chairman of Regent GM, one of Britain’s biggest suppliers of generic drugs to the NHS, before moving to his current role as chairman of Ultrasis, which specialises in computerised cognitive behavioural therapy software.
But controversy has never been far away where Malone is concerned, and last year he faced an unprecedented challenge to his role in a shareholders’ revolt. Susan Malin, a 42-year-old accountant, stood for election to the board following a row over executive pay, claiming the company was being run “like an old boys’ network”. Unlike the people of Winchester, however, the shareholders stood by him, and the former Tory minister lives to fight another day.
He re-entered parliament in 1992, representing the “safe” Conservative seat of Winchester. He was appointed a Minister of State at the Department of Health in 1994, when Virginia Bottomley was the Secretary of State.
Production of Award Ceremony in the presence of the Prime Minister (1991): The Princess Margaret (1992); Virginia Bottomley (1993); Gerry Malone (1994); Secretary of State (1995).
Nurses jeer Minister as strike looms Threat of action by 900,000 NHS staff
May 1995
NURSES were poised to tear up their long-standing no-strike rule after Ministers yesterday refused to back down on controversial local pay deals.
Junior Health Minister Baroness Cumberlege was booed and heckled by members of the Royal College of Nursing meeting in Harrogate for their annual congress, when she claimed that local pay bargaining was here to stay.
She ended with a defiant message for the Prime Minister, Health Secretary Virginia Bottomley, and Health Minister Gerry Malone.
”We will fight for nursing and for the health services of this country, to ensure that our campaign marks a turning point for nursing, and to use the tremendous support we have received to create a better future. We will fight to win this battle and move on to win the war.”
Anger over massive pensions gulf between local authority bosses and ordinary workers
24 March 2009
At least seven London local government bosses are heading for final salary pensions of more than £100,000 a year, the Evening Standard has learned.
They are the first of a new generation of high-earning council chiefs, now in their fifties, who can look forward to six-figure retirement incomes once their careers are over.
The size of the pensions has angered union leaders, who have drawn attention to the vast gap between the “fat cat” bosses at the top of the local authority earnings league and the average London council worker pension of around £4,000.
And three of those due for a windfall have been criticised for serious failings in their social services department after children died.
But councils said the pensions were justified. A spokeswoman for Camden council, where chief executive Moira Gibb is set to retire on a pension of more than £109,000, said: “All local government pension holders pay a proportion of their own wage into these pension schemes and for some people these reflect years of service.
Moira Gibb
Chief executive of Camden
Age: not disclosed
Salary: £210,000
Estimate local government career at retirement: 40 years
Annual pension: £109,375 (£2,187,500 pot)
Lump sum: £267,750
Moira Gibb qualified as a social worker after a short teaching career. She has worked in social services departments in Newcastle, Surrey, Ealing and Kensington and Chelsea. Since being appointed as Chief Executive of Camden, four serious case reviews have been carried out into the death or serious injury of a child as a result of abuse or neglect. One, a six-year-old girl, was murdered in 2005 by her mother’s boyfriend, despite being on the child protection register. Ms Gibb announced a restructuring of children’s services “to improve the welfare of all children”. The next year a two-month-old boy died after “horrific” abuse.
THE woman leading the Baby P taskforce faces questions after two children died from abuse on her watch, the Evening Standard can reveal.
Children’s Secretary Ed Balls appointed Moira Gibb from Camden council to review social services across England in the wake of the Baby P scandal. But a series of failings by Ms Gibb’s social workers in two separate cases raised concerns over her suitability for the role.
An Evening Standard investigation found that four inquiries have been held into the death or serious harm of a child from suspected abuse or neglect in Camden in the last five years.
Among the victims was a six-year-old girl, Ukleigha Batten-Froggatt, who was murdered in 2005 by her mother’s boyfriend, despite being placed on Camden’s child protection register. Her mother was also killed in the attack.
Social workers failed to check the police records of his mother’s boyfriend, who was revealed as a convicted child sex attacker with a “troubled” past.
Children’s Secretary Ed Balls appointed Moira Gibb from Camden council to review social services across England
Haringey’s MP, Lynne Featherstone, questioned the appointment of Ms Gibb in light of the other cases in Camden.
“This is concerning information,” she said. “It must, unfortunately, put a question mark over Ed Balls’s choice. He should look into the background here so we are reassured over his choice to lead the taskforce.”
Ms Gibb, who has been chief executive of Camden since 2003, said she did not “seek” the role but was asked to take it on.
Dame Moira Gibb: Non-executive Director and Chair of the Investment Committee
Dame Moira Gibb is Chair of Skills for Care and Chair of City Lit Adult Education College. She is a non-executive director of the UK Statistics Authority and a member of the Council of Reading University.
Her career was in social services and local government, latterly as Chief Executive of Camden Council. She was a Civil Service Commissioner from 2012-15 and a Director of the London Marathon from 2005-11.
Paedophile bishop and a cover-up by the Church lasting 23 years: Scandal deepens
24 February 2016
Peter Ball – who was eventually jailed after admitting the abuse last year – benefited from a ‘deeply sinister cover-up’.
Secret documents claimed that he had been let off 23 years ago to ‘prevent a scandal in the press’ – despite the Church of England being told he was a serial abuser. Ball resigned as Bishop of Gloucester in 1993, but returned to work within two years.
The report was compiled at the time by a private detective working for Ball’s legal team. It warned senior figures that Ball had been ‘abusing not only his office but many young men’ and had confessed to his behaviour.
Its existence was reported by the BBC and it was described as being for the information solely of the Bishop of Chichester, the late Eric Kemp, and the then Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey.
The documents also indicate the private investigator frequently got to his victims before police did. They also made it clear that Ball had confessed to abusing boys.
However the documents alleged the bishop was let off with only a caution after his lawyers spoke with a ‘sympathetic’ police officer, Wayne Murdock. He returned to work within two years and moved to the Bath and Wells diocese until 2010.
Now details have emerged for the first time of a secret report by a private detective to help Ball’s defence.
According to the BBC, the documents showed that Mr Murdock had discussed with Ball’s legal team ‘the need to prevent a scandal, especially as Peter was a frequent visitor to Sandringham and is friendly with Prince Charles’.
A source, who has seen some of the secret documents, told the Daily Mail: ‘After Ball was arrested the Church hired a private detective to aide his defence.
Prosecutors have already conceded that the decision not to prosecute Ball in 1993 was ‘wrong’ as there was enough evidence to bring charges.
But it emerged that at the time of his arrest, leading Establishment figures – including two Archbishops of Canterbury, Tory MPs, a senior judge and public school headmasters – mounted an extraordinary campaign to protect hi
In 1993, Ball resigned in disgrace after receiving a police caution for committing an act of ‘gross indecency’
“Evil bishop drove me to suicide”- this Telegraph article about his abuse was published in Mar 1993
Ball escaped with a police caution despite statements from other young men who claimed to have suffered at his hands and Prince Charles provided Ball with a grace- and-favour mansion on his Duchy of Cornwall estate in Somerset.
The mother of one of Ball’s victim’s said: “This is quite unbelievable. I don’t know what Prince Charles thinks he is doing.
“The man ruined my son’s life and should have been locked away.
“Instead he now lives in luxury on one of the finest estates in the country.
“I don’t feel Ball was ever properly punished – but the fact that the prince has given sanctuary to this pervert is staggering.
Lord Carey told the BBC that he had placed Peter Ball on a list of priests banned from the ministry.
But Sussex police documents, released under an Freedom of Information (FOI) request, suggest Ball’s name was not included.
The documents also indicate Ball associated with other sex offenders in the clergy and that he was investigated in 2008 for being part of a suspected paedophile ring.
Peter Ball with Peter Canon Gordon Rideout, from Polegate, East Sussex, who was jailed for 10 years in May 2014. He was found guilty of 36 separate sex offences by a jury at Lewes Crown Court.
Canon Gordon Rideout was the vicar of All Saints Church in Eastbourne for 25 years.
Clergyman Canon Gordon Rideout was chaplain at Moira House School, Eastbourne, until 2003, and chairman of governors at Bishop Bell C of E School in Eastbourne until November 2011.
Clergyman Canon Gordon Rideout was a serial sex offender who preyed on young children across the south of England.
In 2013, Rideout, 74, was jailed for 10 years at Lewes Crown Court after being convicted of two attempted rapes and 34 indecent assaults on 16 boys and girls
In the 1970s Canon Gordon Rideout was taken to a military court on child sex-abuse charges.
At that time Rideout was chaplain on a military base.
Peter Ball was in regular contact with Vicar Roy Cotton, a convicted paedophile priest. Cotton took children to visit Ball.
2011 Baroness Butler-Sloss was appointed by the Diocese of Chichester to carry out the review which looked into the behaviour of Cotton and another paedophile priest, Colin Pritchard.
Bishop turned ‘blind eye’ to Bexhill vicar’s abuse, inquiry hears
06 March 2018
A damning image of ‘wilful blindness’ in historic cases of sexual abuse of children who were ‘terrified and silenced’ by clergy in Sussex has been set out at a public inquiry. Fiona Scolding QC, lead counsel to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), said yesterday that abuse that left an ‘indelible scar’ on children was often ignored or forgiven.
In one segment, Miss Scolding described abuse by a Reverend Colin Pritchard, former vicar of St Barnabas’ Church in Bexhill and a church in Sedlescombe. She said: “There have been suggestions about the culture of abuse operated by Reverend Pritchard and that Bishop Peter Ball turned a blind eye to that abuse.” Pritchard was arrested in 1997 on suspicion of sexual offences, and again in 2007. Miss Scolding said: “There were no restrictions upon his ability to attend church or be involved in ministry with children from his arrest until July 2007.
Reverend Pritchard, who was vicar of St Barnabas in Bexhill, pleaded guilty in 2008 to seven counts of sexual assault on two boys and was jailed for five years. Pritchard – now known as Ifor Whittaker – was convicted last month of sex offences against a boy and jailed for 16 years. The crimes were when he worked in Sedlescombe, police said. Speaking on behalf of the Diocese of Chichester and Archbishops’ Council for the Church of England, Nigel Giffin QC said the Church’s response to abuse in the last few decades was ‘not nearly good enough’. The IICSA inquiry will look into how far institutions failed to protect children from sexual abuse within the Anglican Church. It focuses on abuse within the Diocese of Chichester, which covers all of Sussex, as a case study. Miss Scolding said: “As a society we have over the past 10 years had to examine some uncomfortable truths about our wilful blindness to such abuse.” Richard Scorer, speaking on behalf of many of the victims, said: “The Church of England claims to offer moral guidance to the country yet clerical sexual abuse cases powerfully undermine the claim. This leads to the cover-up of abuse. “The question is whether the Church can be trusted to put its own house in order.” In a statement, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: “The failures that we have seen are deeply shaming and I personally find them a cause of horror and sadness. “That children have been abused within the communities of the church is indeed shameful.” The inquiry continues.
Former Sussex priest jailed for sex abuse against boy
Feb 22 2018
Ifor Whittaker was previously known as Colin Pritchard
A “disgusting and despicable” ex-Anglican priest has been jailed for sexually abusing a boy and conspiring with another priest to abuse the child.
Ifor Whittaker, formerly Colin Pritchard, was convicted of abusing the boy, aged between 10 and 16 when the abuse happened in the 1980s and 1990s.
The 73-year-old also conspired with ex-clergyman Roy Cotton, who has since died, to commit sex acts.
Whittaker, of Rectory Road, Sutton, south London, was jailed for 16 years.
He was told he will serve a minimum of 10 years in prison. He is already a registered sex offender for life after a previous conviction.
Sentencing Whittaker, Judge Paul Tain described the priest’s behaviour as “disgraceful, disgusting and despicable”,
He said: “It was an obvious and clear case of grooming, where he carefully manipulated a vulnerable child.”
Whittaker had “attempted to bamboozle, cheat and mislead the jury”, the judge said.
He said the abuser had “plied the victim with alcohol” and “emotionally blackmailed the boy by saying ‘no one would believe you over a priest'”.
The boy had been invited by Whittaker to do gardening work at the church
Whittaker, a former rector of Sedlescombe, near Battle, was convicted of seven counts, which also included gross indecency and inciting the boy to commit gross indecency.
The offences took place between February 1987 and February 1993 in East Sussex, Hove Crown Court was told.
The jury was told Whittaker was a “predatory paedophile” and had organised and facilitated the abuse with Cotton, who worked as a priest in Brede, near Rye, in the 1990s.
He died in 2006 and was never prosecuted.
The victim, now in his 40s, told the court Cotton had been the main abuser and had “just passed me over like a toy to be borrowed by a friend”.
‘Quite forceful’
The court heard the abuse began after he was invited to do gardening work at the church by Whittaker in return for pocket money.
Whittaker and Cotton “had an agreement” and Cotton would often take the boy to and from Whittaker’s house, it was said.
There were also occasions at Cotton’s house when, after abuse had taken place, Whittaker would “suddenly immediately appear in the room as if he had been watching”, the jury heard.
Whittaker’s victim described him as “quite forceful, quite scary”.
The jury was told Whittaker had previously pleaded guilty to gross indecency and indecent assault in 2008 over offences which had take place in Wellingborough in Northamptonshire against teenage boys in the 1980s.
The diocese apologised “unreservedly” after Baroness Butler-Sloss’s report criticised both senior clergy and Sussex Police over how they dealt with historical claims of abuse by Cotton and the then Colin Pritchard.
Following Whittaker’s latest conviction, the Diocese of Chichester issued a statement saying: “We express our profound sorrow and regret to the victim in this case and our admiration for their courage and determination in coming forward.
“The abuse of children is both a travesty and a tragedy and a complete betrayal of the Christian faith.
“This case demonstrates once again why it is so important to listen to those reporting abuse.”
THE former Bishop of Blackburn has been criticised in an inquiry report into child sexual abuse in his former diocese.
The Right Rev Nicholas Reade, the Bishop of Blackburn from 2004 to 2012, has been held to account by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse over his time as Archdeacon of Lewes, in the Diocese of Chichester.
The Rev Robert Coles admitted the alleged sexual abuse of a teenage altar server in the 1980s to Bishop Nicholas and a fellow clergyman, the inquiry was told.
But despite Coles confessing to sexual activity with the 15 or 16-year-old boy at his home, neither Bishop Nicholas nor his colleague disclosed this information to police, following the former’s arrest in 1997.
Coles, who was a parish priest across the southern diocese, faced no criminal action at the time.
But an investigation was relaunched in 2012 and he was later convicted on two separate occasions of serious sexual offences involving young boys and given substantial jail sentences.
Referring to the 1997 disclosures, Prof Alexis Jay, the inquiry’s chairman, said in a final report: “Archdeacon Reade declined to report a serious indecent to the police, yet repeatedly sought to justify this failure on the basis that ‘he had not raped the boy’.
“Coles should have been reported to the police and subject to disciplinary action or a risk assessment.”
The inquiry heard that Coles sexually groomed a child in 2007-08. He was officially retired but still continued to officiate.
Mr Reade was also found to have defended another minister, Rev Roy Cotton, who had a past conviction for indecent exposure involving a boy in a church organ loft in the 1950s.
Cotton, an ‘Anglo-Catholic’ was supposed to only be allowed to celebrate Mass at his retirement home but officiated in public several times when children were present, the inquiry report disclosed.
He was investigated twice over allegations that he abused boys in the 70s and 80s, with another disgraced minister. Three victims came forward to make accusations. No criminal action was taken but Sussex Police’s inquiry was found to be ‘inadequate’. Cotton, who was the subject of later church and judicial inquiries, died in September 2006.
Prof Jay, referring to Cotton’s case, added: “This was a clear example of the diocese failing to prioritise its responsibilities for children and young people.
“Its concerns seem to have been led by pastoral concerns for Cotton, rather than the danger he posed to children.”
The current Bishop of Blackburn, the Right Rev Julian Henderson, this week wrote to all clergy in the diocese, calling on them to learn lessons from the inquiry’s findings.
Mr Reade was Archdeacon of Lewes before being appointed Bishop of Blackburn in 2004. He retired in 2012.
The child sex abuse inquiry was prompted by revelations that no fewer than 20 individuals with connections to Chichester Diocese had been convicted of sexual offending against children, including Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes and later Bishop of Gloucester, over the past 50 years.
In her findings, Prof Jay said: “The Church must take action to ensure that this catalogue of errors does not occur again.”
The police investigated allegations of sexual offences by Ball against 19 young men and boys, in East Sussex and elsewhere between the 1970s and the early 1980s.
Vincent S. aged 10 yrs, from Grafton Children’s Home, was taken to Elm Guest House and to a house in Bexhill, in East Sussex.
John Stingemore lived in Bexhill in East Sussex.
John Stingemore was deputy head of Grafton Close children’s home
John Stingemore at the trial of Peter Sutcliffe..linked to Savile..linked to McSweeney…
Sussex Police received a complaint about a sexual assault by Sir Jimmy Savile in Worthing in Sussex.
Nicholas Rabet ran a children’s activity centre in Sussex.
He lived at Cross-in-Hand, near Heathfield, for five years before moving to Asia, and was suspected of having had sex with up to 300 underage boys.
Adrian Johns, former resident of Bryn Alyn children’s home, died in a 1992 fire aged 32 in Brighton, East Sussex. Verdict – unlawful killing
Peter Bick lived in Bexhill in East Sussex.
On 23 April 2012, a former altar boy, Christopher Hunnisett, 28, appeared in court accused of murdering Peter Bick, 57, as part of a campaign of hate against paedophiles.
Bick is believed to have been a friend of Prince Philip. Bick shared a love of carriage racing with Prince Philip.
Police found Peter Bick, 57, dead in his flat on January 11 201.
Hunnisett, alleged that he was abused by Rev Ronald Glazebrook, above.
2001
The Oxford-educated cleric, who was a headmaster at schools in Pakistan and Zimbabwe before returning to Britain to become the warden at an East End drop-in centre, retired to the Sussex resort almost 20 years ago.
Many knew him through Christ Church in St Leonards-on-Sea.
2005 The wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles
Lambeth Palace was warned that Peter Ball, a close friend of Prince Charles and who attended his wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005, was a serial abuser of boys and young men shortly before he resigned as Bishop of Gloucester in 1993.
Ball resigned as Bishop of Gloucester following the caution and a short time later Prince Charles invited him to live in a lodge house owned by the Duchy of Cornwall in Aller, Somerset.
He described the Prince of Wales at the time as ‘a loyal friend’.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey wrote to police in 1993 with letters of support for the then Bishop of Gloucester Peter Ball who was being investigated for sex offences
1993 Rt Rev Michael Ball and twin Brother Rt Rev Peter Ball – Church House – Westminster
In one of Lord Carey’s letters he told police it was “improbable” that Peter Ball was guilty.
The Old Bailey was told a member of the Royal Family and other establishment figures backed Ball while he tried to avoid charges of sexually abusing young aspiring priests in the early 1990s.
He courted a niece of Sir Anthony Eden (former prime minister)
Peter Ball was governor of Radley, Wellington and Lancing
2 March 1977
The Queen has appointed a monk as – Church of England bishop for only the third time in living memory…Father Peter Ball. The two other modern monk-bishops have been the late Rt Rev Walter Frere, Bishop of Truro, 1923-35 and the Rt Rev Trevor Huddleston, the present Bishop of Stepney
Truthseeker1@thewakeupcall09
Bishop Peter Ball, Tom Driberg & Trevor Huddleston all went to Lancing College and are all paedophiles.
Some of Peter Ball’s “schemers” were sent to work with the Community in Uruguay
Neil Todd, the teenage aspirant monk who was sexually abused by Ball, said bishop Ball told him that ‘the Prince had written him personal letters. He didn’t say what was in them …Then he told me they were in his safe and added: “One day they will be very valuable.”’
Peter Ball and Jimmy Savile were close and visited Prince Charles at Highgrove often.
Staff at Highgrove, the Prince of Wales’s country home, had grown accustomed to these intimate exchanges when the Rt Rev Peter Ball, the now disgraced Bishop of Gloucester, came to offer solace and enlightenment to their boss.
Prince Charles has a strange temple at Highgrove.
During his time in Lewes, Peter Ball got to know Jimmy Savile well.
This York Student Television project from 1992 makes clear reference to Jimmy Savile’s paedophile tendencies. The source description says it originates from 2nd February 2011 but the end credits twice state clearly 1992. It seems to attempt to shy away from literal sodomy on Savile’s part but there are clear and unambiguous sexual references including a direct allegation of paedophilia.
Description
Jim’ll Sodomise You was a one-off short spoof of Jim’ll Fix It. It features David Bartlett wearing a tracksuit and glitzy wig and covered in bling, doing a not-bad impression of Jimmy Saville.
The idea being that Jim in this case would not fix it, and would thereby sodomise your ambitions (rather than literally sodomise you).
Bishop Peter Ball and Jimmy Savile were close and visited Prince Charles at Highgrove often.
Peter Ball was propelled into the royal circle by two people… One was prebendary Willie Booth, a former chaplain at Westminster School,the other was Jimmy Savile.
Jimmy Savile committed a number of sex offences in Sussex at the time when Ball was bishop
After his appointment to Gloucester was announced, Ball became a regular visitor to Highgrove and was held in such high regard that Charles attended his enthronement.
Ball dined with Thatcher at the Savoy and Margaret Thatcher’s former Chief Whip Tim Renton MP said any criminal action against Ball was “far too great a punishment”. link
Peter Ball saw a good deal of the Norfolks and Abergravennys, and
Peter Ball was a friend of Lord John Wakeham and Sir Ian Gow.
MINISTER BEDDED JUDGE’S WIFE AND DAUGHTERS (Underage) News of the World 1994
Alan Clark MP who was involved in a scandal with two 14 yr old girls –
Clark was involved in a sex scandal with a woman and her daughters — ‘the coven’
The Trouble with BBC ‘Children in Need’ Ambassador Max Clifford and Tory MP Alan Clark
In the leaked video Clifford, the legendary PR Guru to the stars and elites let slip that he had successfully hid away the sins of one Tory MP, and ‘diarist’, Alan Clark.
was the first Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex from 1974 to 1989. Lord Hampden, Anthony David Brand was Deputy Lord-Lieutenant for East Sussex from 1986 until 2000
Lord Hampden, Anthony David Brand and Peter Ball, were involved in the 1986 Derry Mainwaring Knight Satanist trial
Anthony John Leslie Lloyd, Baron Lloyd of Berwick (left)
He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex in 1983.
Anthony Lloyd, who was a Lord Justice at the time, wrote a letter of support for Peter Ball and described Ball as a “saint” in one of more than 2,000 letters sent to the Crown Prosecution Service and Gloucestershire Police in his support from acquaintances.
In 1969 Lloyd was appointed Attorney-General to the Prince of Wales, serving until 1977.
1984 – made a Privy Counsellor
Camilla’s father Bruce Shand – was a Deputy Lieutenant of Sussex, and Vice-Lieutenant of East Sussex from 1974 until 1992.
Peter Ball preached at Bruce Shand’s funeral
Lord Wakeham, center with Prince Philip
Lord Wakeham aka “Lord Fix-It” He tried to protect the rich and the famous from intrusions into their privacy
Director, NM Rothschild & Sons 1995
He was a director of Enron (close ties with George Bush) from 1994 until its bankruptcy in 2001.
As a non-executive director and a member of Enron’s auditing committee, paid a reported £80,000 a year, Lord Wakeham was meant to ensure that the company’s accountants were happy with the way that it was reporting to Wall Street.
It was in another role, as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission from which he stepped down last week, that Lord Wakeham was able to show his prowess as a fixer, defusing the continuing battles between the tabloids and Buckingham Palace, placing a restraining hand on editors here, holding back politicians there from legislation to impose new privacy laws on the press.
Peter Ball spent hours comforting Lord Wakeham after his wife was killed in the 1984 Brighton bombing and was a staunch friend to Jane Gow when her husband was murdered by the Ira.
The Rt Rev Peter Ball, the Bishop of Lewes, blesses a plaque in memory of those who died in the Grand Hotel bombing of 1984, at St Paul’s Church in Brighton. He is watched by Prime minister Margaret Thatcher, Sir Donald Maclean, left, and MP John Wakeham, who both lost their wives in the IRA blast.
1st August 1990 – Mrs Jane Gow stands with her two sons James, right, Charles and The Rt Rev Peter Ball, the Bishop of Lewes, at the spot her husband, Conservative politician Ian Gow, died when his car was blown up by the IRA at their home in Hankham.
Ian Gow was PPS to Margaret Thatcher 1979-83.
He was deeply involved in the workings of Thatcher’s private office.
Gow was killed by a car bomb attack in 1990 . Irish republican paramilitaries claimed responsibility in both cases, butnobody was ever charged with causing the deaths andrumours later circulated concerning possible involvement of the CIA and intelligence community
Ian Gow was very close to Margaret Thatcher. And Peter Morrison
He made an offer to the black MP, Paul Boateng: “He must visit me in my home in Sussex, The Doghouse, where I shall be delighted to receive him, despite his unwise views. And I shall offer him one, perhaps more than one, White Lady.”
Soon after becoming prime minister, Thatcher writes to Ball …she was “deeply grateful”
1979 May 17 Th
Archive (Thatcher MSS)
MT: MT letter to Suffragan Bishop of Lewes, Peter Ball (thanks for letter) [“Letters like yours are a great source of strength”] [released 2010]
Peter Ball was on close terms with the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, and was invited to preach at Sandringham.
Even the Queen supported him after his police caution. In 1994, when she was distributing Royal Maundy money in Truro, Ball was there with his brother, who was Truro’s bishop.
After lunch in the Chapter House, the Queen, who had been on the high table with local dignitaries, went across to Ball, held out her hand and said in the clearest of voices: ‘My love and encouragement, Bishop.’
The Rev John Robson, chaplain to the Queen was a friend of pervert Bishop Ball
The Rev John Robson, chaplain of the Savoy Chapel
1992
The lasting image I retained
from the service was that evoked by
the chaplain in his sermon. Mr
Robson is a friend of the Bishop of
Gloucester, the Right Rev Peter
BaH who has preached at the
Savoy Chapel Bishop Ball was the
only bishop to abstain during the
televised debate on women priests,
said Mr Robson: “He pulled his
monk’s cow} over his head and sat
in deep, profound and tortured
prayer.”
https://archive.org/stream/NewsUK1992UKEnglish/Dec%2005%201992%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2364506%2C%20UK%20%28en%29_djvu.txt
Queen’s chaplain, RevJohn Robson, friend of Peter Ball was a chaplain at Christ’s Hospital School:
From the Worshipful Company of Gardeners Autumn 2017 Issue 42
Judge Christine Henson said Karim displayed a “complete disregard” and “continued arrogance” towards his victims, adding: “I’m in no doubt that you used your popularity as a teacher to groom your victims.
“They should have been safe and secure, sadly they were not.
“You have betrayed everything a teacher should stand for.”
He left the school after complaints from four pupils surfaced between 1990 and 1993.
Senior staff came under fire from victims over the way they handled the allegations.
Teachers never reported him to the police and he was initially allowed to carry on working, even with the girls in question.
‘Hugely traumatic’
Reading a victim’s statement, Oliver Dunkin, prosecuting, said the victim was “deeply disappointed” with the school’s handling of the incidents, which made it “hugely traumatic”.
“For 32 years I have lived with the deeply buried memory of events that took place with Mr Karim,” the statement read.
“Until recently I believed the impact had been minimal and I got on and lived my life.”
An NSPCC spokeswoman said Karim displayed a “shocking breach of trust”.
She added: “We hope today’s sentencing provides some sort of closure for those cruelly targeted by Karim.”
Karim was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.
WALES: Ex-N.Wales Teacher Denies Sex Assaults; ‘Drunken Party Led to Offences against 4 Teen Boys’
Daily Post (Liverpool, England), October 24, 2008
Byline: By CARL BUTLER
A FORMER North Wales teacher has denied sexual assaults against four teen age boys after a drunken Christmas party.
Robert Charles Durrant – who is on trial in Dorset – spent four years at the Rydal Penrhos School in Colwyn Bay, before he moved to Ruthin School where he spent the next 16 years. He also taught on the Wirral.
Durrant, 60, who got married while teaching at Ruthin, is an English teacher at Milton Abbey School, Dorset, and has denied eight charges that are all alleged to have happened after a drunken Christ mas party at Milton Abbey School on December 6.
He faces six charges of sexually as saulting four teenage boys and two fur ther charges of battery that evening.
Dorchester Crown Court heard yester day Durrant targeted a ‘shy and isolated pupil’ after an alleged night-time assault in the Dorset private school.
Durrant, of Milton Abbas, Blandford, told jurors at Dorchester Crown Court he was very friendly with many of the boys he taught and he would often hug them and give them massages in a friendly way.
Earlier in the trial a schoolboy in his late teens said Durrant came into his room after midnight and touched his leg and tried to kiss him.
Another said Durrant had come into his room and kissed him on the arm and chest.
One boy said Durrant came into his room and put his hands down his trousers.
The final sexual assault was alleged by another boy in his late teens who said Durrant touched his backside twice that evening.
He denies any accusation he touched any of the boys in a sexual manner and said he has little recollection of that evening.
The jury heard after a schoolboy had burst into the room where Durrant was with another pupil, Durrant followed him angrily into his room.
He denies grabbing one boy around the neck but said he did shout at him and the boy reacted by threatening him that he would make up accusations about having his arm twisted by Durrant.
Durrant told the jury he had been drinking wine all evening and he and the other pupils were drunk.
Durrant said after sitting and talking to a schoolboy for a few hours he then hugged him and left and walked around the school stopping at different rooms.
He then admitted he drove two miles home to his house.
Prosecutor Robert Griffiths accused Durrant of targeting one of the school boys because he was a shy and isolated boy.
Mr Durrant replied he resented the accusation.
Mr Griffiths added: “I am going to suggest that over the years you may have got the odd grope off these boys but on that night you went far beyond that.”
When asked in a police interview about his sexuality Durrant said: “I am heterosexual with a hint of bisexual.”
Durrant clarified in court he had ex perimented sexually with other boys when he was at school himself.
The court heard Durrant has been a teacher since 1971 and had previously taught at the Calday Grange School in Wirral and the Christ’s Hospital School in Sussex before moving to Wales.
There he spent four years at the Rydal Penrhos School in Colwyn Bay before he moved to Ruthin School and spent the next 16 years there and got married.
Durrant then left this school, divorced his wife and moved to teach in Zimbab we and then Kuwait before taking the post at Milton Abbey School in 2003.
He now lives alone and is currently suspended from the school, the court heard.
The trial continues.
carlbutler@dailypost.co.uk
CAPTION(S):
Robert Durrant faces charges of sexual assault on four teenage boys
ks wrote:George Bell was certainly a very charismatic as well as a theologically sound Bishop, and his work is still recognised. He took office as Bishop of Chichester in 1929 and (I think) died in post in 1958.
I THINK he had retired when he died, but only very shortly before. Of course it was 1958, in fact the 50th anniversary of his death was last week (sorry about that mistake further up). His CH Leaving Bible was presented to him in the spring of 1958, on the day after he carried out Confirmations at CH for the last time.
As for chaplains, an interesting part was played by John Robson, who might be considered the first “modern” chaplain of CH. As assistant chaplain he introduced things like holy communion in houses. But his other contribution to CH was the mutual introduction of the school and his lifelong friend the then Dean of Westminster, Eric Abbott. This was a piece of social climbing on the school’s part which it exploited for all it was worth.
by CZ » Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:55 pm
I went to Eric Symes Abbott’s memorial service as SG. John Robson was a great guy and in my time it was the great trio of Robson, Atkinson and for a while Godfrey Hall. Porteous came in in my last year.
House Communions were great as were Confirmation lessons in Robbos house.
Does anyone remember the fantastic colorful garments the chaplains wore in the 80s and maybe beyond? It was always a treat to see what garb John Robson would be wearing on the Sunday evening service. Ian Atkinson was always dressed in a monk like white …it did look a bit like a Klu Klux Klan garb.
Robson followed Newsome to Wellington…
George Bell also at Christ’s Hospital School – carrying out confirmations
His CH Leaving Bible was presented to him in the spring of 1958, on the day after he carried out Confirmations at CH for the last time.
George Bell was ‘fond’ of paeodophile bishop Peter Ball and sponsored him for ordination, an inquiry has heard.
As former bishop of Chichester, Bell is considered one of Anglicanism’s heroes. However, it emerged in 2015 the Church of England paid £16,800 to the woman, known as Carol, in a legal settlement after she accused Bell of sexually abusing her as a child.
Now it can be revealed Peter Ball, who was jailed for a string of sex offences against teenagers and young men in 2015, was close friends with Bell.
Princess Margaret would take communion at The Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy, just by the Savoy Hotel.
It was noted how she would always attend before flying off to Mustique
Mr Robson remembers her infectious laughter and wit but has no illusions as to how fearsome the Princess could be with a cutting remark. I am thankful to say I have never been on the receiving end of that aspect to her character,” he said. “Like all of us, she had a dark side – that was part of her attraction.
Charles, meanwhile, must surely have been advised to keep Ball at arm’s length — just as he had been advised to distance himself from Jimmy Savile.
‘The Prince did receive letters from the public complaining about Savile,’ says a senior aide. ‘But the writers were dismissed [by him] as jealous or mad.’
Neil Todd, the teenage aspirant monk who was sexually abused by Ball, said bishop Ball told him that ‘the Prince had written him personal letters. He didn’t say what was in them …Then he told me they were in his safe and added: “One day they will be very valuable.”’
Todd also said: ‘We knew that Bishop Peter and the Prince were good friends. He didn’t refer to him as Prince Charles. He would always say just Charles.’
Files obtained by the BBC indicate Lambeth Palace received six letters detailing indecency allegations shortly after an arrest in 1992.
Ball was cautioned but worked in churches and schools for 15 more years.
Richard Scorer, a lawyer at Slater and Gordon, said: “It’s an absolute scandal. It is wrong and unacceptable that the Church of England sat on the information and didn’t pass it to the police.
“There is no question Peter Ball would have been prosecuted, convicted and jailed for child abuse at that time.”
The Church of England has declined to comment.
Ball was Bishop of Lewes between 1977 and 1992 and Bishop of Gloucester from 1992 until his resignation the following year
The police files also suggest Ball covered for and helped other priests accused of sex abuse, including:
In 1978, Ball failed to take appropriate action against a priest who abused a child and went on to abuse others. In 1985, Ball let a priest who had abused a 14-year-old boy stay in his home after his release from prison, and provided the abuser with a positive report enabling him to return to work. In 2009, Ball tried to persuade a teenage boy to apologise to a priest who had allegedly abused him.
These files give a further insight into how the church handled Ball’s case. It seems the Diocese of Chichester did not share documents which could have jailed Ball earlier.
There is no explanation about how he was able to gain a clear Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check, so he could continue working in the church.
The documents reveal Bishop Peter Ball considered asking the home secretary to overturn his caution in the 1990s.
They also detail the “limited disciplinary action” taken by the-then Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey in relation to Ball and “his return to ministry”.
In February, it was announced Dame Moira Gibb was chairing an independent review of the Ball case to consider what information was available to the Church of England, who had it and when.
A month later, Justice Lowell Goddard’s inquiry into historical child sex abuse announced it would consider whether there was interference by the Church in the Peter Ball case.
Lord Carey’s spokesman, his son Andrew, declined to comment on the new claims but said: “Lord Carey is working with and cooperating fully with two ongoing enquiries – Dame Moira Gibb’s review and the Goddard Enquiry”.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey wrote to police in 1993 with letters of support for the then Bishop of Gloucester who was being investigated for sex offences, it can be revealed. Ex-archbishop George Carey said Peter Ball was in “torment” as a result of a police investigation, letters released by the Crown Prosecution Service show. Ball, 83, was jailed in October for a string of offences against young men. The Church of England apologised “unreservedly” to Ball’s victims. He was sentenced to 32 months for misconduct in a public office and 15 months for indecent assaults, to run concurrently.
In one of Lord Carey’s letters he told police it was “improbable” he was guilty. He also wrote in a letter to Barbara Mills – then the director of public prosecutions – that Ball’s health was fragile and the decision to prosecute should be made “as speedily as possible”. The letters have been released by the CPS in response to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the BBC and others, after it emerged that personal letters had been written which were supportive of Ball. Ball was eventually told he would not be prosecuted but received a caution instead. He resigned as Bishop of Gloucester in 1993, a position that followed a previous period as Bishop of Lewes. However in October 2015, following repeated claims of a church cover-up, Mr Ball pleaded guilty to abusing 18 young men in the 70s, 80s and 90s. He was jailed for two years and ten months.
One of his victims was Neil Todd, whose attempts to take his own life triggered the police investigation 1993 which prompted hundreds of letters of support for the Bishop. In his two letters Lord Carey said he had no wish to influence the legal process. He makes no reference to the allegations of sexual abuse or Mr Todd, who finally took his own life at the end of 2012.
Throughout the years, Prince Charles and Peter Ball would pray together in the Sanctuary – a Harry Potteresque temple built by Prince Charles deep in a glade in Highgrove’s grounds.
09 Sept 2007 The Tampa Tribune
Bishop of London Richard Chartres was invited to consecrate it in 2000
There are stain glass windows dedicated to poet Ted Hughes* and and another mentor of Prince Charles – writer Sir Laurens van der Post*
Bishop of Lewes, Ball, of Langport, Somerset, had hand-picked vulnerable victims to commit acts of “debasement” in the name of religion, such as praying naked at the altar and encouraging them to submit to beatings, a court at the Old Bailey heard.
...when night falls here on Dartmoor, that last great wilderness of southern England, some visitors clearly have a sinister purpose.
In recent weeks a series of satanic ceremonies have taken place on the vast 69,000-acre Dartmoor estate owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, the royal Trust which pays Prince Charles his £14 million annual income.
Sheep have been sadistically slaughtered; necks broken; eyes, tongues and sex organs often gouged or cut out. It is possible some were still alive as the mutilations took place.
Police have reports of a crude stone altar, possibly bloodstained, next to a wooden stake and a roughly-built den has been found near the scene of an attack.
On one occasion sheep carcasses were laid in the shape of a seven-pointed star, a symbol closely linked to the notorious Victorian occultist Aleister Crowley, once described as ‘the wickedest man in the world’.
More recently the animals have been left in lines, their heads grotesquely twisted as though looking back through nearby gates or field entrances.
Most bizarrely of all, these sacrificial rituals appear to be triggered by phases of the moon.
Duchy officials are aware of the livestock attacks but insist there is no evidence that the organisation is itself being targeted – even though Prince Charles is the future head of the Church of England.
Almost all the rituals have occurred three miles west of Princetown between Sampford Spiney, Merrivale, and the picturesque market town of Tavistock, Devon.
The area includes one of Dartmoor’s most important Bronze Age sites – the Merrivale stone circle and ritual complex – which local folklore describes as the ‘Gateway of the Dead’.
Other legends mention a sadistic witch called Vixiana who lived on Vixen Tor – one of Dartmoor’s best known granite outcrops. She is said to have conjured up dense fogs to lure travellers off the old trans-moor path between Tavistock and Princetown and into a deep bog.
Another favourite of the princes was The Horses, a poem about 10 greys “megalith-still” in “the hour-before-dawn dark”. The recitals took place mainly at Highgrove, the Gloucestershire home of the Prince of Wales, in the early 1990s before William and Harry entered their teens. Hughes also read to Prince Charles and the Queen Mother, to whom he was close.
Details of the private readings have been recounted by Roy Davids, former head of the books department at Sotheby’s auction house, who knew Hughes well in the last 20 years of the poet’s life.
“Ted’s relationship with the royals was much closer than anybody has so far known.
Even more astonishing than his story was the fact that he managed to persuade a group of pious Anglican churchmen and landed gentry in East Sussex to underwrite his struggle with cash.The money was needed, he confided, both to free him from debts that bound him to the Devil and to buy various objects of Satanic regaliaenabling him to gain control of the cult.
In order to allay the suspicions of Lord Whitelaw and others he also needed a Rolls-Royce with a telephone since the Satanists had his other phones tapped.
The parish priest in the village of Newick, the Rev. John Baker, organized a donors’ group to back Mr. Knight in his struggle and mobilized the support, among others, of Viscount Hampden, Viscount Brentford, the Earl of March and Mrs. Susan Sainsbury, the wife of a Conservative Member of Parliament.
Knight claimed that he financed his lifestyle from a vice-ring. He earned up to 12.000 pounds a week running a private clinic which turned prostitutes into “bona fide” virgins.
May 4, 1986
Derry Knight told an astonishing story about his membership in a secret Satanic cult called the Sons of Lucifer and his heroic efforts to take over the leadership of the cult to free himself and 2,000 members from the coils of the Devil.
As he told it, it was an incredibly dangerous mortal struggle he was waging against the most evil forces in the universe, personified by some prominent politicians, including Viscount Whitelaw, the deputy Prime Minister, who were, he said, the secret masters of Britain’s Satanic orders.
Their efforts won the support of the Anglican Bishop of Lewes, Peter Ball, a member of a small monastic order who shuns ecclesiastical vestments and worships in a converted pigsty.
Would this by any chance explain why Baker/Ball turned to Sue Sainsbury for a donation for Mainwaring Knight? Sainsbury – Gatsby – BASW – Peter Righton …
‘Men Who Are Attracted to 13-Year-Old Boys Make the Best Teachers’ – Director of Kent Social Services ’74-’85
“It’s terribly sad when you’re sexually orientated towards children,” he said, while defending a Canadian child sex offender who was a church organist.
Stacey describes how he frightened the other Directors of Social Services because he was “a different beast.” But his tone becomes almost sinister when talking of rules he set down with his six thousand member staff about dealing with accusations of abuse. “Nobody was to go to the police about accusations against staff without my approval. And it is incredible the way times have changed. I could never begin to do that now. But children, especially children in care, are incredibly manipulative.” Nicolas Stacey should never have been director of Kent social services.
Children were physically pinned down in Kendall House, drugged with excessive doses of controversial medications, beaten regularly, mentally abused, sexually abused, and in some cases raped. Nicolas Stacey states, “I never once went to the police. This was because I never felt that we had a serious case and never in the eleven years I was there did a scandal occur. I mean no scandal that I know of, or none that got out in the public.” Louise Brodie cuts in on the recording and asks Stacey, “No scandal about your staff?” Stacey replies, “About my staff. Now what I did do, I said ‘Look, I’m afraid I’m going to ask you to resign. I am going to have you put on the register of “at risk”.’” A clear admission by Rev. Nick Stacey that he had covered up abuse whilst head of the Kent Social Services. This was Stacey’s “Frost-Nixon” moment. “I would try and get them to go to counselling, had it emerged, you know, that… rampant abuse of kids had occurred, you know.”
Nick Stacey openly admitted on tape that there were cases of abuse, but that he had not informed the police, and instead offered voluntary counselling to the abuser. No mention of the abused at all. But the shock confessions don’t stop there. Stacey went on to say, “A member of staff once hit a child very hard and we had to go to the police. But I went into the dock. I got one of the best QCs. In fact, he was a son of Canon John Collins, you would know from your South African experience. And I went to court and spoke. I said you’ve got no idea how these children wind care staff up. You know, we sit comfortably at our home, we expect care staff with small pay to look after some of the most admittedly tragically deprived. It’s not their fault that they wind people up, and they’re aggressive. Once somebody loses their cool and they do hit somebody then, you know, you say they should be locked up. And I got them off.” Stacey seemed to be very focused on his staff and never on the service users in his care. How many other cases of abuse did he cover-up?
What’s clear from listening to the seven hours of interviews, is that Nicolas Stacey was very much a part of the establishment. Rev. Stacey admitted to hiding cases of abuse while he was responsible for the safety of the children in care homes around Kent. This admission should be enough to deserve a public inquiry into Kent Social Services during his reign as well as the Kent Police force’s response to the recorded confessions.
Peter Righton was of a close associate of Nick Stacey, a man of God, who played a central role in the protection of paedophiles. As Director of Social Services, he instructed his staff not to report alleged paedophiles within Kent Social Services.
Social worker, Tony Graham, jailed for sexual acts with under-age girls. The Rev Nick Stacey, a former director of Kent social services, said that he had appointed Graham in 1982
On the face of it, the Gatsby Project, a distance learning project for residential child care workers, was a good thing – except that it was carried out with Peter Righton, who was an active member of PIE and was convicted of possessing child abuse images in the early 90s
LazerLight @Lazer_Light23
Bloody Hell, this is all making sense now. Social Work Today’s Margaret Jervis, who went on to become a legal adviser for the ‘False Memory Syndrome Society’. No wonder the animosity.
The role of Rev. Nicholas Stacey and his associates (incl. Claire Jervis) should be subjected to greater scrutiny.
Nick Stacey, a man of God, plays a central role in the protection of paedophiles. Later a Director of Social Services, he instructed his staff not to report alleged paedophiles within Kent Social Services.
Righton and Stacey
Stacey, formerly a vicar, was very close to Peter Righton, and was based in Maidstone, where Righton also lived for a time. They cemented their friendship via Social Work Today and were on a steering committee together, training those working with disturbed young people.
Just to show how close Righton and Stacey were, here they are on the same committee. Note also: John Rea Price of Islington
Also in this group were John Rea Price, Director of Islington for 19 years while every one of its kids’ homes was run by paedophiles. When Liz Davies blew the whistle on Islington, the coward Rea Price quickly legged it to become CEO of NCB, also based in Islington.
Nicholas Stacey and Claire Jervis: What is it about Islington?
Also close to Righton and Stacey was Chris Andrews, Chair of BASW and another force within SWT alongside Margaret Claire Jervis.
When Righton was arrested in 1992, Chris Andrews, who spoke for BASW, was one of the first to jump to Righton’s defence.
Read here how Andrews rushed to the defence of paedophile Peter Righton:
Chris Andrews, of BASW, described Righton at the time of his arrest as follows: He [Righton] is a highly respected figure within the residential field, particularly working with highly disturbed children. He is very much concerned with therapeutic work in child care’ (cited in Burden and Rose, ‘Porn Squad quiz Child Care Expert’).
Complimentary tickets to PIE (Paedophile Information Exchange) event from convicted paedo Tom O’Carroll to Chris Andrews of BASW, colleague of Hewson friend Claire Jervis.
It would appear that Nick Stacey turned first to the Sainsburys for funding:
The Sainsburys also backed the Tear Fund, a Christian relief organisation closely associated with Cliff Richard, a man accused of child abuse whose name appeared as a patron of the Elm Guest House child brothel.
All for the love of Vaz: The Sainsburys were also close to Keith Vaz, a man who rarely fails to get a mention in threads of mine. This time the link is Auchi, a man guilty of fraud whose extradition Vaz tried to prevent:
Cyril Smith molested boy, 11, at National Liberal Club – and introduced him to David Steel: Further embarrassment for the Lib Dems after another shocking revelation
29stone paedophile MP took schoolboy from Rochdale to London
Introduced him to party leader David Steel, molested him later at HQ
Victim, now 49, claims he was ‘suicidal’ until the age of 25 after assault
29 May 2014
A man told yesterday how he was molested as an 11-year-old by Cyril Smith in a bedroom at the National Liberal Club.
The paedophile MP took the schoolboy from his Rochdale constituency to London and introduced him to Liberal Party leader David Steel at Westminster.
Hours later, 29stone Smith sexually assaulted the boy at the club which housed the party’s headquarters.
The schoolboy’s sordid encounter with Smith took place in 1978 after his mother spotted a story in the Rochdale Observer newspaper. It said the MP had been invited to nominate a Rochdale boy from a one-parent family for a free place at public school.
She contacted Smith and was told it was Reed’s School in Cobham, Surrey, founded in 1813 as a boarding school for children who had lost one or both parents. After visiting the family, Smith took the 11-year-old by train to the capital.
Smith’s victim, who is now 47 and doesn’t want to be identified, said: ‘He sat next to me on the train. I remember he ate a massive breakfast of fried eggs and bacon.’
The MP first took the schoolboy to the Houses of Parliament where he met Mr – now Lord – Steel.
The victim recalls little of the meeting save for a brief introduction but said: ‘I remember telling all my friends at the time that I had met the leader of the Liberal Party – it was something to brag about.’
In the afternoon he travelled to Surrey to tour the school whose former pupils include Tim Henman and where current boarding fees range from £22,000 to £27,000 a year.
On returning to London he and Smith arrived at the National Liberal Club near Parliament. The Liberal Party HQ was based in offices in the building and it also provided accommodation for members.
Smith was ‘disappointed’ when told the boy had decided not to take up the Reed’s School offer. The victim finally told his mother what had happened some ten years later. ‘She was mortified,’ he said. His mother added: ‘I was terribly anguished and have been since. But Smith was extraordinarily plausible.’
Her son said: ‘If my small story can encourage other people to get in touch and flesh out the real truth here and prompt a public inquiry, then so be it.’
Job title Organisation Date Trustee Parliament Choir 2011 – Chairman CORESS 2006 – 2012 Joint Life President Reed’s School 2002 – Chairman Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth 1999 – 2007 Trustee Music at Winchester 1995 – 2006 Treasurer Florence Nightingale Art in Sickness Trust 1995 – 2006 Treasurer New England Company 1995 – 2006 Chair of Governors Reed’s School 1994 – 2002 Chairman Friends of Lambeth Palace Library 1992 – 2008 Special Trustee Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte’s Hospital Authority 1992 – 2000
ob title Organisation Date Director Guinness Mahon and Co. Ltd 1988 – 1990 Director Nestor – BNA Plc. 1988 – 2000 Partner Henderson Crosthwaite and Co., Stockbrokers 1973 – 1986 Director The Bridgeman Art Library Ltd. 1972 –
UK Parliament Committee House Date Consolidation Bills (Joint Committee) Jul 2017 – Consolidation Bills (Joint Committee) Jun 2015 – Apr 2017 EU Sub Committee F – Home Affairs, Health and Education May 2012 – Mar 2015 EU Sub-Committee G – Social Policies and Consumer Protection Oct 2011 – May 2012 Information Committee (Lords) Jun 2010 – Sep 2011 House of Lords Offices Committee Jun 2001 – Nov 2002 Standing Orders (Private Bills) Committee (Lords) Jun 1997 – May 2001 EU Sub-Committee C Nov 1993 – Apr 1997 Ecclesiastical Committee (Joint Committee) Nov 1990 – Oct 1991 Statutory Instruments (Joint Committee) Jun 1990 – Nov 1993
Category 10: Non-financial interests (a) Member of Court, New England Company (missionary charity) (interest ceased 7 November 2017) Director, Bridgeman Art Library Limited Category 10: Non-financial interests (b) Joint President, Reed’s School Category 10: Non-financial interests (e) Trustee, CORESS (medical research charity) (interest ceased 7 November 2017)
Policy Interests Asylum, immigration and nationality Energy and environment European Union Health services and medicine Home Affairs Local Government Northern Ireland Social services World Areas European Union Greece UK Areas County Down and Northern Ireland Hampshire Yorkshire
Luke and his father are part of the New England charity:
The Court
The New England Company is managed by a Court, who are Trustees of the Charity, chaired by a Governor. Members of the Court are required to be practising Christians.
The role of the Court is to oversee the management of the New England Company’s assets and investments and to make grants to support its objectives.
The Court meets at least four times a year to consider applications for grants, to consider how the New England Company’s income should be spent and generally to oversee the good management of the Charity.
The Virginia Company comprised of two branches, the London Company and the Plymouth or New England Company. The former was responsible for the first permanent colony in America at Jamestown on May 14th 1607 and the latter were the so-called ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ who arrived at Cape Cod in the ship the Mayflower, in November 1620, and went on to land in Plymouth Harbour on December 21st. The ‘Pilgrims’ of American historical myth were, in fact, members of the second Virginia Company branch called the New England Company
Given the royal family’s extremely close links to the Sainsburys, it is highly unlikely that Prince Charles would be unaware of Peter Ball’s involvement in the Derry Mainwaring Knight case …
The last two checks Mrs Sainsbury wrote to satanist Derry Mainwaring Knight were to purchase a satanic throne.
The biggest contributor was Mrs. Sainsbury, who wrote checks totaling $116,000. Next came the chief magistrate and former high sheriff of East Sussex, a wealthy farmer named Michael Warren, who is reported to have given nearly $80,000
Theresa May’s, (the new prime minister) first choice to head the designed to fail inquiry into establishment child abuse…Elizabeth Butler-Sloss … who tried to cover up for bishop Peter Ball
The Home Office has again been forced to defend the appointment of Lady Butler-Sloss to run the inquiry into allegations of historical child abuse amid claims she refused to go public about bishop Peter Ball implicated in a scandal.
Rev Michael Turnbull, who scheduled the graveyard dance at which Bishop Peter Ball spoke,…was domestic chaplain to the Archbishop of York Donald Coggan
Turnbull was asked what his policy regarding gay clergy would be. He replied that: “An admitted and open lifestyle is incompatible with full-time ministry.”[8]
Despite his speaking out against homosexual clergy, in 1994 the News of the World reported that the bishop had been convicted of an act of gross indecency with a Yorkshire farmer. The offence occurred on 30 August 1968, as undercover policemen kept watch on public toilets in Hull. On 13 September at Hull magistrate’s court, Turnbull, who at the time was chaplain to the Archbishop of York, pleaded guilty and was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £6.30.[11]
The disclosure of Turnbull’s gross indecency conviction came just four weeks before his scheduled enthronement. His past was known to the archbishops of Canterbury George Carey and York Stuart Blanch, to Lord Runcie, the previous archbishop and to Lord Coggan, whom Turnbull had acted as chaplain when the offence took place.[12]
According to close associates, Turnbull “seriously considered withdrawing” from his enthronement “when his past was revealed.” In his sermon during his enthronement, Turnbull spoke of the “gravity of sin” and of his “repentance”. He told the congregation that he had been “through a private and now public process of repentance”, and that he was “deeply sorry” that friends had to share in the consequences of his past. His sermon also touched on the “depth of forgiveness” by many fellow Christians.[12]
Outside the cathedral, the leader of the pressure group OutRage!, Peter Tatchell, and others protested “against what they saw as [Turnbull’s] hypocrisy”.[12]
In 1995, George Carey appointed Turnbull as chair of the Commission on the Organisation of the Church of England with the task of producing a plan to save the Church of England. The commission was given the nickname “Turnbull Commission.”[10][14]
Queen Elizabeth II has approved a nominee to replace a controversial Anglican bishop who is retiring this summer. The Rt. Rev. Michael Turnbull is the nominee to be the new bishop of Durham in northern England, succeeding the Rt. Rev. David Jenkins
1995 Turnbull report: “Working As One Body” – “A clause allowing people convicted of child abuse to become churchwardens in a package of changes to the lay office provoked bitter criticism.
alun:
The 1995 Turnbull Report ‘Working As One Body’ included a clause allowing people convicted of child abuse to become churchwardens in a package of changes to the lay office. This, unsurprisingly, provoked bitter criticism.
alun:
The Rev. Turnbull who organised the 1965 graveyard bop and hot dog roast at which Bishop Ball spoke went on to become domestic chaplain to Donald Coggan, the Archbishop of York, and later, in 1984, Bishop of Durham.
So, once again as with Bishop Ball, we have Don’t-Carey turning a blind eye to a pervert bishop, even tasking him with producing a plan to save the Church of England! The commission was given the nickname ‘Turnbull Commission’.
While the pervert Ball was counselling his friendPrince Charles, the pervert Turnbull was busy paving the way for Charles to remarry …
On 30 August 1968, as undercover policemen kept watch on public toilets in Hull, Turnbull was caught committing an act of gross indecency with a Yorkshire farmer. On 13 September, Turnbull, still chaplain to the Archbishop of York, pleaded guilty to the offence.
Prince Charles’ card and gift to Jimmy Savile:
Charles, who led tributes when Savile died, aged 84, in October 2011, had sent him cigars and gold cufflinks on his 80th birthday.
A note with the gifts read: “Nobody will ever know what you have done for this country, Jimmy. This is to go some way in thanking you for that.”
AnnaStillHereRaccoon@AnnaRaccoon2017
who they are so when they try to write about JK they will have the same treatment I’ve had. Not hide behind false names. They call him ‘Sir’ Same as Savile. They had meeting up in Leeds. Amanda, Johnny, Hewson, rabbit don’t know about moor or jervis, can’t remember.
Alun:
So the Gin Goblin (Hewson) met up with Savile’s (niece Amanda?) who has boxes of savile’s correspondence
LazerLight@Lazer_Light23
Hewson was meeting Savile’ s niece, Amanda? Why would she do that? What interest for an Irish barrister?
Alun:
Gin Goblin, is it malicious gossip when @AnnaRaccoon2017maintains you were at Leeds meeting with Amanda McKenna, niece of Jimmy Savile?
Anna Racoon:
Big Ears wrote to Savile about many things……..of cabbages and kings….
Dame Alun Roberts@ciabaudo
We know BigEars (Prince Charles) wrote to Bishop Peter Ball and Bishop Peter Ball wrote to Enoch. But did BigEars (Prince charles) write to Savile about Cleveland? Now that’s one for you, eh?
Did BigEars (Prince Charles) urge Savile to get involved with the Cleveland scandal? See what it was all about? If so, why? And with what intention?
But why would he do that? Why would he be interested in Cleveland?
Dame Alun Roberts@ciabaudo
Sounds like Jimmy was his private emissary. But he must have had a vested interest!
Lazerlight:
Jimmy Savile:
“I am also the eminence grise: the grey, shadowy figure in the background. The thing about me is I get things done & I work under cover”
And why do you think the diaries disappeared, Anna? Are they the ones that his secretary had in her garage in one of the documentaries?
AnnaStillHereRaccoon@AnnaRaccoon2017
Nope, they were ‘day books’ went missing in the first hours after Savile died. Only funeral bods, Ms McKenna and Police had access to flat.
I heard that Osborn Clark returned 25 boxes of spidery missives to Ms McKenna. Wonder if they will disappear down the same rabbit hole Savile’s diaries did.
Lazerlight
But would withholding them from Savile Inquiry not be perverting the course of justice? Who would gain?
Alun:
*Ted Hughes was a close friend of the Queen Mother.
Ted Hughes is said to have learned about Wicca and mind control from his mother: see Popular Witchcraft page 149
*Van der Posta spiritual adviser to Prince Charles; In 1982 Charles made him godfather to his heir, Prince William. Van der Post was also a close friend of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, exerting an influence on her policy in South Africa.
In the early 1950’s, when he was 46, he seduced the 14-year-old daughter of a wealthy South African winemaking family, who had been entrusted to his care during a sea voyage. She became pregnant, and although he sent her a small stipend, he never publicly acknowledged the daughter born of the relationship.
…the Queen Mother’s cousin Lilian Bowes Lyon, with whom he was having a relationship.
Even intimates of the prince knew little of the nature of the relationship he
forged with Hughes. Now he has made it tangible by placing a plaque in his
private sanctuary.
The recognition given by Charles to Hughes's role had previously been given
only to one other person: the late Sir Laurens van der Post, who once led the
prince on retreat into the Kalahari desert and became godfather to Prince
William.
Hughes, poet laureate from 1984 until his death at 68 from cancer in 1998, was
a frequent guest at Highgrove and he shared with the prince an unconventional
spiritual curiosity. His presence will now live on in two commemorative stained
glass windows installed in the prince's private temple, hidden in a glade in
the grounds.
Hughes's reputation has also been questioned since his death. Former lovers,
including Emma Tennant, the novelist, have come forward to destroy the myth
that he lived for years as a saintly recluse after the suicides of Plath and
his common-law wife Assia Wevill, who also killed their four-year-old daughter
The existence of a secret stone memorial to Ted Hughes has emerged after being found by walkers on a remote hillside on his beloved Dartmoor.
Prince Charles, a close friend of the poet laureate, gave special permission for the plain piece of granite to be laid on land owned by his Duchy of Cornwall estates near the Fernworthy forest, it was revealed yesterday
A spokeswoman for Prince Charles said the Duchy of Cornwall operates a blanket ban on such memorials but the prince intervened, although he has yet to visit it.
She said: “Ted Hughes had a very special link with the Royal family as poet laureate and moreover he was a special and dear friend of the Prince of Wales and so a rare exception was made to enable the memorial to be laid.”
The Sunday Times revelations were followed four years later by further scandal in the Vestey family, this time involving not tax but a headless corpse, lesbianism, drugs, alcohol, insanity and depravity. In 1984, Lord Vestey’s cousin, Michael Telling, killed his American bisexual wife Monika, butchering her body. Telling was found guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and jailed for life.
1992
21 NOVEMBER 1992
`We want a carnival atmosphere here,’ said Lord Vestey, chairman of Cheltenham Racecourse
Bishop Peter Ball led a prayer
‘This is a day for families to have fun and show the Government that the people want proper racing on a Sunday.’
He was not the strangest sight of the day. That prize must go to the Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Peter Ball, who enjoyed a large congregation for his short service of prayer in the winners’ enclosure. This may have been due, in part, to the presence of Desert Orchid, who was doing a parade of honour at the time.
…several thousand children who were admitted for free..the occasion was deemed suffi- ciently respectable for Cheltenham Ladies’ College to bring along two busloads of junior girls for the first time.
Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles, enduring a painful weekend of speculation about his wife’s friendship with the Prince of Wales, attended
It is quite Eye Opening Info, that Lord Mountbatten, Charles’ mentor, who introduced Jimmy Savile to the Royal Family, used to have Charles and Camilla visiting regularly in the early 70s around the time that Judge Goddard was in Britain with Camilla’s friend [11]
Truthseeker1@thewakeupcall09:
Lord Louis Mountbatten former chauffeur Norman Nield exposed him
Meanwhile, in New Zealand, there have been such newspaper headlines as, “‘Uncle Dickie’ the Sex Pervert” (N.Z. Truth, Sept. 8, 1987), since Mountbatten’s former chauffeur, Norman Nield, started revealing details of the late Lord Mountbatten’s alleged sexual exploitation of boys.
Paedophile Lord Louis Mountbatten
Edward Prince of Wales and his cousin Lord Louis Mountbatten “relax” in a canvas swimming pool on board H. M. S. Renown during their 1920 Empire Tour.
Lord Louis was a great grandson of Queen Victoria and the uncle of Prince Philip (consort of Queen Elizabeth II). Mountbatten was also a promiscuous bisexual who was famously rumored to have had an affair with Edward VIII (who was Prince of Wales at the time) when he accompanied him on his Empire tours (see photo above).
The Queen. Like any human being, she is subject to the influence of those around her. While he lived, Lord Mountbatten was a persuasive counsellor, and he formulated the plan for Prince Charles’s unusually rigorous education.
Through her marriage to Sir Johnny Scott, the current head of the Home Office‘s ‘independent’ inquiry into child abuse, Judge Lowell Goddard, has links with Camilla and Prince Charles
Sir Johnny Scott (IICSA Chair’s ex-husband) also grew up with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall[3], both their parents being involved in the Southdown hunt; Camilla’s father, Bruce Shand, the Master and Walter Scott (Johnny Scott’s Father) the chairman [4].
Isn’t there a conflict of interest for Goddard in regards to Peter Ball? Her ex-husband, Sir Johnny, father of her child, was good friends with Camilla Shand – who was close to convicted establishment paedophile Peter Ball. Ball attended her wedding to Prince Charles and Peter Ball ‘preached at the funeral of Camilla’s father’s in 2006, which indicates his standing in their household.’
Goddard inquiry: Outrage as bishop jailed for sex offences given public funding for legal team
30 July 2016
A disgraced bishop jailed for a string of sex offences has been given public funding for a legal team at the Government’s child sex abuse inquiry, The Telegraph can disclose.
The decision to pay for lawyers, costing taxpayers up to £200 an hour, to defend the reputation of Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Gloucester and of Lewes, has outraged his victims.
Ball is the first convicted sex offender to be granted taxpayer funds, setting a precedent that could pave the way for dozens of paedophiles to get the same deal.
He received the legal funding because he “may be subject to explicit criticism by the inquiry”.
A lawyer close to the inquiry said: “I was really surprised Ball was given funding. The issue is about how he was allowed to get away with it by the Church not about his offending. He has already been investigated and pleaded guilty.”
(Notable Crusader Peter Broadbent was at St Nicholas’ Church til 1980.
Ordained in 1977, Broadbent’s first parish job was as Curate to George Carey, when he was Vicar of St Nicholas, Durham and he was an Islington Labor councillor 1982-1990.)
Mark Carey, now 51, would have been no more than 17 years old at the time.
(Mark Carey was, born in 1965, he was 17 in 1982. If the woman is in her 30s now, she would have been born between 1977-1986, so in 1982, the oldest she would have been was 5 years old.)
Rev Carey was released on police bail and has since been suspended by the Church of England pending inquiries.
Father of three Rev Carey, who followed his father into the church in 1995
Rev Carey’s father was Archbishop between 1991 and 2002
He was joined at his home in Harrogate, North Yorks, yesterday by his father and mother Eileen. His wife Penny, 53, whom he married in 1988, refused to comment.
The alleged victim approached Durham Police to make the complaint. Officers from North Yorkshire police arrested him.
The former social worker– was ordained in 1995 at Wakefield Cathedral, witnessed by his father.
He had previously been curate of Christ Church in South Ossett, West Yorks and went on to be a parish priest in Sheffield and then Harrogate in 2007.
Last night, a Church of England spokesman said: “A 51-year-old priest in the Diocese of Leeds has been suspended by the Bishop following his arrest by Durham Constabulary concerning allegations of historical abuse.
His brother Andrew, who works at the Christian charity Barnabas Fund, told the Sunday Telegraph that his family did not wish to comment on the allegations against Rev Carey.
Lord Carey ‘may face explicit criticism’ from abuse inquiry
21 Oct 2016
THE former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has been granted core-participant status at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) after Professor Alexis Jay, who chairs it, ruled that he “may be subject to explicit criticism by the Inquiry in due course”.
Core participants are entitled to legal representation at the Inquiry and to receive advance disclosure of evidence. They may also cross-examine witnesses when the public hearings begin, something that is expected to happen next year.
In his application for core participant status, lawyers for Lord Carey explained that, as a retired office-holder, he was led to be believe that he would be represented at the Inquiry by lawyers for the Archbishops’ Council, which also has core-participant status. “Once the Archbishops’ Council indicated to Lord Carey that there might be some conflict between their interests and those of Lord Carey, he made contact with alternative legal representatives,” Professor Jay said.
In granting core-participant status, Professor Jay said that “Lord Carey was Archbishop of Canterbury at the time when [the former Bishop of Lewes, then of Gloucester] Peter Ball’s sexual abuse came to light in 1992, and when he received a police caution in 1993, and it is stated in Lord Carey’s application that he had a pastoral and disciplinary role in relation to Peter Ball at that time. I also understand that Lord Carey was involved in deciding on Peter Ball’s further officiation within the Church of England after he received that caution.
”The Inquiry will consider the extent to which any failings identified in relation to the diocese of Chichester and Peter Ball are representative of wider failings within the Church of England and/or the Anglican Church in general, and the nature and extent of any failings of institutions to protect children from abuse.
Police urged to investigate Lord Carey, former C of E head
A lawyer representing victims of an abusive Church of England bishop has called for an investigation into the ‘misconduct’ of former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey of Clifton, above.
According to this report, David Greenwood, representing several of Peter Ball’s victims, said he was sure the Church had covered up evidence and urged Scotland Yard to:
Consider opening an investigation into perverting the course of justice by church officials.
Greenwood spoke out after the release of documents that suggest the head of the Church of England knew about the abuse allegations but failed to act.
Sussex police documents, released under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act last week, reveal that Lambeth Palace, the residence of the head of the Church, received six letters and a number of verbal reports detailing allegations of abuse shortly after the initial investigation into Ball in 1992.
In the letters, Ball is accused of encouraged victims to pray naked, perform sex acts in front of him and share his bed.
The files indicate the Church failed to pass this evidence on to police. In February 1993, Lord Carey wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions and a chief constable in support of Ball.
During Ball’s trial last year, Lord Carey denied that the correspondence with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) amounted to a cover-up.
Last October, current Archbishop Justin Welby launched an independent review into the Church of England’s response to the allegations.
A spokesperson for Lord Carey declined to comment but said Carey was cooperating fully with Welby’s inquiry.
The newly released documents also suggest Ball associated with other known sex offenders in the clergy and was investigated in 2008 for being part of suspected pedophile ring.
The documents show Ball covered for and helped priests accused of sex abuse.
I used to work with children and young people as a Residential Social Worker in Bristol before becoming a C of E Vicar. I now lead Kairos Church, formerly St Mary’s Harrogate with All Saint’s, Harlow Hill.
A NEW vicar at St Mary’s and All Saints Church has been welcomed with open arms to a congregation displaced after their church building was made redundant. Rev Mark Carey, who is the son of former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr George Carey, was delighted at his reception.
Since 2006 when their building was declared unsafe, the congregation have been worshipping at Harrogate Grammar School where Mr Carey was licensed as Priest in Charge during a ceremony at the beginning of this month. The Bishop of Leeds and Ripon was there to lead the ceremony.
Mr Carey was previously vicar at St Mark’s Church Grenoside, Sheffield, where he had been for eight years. His wife Penny, and three children joined him at the vicarage in September as they embarked on their new life in Harrogate.
In England his time saw notable national events: he took part in the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, led worship for the nation in the Dome for the new Millennium;quoted at the Service commemorating the victims of the 9/11 attacks; led the tributes at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 2001 and preached memorably at Golden Jubilee of the Queen in 2002
He retired in 2002 at the age of 66 and was made a life peer, taking the title Lord Carey of Clifton, reflecting appreciation of his time as Bishop of Bath and Wells.
Peter Alan “Pete” Broadbent is a British Anglican bishop. He is the current Church of England Bishop of Willesden, an area bishopric in the Diocese of London. He was also the acting area Bishop of Stepney
He was 15 when he became a committed Christian through the Crusaders youth organisation. He studied English at Jesus College, Cambridge and then studied theology at St John’s College, Nottingham before being ordained.
Broadbent’s first parish job was as Curate to George Carey, the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, when he was Vicar of St Nicholas, Durham
Broadbent moved to the Diocese of London in 1980 to be curate of Emmanuel Church, Holloway and theBishop of Stepney‘s Chaplain for Mission.
Broadbent is a member of the Labour Party and was a councillor for the London Borough of Islington from 1982 and 1990, being the chair of their Development and Planning Committee.
George Carey’s wife, Eileen, was won over by Billy Graham Crusade
When Eileen was sixteen the young American preacher, Billy Graham, was conducting his London Crusade and once a week Eileen took a chartered bus to London.
Later she welcomed Billy Graham to Canterbury Cathedral for the enthronement of her husband.
Jun. 20, 1967 – Evangelist Billy Graham visits the set of the new Cliff Richard film ”Two a Penny”: Evangelist Billy Graham today paid a visit to the set at Goldhawk studies, London W. C. where he met pop star Cliff Richard, actress Dora Bryan and Ann Holloway, stars of his film ”two a penny”, which has a religious theme. The film is financed by the Graham organisation and the profits will go to help their work. Cliff Richard, who is quitting show business at the end of the year, is working in the film without pay.
Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey made a personal and pastoral visit to the Revd Dr Billy Graham today. Archbishop George and Eileen Carey are close friends of Dr and Mrs. Graham.
Billy Graham and George Carey
Dr Graham was present at the Archbishop’s enthronement 10 years ago and met together several years ago during a meeting at Kanuga Episcopal Conference Centre in North Carolina.
Who is John Smyth? Barrister who led Iwerne Trust accused of physically abusing boys from Winchester College in Christian group
John Smyth QC ‘forced public schoolboys to strip naked before subjecting them to savage beatings’
Mr Smyth, a moral crusader who made his name as a barrister representing the Christian campaigner Mary Whitehouse in a landmark prosecution against the Gay News newspaper, went on to live in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Coincidence never ceases to amaze me. Look at these Royals in photos with convicted paedophiles they befriended. What rotten luck.
QUEEN’S PORNO BUTLER
Former QE2 steward Nicholas Greaves, 33, had 458 images of youngsters from two months to 16 years old on his computer – 13 in the most serious category – and 15 films.
He worked for the Royal Family between 2002 and 2004 at Buckingham Palace, Sandringham and Balmoral.
A former royal butler who opened doors for the Queen downloaded obscene images of young children, including scenes of torture and babies just months old.
Favoured butler to the Queen butler jailed for child porn offences
31 July 2006
A FORMER favoured butler to the Queen has been jailed for two years for a catalogue of sick child porn charges. Pervert Nicholas Greaves, 33, worked at Buckingham Palace for two years before leaving to become personal butler to the King of Jordan. He was caged at York Crown Court today/yesterday(THURS) for swapping depraved child porn on the internet. A police man described some of the 473 sick photographs and films – which included images of children being tortured – as among the worst he had seen.
The 16 charges date between February, this year, and April, 2004, when gay former QE2 steward Greaves still worked directly for the Queen.
He was employed by the palace between May 2002 and June 2004, before spending a year serving King Abdullah II in London. He then moved to Whitby, North Yorks, to open a cafe but still worked for the royals on a casual basis until his arrest in February this year.
Shortly before his arrest, Greaves helped with the Queen’s 80th birthday celebrations.
Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by the Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon (centre) received flowers from a young guest at Marlborough House in central London. The Queen marked her 80th birthday at a special Commonwealth celebration held in her honour in 2006
Greaves, who is thought to have been a favourite of the Queen, would help out at state functions and important events, including her 80th birthday celebrations at Windsor Castle.
Judge Geoffrey Marson QC said the images showed the degradation of children, aged from a baby of a few months to 16, of both sexes. “The depravity to which they have been subjected beggars belief,” he said. “It is not suggested that you were involved in the making of any of these images, but by downloading them and distributing some of them as you did you contributed to that very degradation of these young children.” Greaves admitted five offences of distributing indecent images of children and three counts of possessing indecent images with a view to distribute. He also accepted seven counts of possessing indecent images and one count of possessing indecent films of children. The ex-butler also admitted failing to surrender to police bail in May, when he went on the run for a month, claiming to be suicidal. Simon Reevell, mitigating, said as a result of the case Greaves had lost his social standing, home and business. “This is the same man who not very long ago was one of 16 under-butlers who were responsible for serving the Royal Family,” he said. “In two years he travelled to Sandringham, he was with them in Scotland, he served them in Buckingham Palace. “
He left that employment because he was promoted and he became the butler at a private residence in Belgravia of the Jordanian royal family, serving directly the King himself. “He moved from that to a failed suicide attempt, waking up surrounded by left over tablets, standing at the sea edge looking for a cliff and sufficient courage to hurl himself into oblivion.”
Prosecutor Andrew Hatton said police became aware of Greaves’ interest in child porn after searching the computer of a suspected paedophile, in Twickenham, who is facing child rape charges. An email from NewkyBrown2004 – a nickname traced back to Greaves – was found to contain five pictures of young boys being abused by adult males.
Greaves was questioned by police and immediately admitted owning indecent images of children and distributing them on the Internet. He said he used a one to one messenger service to chat with paedophiles and swap images of children but denied it was for sexual pleasure. “In interview he said he was not interested in the content of the photos but instead in the people who sent them,” Mr Hatton said. “He said he wanted to know what made them tick.” The former butler told police he thought they would only find six images on his computer as he regularly deleted them and had not built up a large collection. But when they searched the machine they found 453 indecent photos of children and 15 sick films. These had been categorised using a scale of one to five, where five indicates the sickest type of child porn. There were 13 pictures and one film in the top category and over 250 images at level three and above. Greaves told police he was surprised by the find and said he thought there was only around 100 deleted images. He could not account for over 300 pictures and 12 films not deleted and still stored in his MyPictures and MyDocuments files. The ex royal servant failed to answer police bail on 8 May, this year, but handed himself in at a police station a month later on 12 June. Greaves claimed he had tried to kill himself by taking over 100 pills the night before he was due to answer bail and was shocked to wake up alive. He said he panicked and drove off on his moped to Redcar and Blackpool looking for cliffs he could jump off but failed to find any. He then travelled round the country for a month, feeling suicidal, before handing himself in. Mr Reevel said Greaves was of previous good character and now realised how wrong his actions had been. Judge Marson ordered him to sign on the sex offenders register and disqualified him from working with children. He added: “There is no reason for the possession and distribution of these images other than for sexual gratification. “There is no other logical explanation and were it not for people like you those who make and distribute these dreadful images would have no market for them.” Speaking after the verdict Sgt Darrin Knight said: “I have a great deal of sympathy with the children depicted in the images, some of which are were the worst I’d seen in 17 years. “The judge understands the link between the people who download these images and the people who make them.” Sgt Knight said Greaves’ royal duties had included opening doors for the Queen and added: “As I understand it she has preferred butlers and he was one of them.”
A Westminster Abbey chorister who sang at Wills and Kate’s wedding was arrested over child sex allegations. Simon Gay, 61,...It is thought the case relates to his involvement in a monastic order set up by Bishop Peter Ball, jailed in 2015 for indecent assaults on young men.
Williams resign? Welby didn’t notice abuse at a camp. In another case revd James Francis arrested for procurement. He is Mr A in Gibb report
Graham@Graham1munro
Calls for Carey to stand down. But Welby sat on the Smyth abuse in 2013 and made no attempt to contact the reporting victim ? No one has !!
Omg any other job and sex offence = sack. @RoyalNavy = fast track for Revd James Francis arrested for procurement. Also Mr A in Gibb Report
#resign Rowan Williams @JustinWelby dean of @wabbey too little too late. Still covering up abbey scandal Simon Gay and Revd James Francis RN
Rev Revelation@revelation_rev
Revd James Francis RN Chaplain outed +Peter Ball yet he was linked with Ball and Simon Gay. How many other connections?
Appointments
11 August 2017
FRANCIS. The Revd James Francis, Royal Navy Chaplain, now Royal Naval Chaplain of the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre, Amport House (Royal Naval Chaplaincy Service).
The original church was built in 1704, on the site of what is now Admiralty House. The present church was opened in 1786,[3] and is built in red brick in Flemish bond. It was possibly designed by Marquand, a Navy Board surveyor, working under Samuel Wyatt at Admiralty House. The contractors were Thomas Parlby & Sons. The church suffered some bomb damage in May 1941, and was restored in 1955-6.
As the oldest surviving chapel in a navy yard, it was Grade II listed on 25 September 1972.[4]
In October 2012, the church held ceremonies marking the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War, attended by Princess Anne. [5] As of 2015 the current chaplain is Revd. James Francis, RN.
Royal harpist faces sexual offences trial with partner
June 23, 2017
A HARPIST who has played for the Queen and other members of the royal family is facing child sex abuse charges.
...has also played for four consecutive prime ministers — ‘
Perrett’s former partner Richard Barton-Wood, 68, denies five charges of indecent assault, one of attempted assault and other two charges, all relating to the same teenager.
Perrett, from Alpheton near Sudbury in Suffolk, performed at Prince Philip’s 70th birthday party and has also played for Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and the Duchess of York.
Barton-Wood, from Wymondham in Norfolk, is a warden and publicity officer at 12th century Wymondham Abbey.
He is said to have been working as a teacher in Suffolk when the offences allegedly took place.
Charlotte and Danielle have worked together since 1993 and are one of the most successful soprano and harp duos around. In the past decade they have toured France, South Korea, Japan, USA and UK.
World-renowned harpist who played for Queen jailed for sexually abusing schoolboy
27 FEB 2018
Danielle Perrett, who has performed for the Queen and several Prime Ministers, had earlier been convicted of separately indecently assaulting the boy while he was in his early teens
Perrett, from Alpheton near Sudbury in Suffolk, performed at Prince Philip’s 70th birthday party and has also played for Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and the Duchess of York.
Her ex-fiance Richard Barton-Wood, 68, was also found guilty of separately indecently assautling the boy in the 1980s.Barton-Wood had worked as a substitute teacher at his school.He said Barton-Wood sexually assaulted him on sailing trips and camping trips, and that on separate occasions Perrett took his virginity and performed sex acts on him.
Barton-Wood, from Wymondham in Norfolk, is a warden and publicity officer at 12th century Wymondham Abbey.
He is said to have been working as a teacher in Suffolk when the offences allegedly took place.
That this House, noting that the Prince’s Youth Business Trust is 10 years old, views with approval its continuing contribution to the creation of small enterprises by young people in all parts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland; recognises the importance of the Trust’s support which enables young people to develop their self-confidence, achieve economic independence, fulfil their ambitions and contribute to the communities in which they live; records that, since its launch, the Trust has helped more than 32,000 young people to make the transition from unemployment to viable self-employment; congratulates the volunteers and staff of the Trust and those individuals, companies, trusts and foundations, together with local and central government, whose gifts in cash and in kind make the vital work of the Trust possible; congratulates the Trust on achieving 10 years of growing success since its foundation in 1986; and commends the work of the Trust to the interest and support of all honourable Members.
Some notable signers to the EDM- Peter Bottomley, Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng, Greville Janner, Tim Rathbone – he wrote a letter in support of paedophile Bishop Peter Ball
Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey visiting Sir Peter Bottomley’s local Sunday school group
A review by Dame Moira Gibb found he had failed to pass on information about abuse carried out by Bishop Peter Ball.
Ms Racine’s abuser, Michael Walsh, was convicted of five indecent assault charges and confessed to sexual relationships with a further eight children.
He was sent to prison in 1990.
He had been a teacher, a lay vicar at Chichester Cathedral and also ran a choir at a church in Chichester.
Child abuse ‘inevitable’
After his release in 1992, Walsh returned to the same church to be part of the choir.
Concerned for the safety of other girls, in July of that year Ms Racine wrote to the then Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, requesting his help.
Speaking after Lord Carey’s resignation, Ms Racine, 54, said: “I was very concerned that my abuser had just come out of prison and it appeared that he’d just gone straight back into the parish church where he’d originally worked, and was again in a position of authority in the choir there where young children – specifically girls – sang.
“I was really worried that these girls were at a huge risk. I felt it was inevitable that children would be abused.”
Three months after writing her letter she was told Lord Carey had been unable to consider her concerns because he was “committed to a series of visits overseas, together with his summer break”.
‘Duty of forgiveness’
She was informed one month later that the “Archbishop had been assured that there was no question of Michael Walsh being reinstated in the choir,” but nine months after raising her concerns she received a letter from the Archbishop’s chief of staff confirming her abuser was back in the choir.
Lambeth Palace wrote to Ms Racine saying the parish authorities had taken “great care” in coming to their decision to allow Walsh’s return to his position “weighing carefully the risk of re-offending against… the Christian duty of forgiveness”.
Michael Walsh, seen here in the 1990s, was allowed to return to the same church choir after his release from prison
The letters revealed Lord Carey regretted the decision which allowed Alesha’s abuser back into churches and offered her his sympathies.
Ms Racine said: “I thought his response was deeply hurtful, in that it had taken me a lot of courage to write to him at all.
“Most of what he said was in defence of the Church and the people in it, rather than try to reach out to me as a victim.
“I do feel it was a complete failure on his part.”
A spokesman for the former Archbishop of Canterbury said the correspondence with Ms Racine had been conducted on Lord Carey’s behalf by his chief of staff.
He said: “Lord Carey has absolutely no memory of this chain of correspondence or these events. He cannot therefore comment.”
The Sanctuary, built for the new millennium- four knobs which must be turned in a special way…
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles plan to ring in the new year with a “bring-a- bottle” party for their neighbors in Gloucestershire
How the ghost of Diana still haunts Highgrove: As Charles stages a festival to celebrate his beloved garden, RICHARD KAY reveals a poignant secret
Charles to open up beloved 15-acre estate with Highgrove Garden Festival
Garden features busts of influential poets, religious figures and relations
But it still holds signs it was family home to Charles, Diana, and princes
Sundial they got as a wedding present and places boys played are there
11 April 2016
Once a week, Prince Charles takes out a pen and writes knowledgeably about a matter close to his heart.
Nothing unusual about that — he is famous, notorious even, for his ‘black spider’ letters, unfailingly courteous but often couched with just a hint of princely menace, addressed to ministers, civil servants and other public figures.
But this correspondence is different. For a start, he writes in red ink, not black. And rather than the anguish so often evident in the missives which have thumped onto the desks of Whitehall ministries for the past three decades, these are not introspective but full of practical good ideas.
What’s more, they are acted on at once. For they are the letters the Prince writes to his head gardener at Highgrove, his country home for the past 36 years.
Every week, Debs Goodenough, who has been in charge of the 15-acre formal garden since 2008, writes her own note to her boss.
These weekly reports outline what work has been done over the previous seven days and raise issues about new features, such as a new border or what replacement plants he wants.
The points are answered elaborately. Also included are reminders of tasks requiring urgent attention.
This is Prince Charles at his most relaxed: at home in the place where he is undisputed king of all he surveys.
Today, the fruits of his horticultural achievements will echo to the footfall of the curious who will arrive for the inaugural Highgrove Garden Festival.
As well as wandering around the lavishly tended grounds and buying plants and flowers that have inspired the Prince’s displays, visitors will be able to listen to talks from 24 speakers, including some who helped create the garden’s many spectacular features.
Highgrove garden is full of surprises and is constantly changing. By turns breathtaking and colourful, it can also seem ostentatious and eccentric.
Take the ‘Wall of Worthies’, where busts of some of the most influential people in the Prince’s life have been assembled into a screen. They include composer and musician Sir John Tavener, Debo Cavendish, the late dowager Duchess of Devonshire, poet and scholar Dr Kathleen Raine and the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, Bishop of London.
Elsewhere, other busts of people Charles admires include his spiritual guru Sir Laurens van der Post and Dr Alan McGlashan, the distinguished psychiatrist whose patients included Princess Diana.
A memorial is dedicated to the Queen Mother, to whom the prince attributes his love of gardening. A bronze frieze depicts her in her favourite gardening hat and pearls.
Not far away, a patch of long grass marks the grave of Tigga, the Prince’s much-missed Jack Russell. Nearby is a stone carving of the dog snoozing and there is another likeness of Tigga woven from willow.
Royal experts will recognise the two massive earthenware jars that William and Harry clambered inside to pose for their father’s 1995 Christmas card. Only some will know that when they were sent to the Prince of Wales, care of Tetbury, Glos’, the jars were delivered not to Highgrove but to the local Prince of Wales pub, much to the landlord’s surprise.
Another terracotta pot — lying on its side in the Mediterranean garden — was at the centre of a mini-drama when a young Prince Harry hid inside, to the consternation of his bodyguards, who feared he had vanished from the estate.
But what is perhaps most striking about the garden is the extent to which the shadow of Diana still hangs over it. Highgrove was, of course, a family home and an idyllic playground for the young Princes William and Harry.
Traces of Diana are easily spotted — the sundial, for instance, a wedding present from the Duke of Beaufort, and a bank of rhododendrons given by the late Edmund de Rothschild, also to mark the 1981 royal wedding.
The haunts where Diana played with her children are evident, too — she must have watched fretfully as William and Harry clambered up to their tree house, accessible by rope ladder and with trap door.
PRINCE CHARLES AND HIS KINGDOM OF ECCENTRICITIES
Potted history
Charles bought Highgrove in 1980 shortly before meeting Diana, and it became their country home after their marriage.
He described it as ‘stark and exposed, without a trace of any shelter and without a single flower-bed beside the house. It needed hedges, enclosures and vistas, so bit by bit I tried to tackle it.’ There was no grand plan, he says. Instead ‘it just grew like Topsy’.
Helping hands
The Prince was determined to create a self-sufficient organic garden where he could ‘restore lost habitats and plant lots of hedgerows and trees to heal the landscape’.
In 1982 he entered into a partnership with Dame Miriam Rothschild, the late natural scientist, and they planted an experimental 25 acres with 130 native wildflower varieties which became the celebrated meadows.
Together with Mollie, dowager Marchioness of Salisbury, he started work on three key features — the sundial garden, the terrace garden and the kitchen garden, where rows of vegetables and fruit trees are set out.
In 1989 art historian and landscape designer Sir Roy Strong was brought in to shape the topiary, and gardening writer Rosemary Verey designed a cottage garden which was dug with help from five-year-old Prince Harry.
Generous pals
Throughout the gardens are examples of gifts from the prince’s friends, from plants and trees to sculptures and carvings. At the end of the third-of-a-mile-long avenue of lime trees, which was planted in 1994, is a 40ft obelisk topped with a gilded phoenix, given to Charles on his 50th birthday by the Sultan of Oman.
The cast iron column on which the bird stands was salvaged from Victoria station in London and given to Charles by construction tycoon and railway enthusiast Sir William McAlpine.
In the arboretum, there is a bronze of the daughters of Tsar Nicholas II killed by the Bolsheviks in 1918 and called the Daughters of Odessa, which was a gift from the U.S.
Near to the lily pool is another bronze of a Borghese gladiator copied from the original which is in the Louvre in Paris and given to Charles by his friend, the Marquess of Cholmondeley.
An ornate timber bee house, holding ten hives, was presented from the people of Slovenia. Elsewhere, an Indian bean tree was a 50th birthday gift from Elton John, while the Monarchist League of Australia gave 60 ferns for his 60th in 2008.
Among the rare species, are a Manchurian ash, planted and blessed by the Dalai Lama during a visit in 1999, and a magnolia tree donated by ex-James Bond star Pierce Brosnan to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002.
Nooks and crannies
Chickens with their own police guards: In the early years of the garden, the free-range chickens roamed near the houses where the police were billeted. ‘There was an officer known as the “sergeant of the coop” who kept an eye on them,’ recalls Ken Wharfe. Today, there are 100 hens, whose much-prized eggs are sold locally.
The sanctuary: This is out of bounds to all but invited guests. It’s the tiny woodland chapel, built to mark the Millennium, where Charles likes to pray.
The Stumpery: Conceived in the Eighties after the Prince received a lorry full of old, rotting tree stumps from Lord Cowdray’s estate in Sussex. Bedded in with the roots of ancient trees, this Victorian concept was planted with ferns and foliage. Prince Philip famously asked him: ‘When are you going to set fire to this lot?’
Paying guests
This week’s festival will see 4,000 visitors tramping round the garden. By the end of the year — visitors are permitted from mid-April to mid-October — 40,000 people will have paid a total £650,000 in entrance fees (which the Prince donates to charities).
Eye-watering cost
The precise number of plants, bulbs and trees is not known but one estimate puts it above 750 varieties. There are 21 gardeners and estate workers at all his homes. Over the years, he has lavished many millions on the garden. The Stumpery alone cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The legacy
Regardless of what he achieves as king, Charles’s greatest legacy may be his enchanting garden, where he has allowed his imagination to run riot and created a landscape — as he puts it — to ‘feed the soul, warm the heart and delight the eye.’
As the Prince told Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time last week, there was particular concern over this feature. ‘All the ladies were in despair that they were going to drop out (of it) . . .’ Though he did not name them, those ladies were almost certainly Diana and the Queen.
Wherever you turn there are associations with Diana. Once, when Charles was away, she asked royal protection officer Ken Wharfe if he could arrange for some go-karts to be delivered to Highgrove for the weekend. William laid out a track through the vegetable garden and Charles’s cherished wildflower meadow.
‘The area got churned up but he made sure it was all put back,’ says Wharfe. Fearing the worst when he next saw the Prince, he was surprised when Charles told him: ‘I hear you had a marvellous weekend with the boys — you’re not thinking of becoming the next Bernie Ecclestone are you?’
It’s true that Charles has expunged some traces of his ex-wife. The small cottage garden, on to which her sitting room opened, was dug up soon after her death and replaced with a yew hedge.
One observer commented tartly: ‘It is so very masculine. We called it Charles’s “Ego Garden”.’ The joke stuck and even Charles now refers to it as his ego garden.
The Prince also redecorated Highgrove after the couple divorced, ridding the house of Diana’s touches.
In contrast, Diana kept Kensington Palace just as it had been during their marriage — she felt the young princes would benefit from the familiarity of its decor.
In time, however, Charles learned from her example and ensured that mementoes of Diana were kept at Highgrove to please his children.
One unexpected sight is a statue of Diana, Goddess of Hunting. According to Highgrove biographer Bunny Guinness, it’s positioned at the end of one of the garden’s ‘most inspiring vistas’.
Visitors looking for more historical flourishes can see a mulberry tree which grew from a cutting taken from a tree planted by Henry VIII at Hampton Court.
And there is the Boscobel oak, grown from the tree which reputedly hid Charles II from Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers after the Battle of Worcester in 1651.
Of course, most will be coming for the magnificent array of spring flowers, and they won’t be disappointed, the coronation meadow is ablaze with daffodils and the magnolia and cherry blossom trees are in their pomp.
Times 27/7/18 : Peter Ball: the sinful bishop and a very English cover-up
Peter Ball escaped justice for decades, at a terrible cost to his young victims, thanks to his many establishment friends, argues Sean O’Neill
The tale of the paedophile bishop and the heir to the throne — private prayer sessions, gifts of money and a 20-year correspondence — is the stuff of a conspiracy theorist’s dream. Except that the story of Peter Ball and the Prince of Wales is not a theory. It is a key element in a real, modern-day account of how powerful people in Britain formed a protective shield around a predatory sex offender.
This Very English Scandal is not yet the stuff of a TV drama like the recent dramatisation of the Jeremy Thorpe affair. It is too raw, too real and too recent — a scandal that involves not just the prince but also an archbishop, a senior judge, government ministers and MPs, public school headmasters and the country’s top prosecutors and policemen.
They did what they did because he was one of their own. He was educated, articulate, plausible and his word was taken at face value while the young men who said he abused them were condemned as “mischief-makers”.
Despite strong evidence and a police desire to put him on trial for serious offences in 1993, some of his influential friends helped Ball to escape with a caution in return for resigning his ministry. Those friends then spent two decades rehabilitating him in the Church of England and the upper echelons of society before justice finally caught up with him and he was jailed in 2015.
A handful of key players have appeared this week at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. We have seen the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton — a man who wrote a few months after Ball admitted guilt that he believed the bishop to be “basically innocent” — stumbling through hours of public questioning.
Also giving evidence was Wayne Murdock, the police detective who investigated Ball in 1992, recalling how the “hot potato” case drew letters and phone calls from bishops, MPs and even a senior appeal court judge.
Much attention has focused on Ball’s relationship with the Prince of Wales, who fought to avoid providing evidence. He hired the law firm Harbottle & Lewis to argue that demands from the public inquiry for “intensely private and confidential material” were a breach of his human rights. In the end, Clarence House insists, the prince gave his evidence voluntarily. His written submission is just seven pages long but remarkable details have emerged about his closeness to the disgraced bishop.
Ball had what was described as a “ministry with the Prince of Wales” and gave him “spiritual counselling”. In return, the prince provided Ball with “small gifts of money” and a sympathetic ear. The Duchy of Cornwall provided a newly purchased house in a Somerset village. Above all, his connection to the prince — which Ball made sure everyone knew about — gave him royal approval for a return to society after his police caution.
Ball relished his royal connections. He preached at the funeral of Bruce Shand, the Duchess of Cornwall’s father, in 2006 and was reported to be a guest at the duchess’s wedding to the prince in 2005. One document suggests he was invited to the Highgrove Millennium Eve party. He also claimed to be a friend of the Duchess of York.
In 1998, Ball wrote to Lord Carey boasting of the number of invitations to preach he was receiving: “I have spoken to 400 voluntary workers in Eastbourne with the lord lieutenant . . . I am shortly to preach to the Grenadier Guards in their chapel; preach at Wellington College, confirm at Radley College and next year preach at Dartmouth to what looks like a full turnout of the royal family.”
Only snippets of his correspondence with the prince have been made public. They are full of self-pity from Ball and lavish support from the prince. In February 1995 Charles wrote to Ball: “I wish I could do more. I feel so desperately strongly about the monstrous wrongs that have been done to you and the way you have been treated.” In 1997 he referred to a “frightful and terrifying man” and added: “I’ll see off this horrid man if he tries anything again.” The prince now says he cannot recall who he was referring to, but Ball had repeatedly claimed that his “accusers” were persecuting him.
The prince admits that his relationship with Ball only ended when the bishop, who cannot be stripped of his title under church rules, was convicted and jailed at the Old Bailey in 2015 for the sexual assault and exploitation of 13 young men. Charges relating to two boys aged under 16 were left on file.
The prince has expressed “deep personal regret” that he was “misled” by Ball. He maintains that he was “not aware until recently that a caution in fact carries an acceptance of guilt”.
That excuse has upset many of Ball’s victims. The Bishop of Gloucester’s resignation after being cautioned in 1993 was a national news story and can hardly have escaped royal attention. The Times reported on its front page that Ball had quit after a formal caution, “a legal step that is taken only after a clear admission of guilt”.
Richard Scorer, solicitor for five of the bishop’s victims, thinks the prince has been afflicted by “wilful blindness”, while William Chapman, counsel for another group of victims, says: “Prince Charles has many advisers — he only had to ask what a caution meant.”
The prince was not alone. The bishop cultivated friends in high places and drew on their support when he was threatened.
As they considered the case against Ball in the early 1990s, Albert Pacey, chief constable of Gloucestershire, and Dame Barbara Mills, the director of public prosecutions, received 24 letters from people in public life expressing support or sympathy for Ball. One letter to Dame Barbara came from Tim Renton, the former Conservative chief whip, who urged that “criminal action” should not be taken against a “man of immense kindness, charity and humour dedicated to serving God in the community”. Renton and his wife, according to inquiry evidence, “decided to write on House of Commons headed notepaper about Peter Ball, precisely so that they would get a more elevated and serious response”. CPS policy was that letters from MPs “had to be responded to at a senior level and required internal investigation and briefing at this stage from the DPP”.
Matthew Parris noted this week that “it’s friendship not money that most corrupts British politics”. The same is true of the corruption of public life and, in this case, the thwarting of the proper process of criminal justice.
Ball’s “helpers”, Mr Chapman argues, assumed “that as members of the establishment they are entitled, even duty bound, to weigh in on behalf of their establishment friends accused of serious crimes, even when they are not sure of what’s been alleged”.
Ball was always an odd member of that establishment. Born in 1932, he was educated at Lancing College and Cambridge University, and became a priest in 1957. His identical twin, Michael, also entered ecclesiastical life and became Bishop of Truro.
The brothers seemed, however, to have stepped outside the establishment ranks when they set up their monastic order, the Community of the Glorious Ascension, in 1960. Arguing that the Church of England had “gone soft”, they practised an austere form of worship. The order and its bizarre ceremonies became the cover for Peter Ball’s sexual offending through naked prayer and flagellation, which he falsely claimed were in the tradition of St Francis of Assisi.
Although he professed to live in near poverty, Ball loved the high life. Household bills during his short period as Bishop of Gloucester from 1992 until his resignation in 1993 were astronomical. Staff at Bishopscourt, his official residence in Gloucester, said that after he arrived “household expenditure on food and alcohol increased significantly and the house was expensively decorated and furnished”.
Ball had important friends and liked to entertain them. As suffragan Bishop of Lewes, he had made contacts in the Conservative Party. Mrs Thatcher was impressed by him and he was invited to No 10. When the see of Gloucester became vacant, the Downing Street appointments secretary Sir Robin Catford, a friend of Ball, ensured that he was picked.
He told John Major, then the prime minister, that Ball had been a squash blue at Cambridge and possessed “a quite extraordinary sparkling personality, impish humour and an unrivalled ability to communicate”. He was also “terribly good fun”.
Ball’s new post allowed him to enlist his most powerful friend when his enthronement at Gloucester Cathedral was attended by the Prince of Wales. He became a frequent visitor to Charles’s home at Highgrove where he administered Communion, prayed with the prince and advised him. Charles is adamant, and previous inquiries have concluded, that he did not interfere with the legal process or in Ball’s campaign to have his ministry restored after accepting a police caution in 1993. He has, however, conceded that he discussed Ball with the Archbishop of Canterbury. Lord Carey, the prince recalls, “was supportive of Peter Ball and thought him a good man and priest”.
Even before Ball was arrested in 1992, Lord Carey had telephoned Sir Peter Imbert, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, to ask what was going on. After Ball’s arrest, six people wrote to the archbishop with further allegations against him, some detailing abusive conduct. None of the letters was passed to detectives and Lord Carey called for prayers that the investigation “will clear [Ball’s] name”.
After Ball’s resignation in 1993, the church offered nothing to his victims but gave him thousands of pounds from the archbishop’s discretionary fund. Within two years he had been given permission to conduct services again. By 1997 Lord Carey, who had Ball to stay as a house guest at Lambeth Palace, had given him permission to carry out bishop’s duties again. Ball also asked for and got the archbishop’s blessing to conduct confirmation services at public schools. Ball said the pastoral support of the archbishop was “the light that sustained me at times”.
Well-placed friends rallied round to campaign for Ball’s return to the senior ranks of the church. There was even talk of a legal challenge to his caution, despite the fact he had admitted being guilty of a criminal offence. Prominent in the campaign was Anthony Lloyd, by now Lord Lloyd of Berwick, a law lord. Lloyd was perhaps Ball’s most cavalier supporter. Despite being an appeal court judge at the time of the 1990s investigation, he intervened in a criminal case by writing to the chief constable of Gloucestershire and the DPP. He told them Ball was “the most gentle upright and saintly man” who now found himself in an “appalling situation”. He also telephoned the lead detective on the case, musing in his “very posh” voice: “I know the DPP, I would like to influence her but I won’t.” The policeman made a note of the words in is diary.
Lloyd was one of what a Lambeth Palace aide described as a “powerful group of friends . . . coming to Peter’s aid”. He was still fighting Ball’s corner in 2013 when the bishop was under investigation by Sussex police. Lloyd, who denies any impropriety, wrote three letters to the Sussex chief constable demanding to know why his friend had been “manhandled”, why there was any need for an investigation and why the case was taking so long.
Sussex police said Prince Charles’s office was also in contact with them in 2013, wanting to know if they had seized from Ball any “material that may be embarrassing to Prince Charles or the monarchy in general”. The police responded that nothing to embarrass the prince had been found.
Lord Carey, too, was still in the Ball camp. He gave a witness statement for Ball’s defence rather than accept the invitation to be a prosecution witness. A police officer noted after a meeting with Lord Carey that he “feels PB has been punished enough”.
The judge, the prince and the archbishop maintained their contact and belief in Peter Ball until he finally admitted his multiple offences in 2015. He exerted a hold over these powerful people and exploited their influence — spoken and unspoken — to deny his victims justice for decades.
Thirty-two men have now complained of abuse by Ball — the true number is thought to be much higher. The first complainant, Neil Todd, who was 17 when Ball targeted him in 1992, left Britain to try to escape the trauma and rebuild his life in Australia. When the Ball case was reopened in 2012, and he was contacted by police and the media, the trauma returned and he took his own life. Mr Todd and his family had first come forward in 1992 fearing that there would be a cover-up. Their fears proved to be well founded. Ball, for his part, was released on licence in February last year after 17 months in prison. Now 86, he lives in Somerset with his twin brother Michael.
The notion of the establishment cover-up has been discredited in recent years in the aftermath of Scotland Yard’s botched handling of lurid and unfounded allegations of child abuse and murder against Lord Bramall, Harvey Proctor and the late Lord Brittan of Spennithorne. The Peter Ball affair is a reminder that, sometimes, extraordinary stories can also be true ones.
Sainsbury / Janner / Whitelaw /Enoch Powell / Dr Coggan
(Dr Coggan part of Bishop Ball’s consecration)
The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Donald Coggan with the three new bishops – two of them formerly Anglican monks – consecrated at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. They are, from left, the Rt Rev Anselm Genders, Bishop of Burmuda and formerly Bursar of the Community of the Resurrection in Mirfield, Dr Coggan, The Rt Rev Peter Ball, Suffragan Bishop of Lewes in the diocese of Chichester, and the Rt Rev Peter Nott, Suffragan Bishop of Taunton and formerly Rector of Baconsfield in Buckinghamshire.
Some key points to take away is that Hubert Braiser (Theresa May’s father) worked for the Community of the Resurrection Seminary School in Mirfield, West Yorkshire
Cyrenians -Its founder was Anton Wallich-Clifford, a Catholic probation officer who in 1963 started the Simon Community, a movement set up to provide an alternative for homeless single people who, at the time, faced the stark choice between night shelters and huge, 1,000-bed lodging houses.
The tragic Sainsbury’s heir who gave away his millions…he left his money to the Prince’s Trust.
26 May 2007
For Annabel Sainsbury, scion of one of Britain’s wealthiest dynasties and sister of the former Labour Cabinet minister Lord Sainsbury, the 30th birthday of her eldest son Jason should have been a proud milestone. It was the day when Jason inherited a £2.5 million fortune from his grandfather, the late supermarket baron Sir Robert Sainsbury, and an occasion that had prompted much speculation at the family’s 400-acre estate in Horsham, West Sussex.
The Jason Kanabus Fund, to be launched later this month, will be administered through The Prince’s Trust
Annabel’s father, Robert, the famous philanthropist and patron of the arts, was already a director of Sainsbury’s by the time she was born – he spent his life working alongside his more flamboyant brother Alan at the head of the family supermarket business, which grew into a nationwide empire during the post-war years.
“I had a privileged upbringing,” Annabel admits.
Annabel’s father, Robert, the famous philanthropist and patron of the arts, was already a director of Sainsbury’s by the time she was born
“We had wonderful Christmases and family parties,”
Francis Bacon – Portrait of Sainsbury (Robert Sainsbury)
“I was the youngest of four and Father was always entertaining well-known and influential people. The artists Henry Moore and Francis Bacon were regular dinner guests.
“Once, the former editor of The Times William Rees-Mogg (now a Mail on Sunday columnist) had to nip out between the main course and pudding to finish the front page.
Robert and Lisa Sainsbury became Francis Bacon’s patrons in 1955 and for a short period they avidly collected his work. This portrait of Robert Sainsbury can be seen to relate to Bacon’s Businessmen series of the previous year, which also employed a degree of realism unusual in his work.
The blurred facial features and the perspective lines are recurring themes in Bacon’s portraits.
Lisa commissioned Bacon to paint this portrait of her husband (he did not normally work to commission) and, later, begin a series of sittings for the artist. Bacon produced some eight studies of Lisa; three of which are in the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection.
Sir Robert Sainsbury (1906—2000) with his wife, Lisa (1912—2014), was a well-known sponsor and patron of the arts. In 1978 the couple founded the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. They donated the bulk of their art collection to this centre. In the 1950s, the Sainsburys began to collect paintings by Bacon, with whom they developed a close relationship. He painted one portrait of Robert and eight studies of Lisa, but destroyed five of these.
Tucked away on the old Church of Satan website, there is a list called “Satanic Art 101.” This series explores one artist from that list, in this case Francis Bacon. All the old Church has to say is
Francis Bacon (1909-1992) Painter Screaming popes, perverse eroticism, and a raw, undefiled aesthestic that demonstrates that the beast in man does get some exercise from time to time.
Revealed: How the Kray twins STALKED Francis Bacon and even sent him their naff paintings while they were in prison
Francis Bacon revealed startling story on how he first met the Kray Twins
Bacon was living in the Moroccan city of Tangier when he met them
Ronnie Kray asked Bacon if he could bring a Spanish boy to his house
A few years later, one of the Krays ordered several men to break into Bacon’s studio and steal his paintings late at night
24 August 2015
During the three decades we were friends, Francis Bacon told me many strange stories about his life — but perhaps the most startling was his account of gaining two unwelcome fans in the form of the Kray Twins. It was during the 1950s that one of the most celebrated yet controversial artists of the 20th century met two of its most notorious gangsters.
The setting was the Moroccan city of Tangier, a place where, as Francis put it: ‘People came to lose their inhibitions — above all queers from England and America.’
Francis was living there when the Krays visited on holiday. Soon after they arrived, Francis received a request from Ronnie Kray, who was said to be the crueller of the brothers and, like Francis, was attracted to much younger men.
‘He said he had fallen for some Spanish boy but he didn’t think he could take him back to his hotel. He was worried about the impression it might make, though you wouldn’t think he’d have cared after cutting all those throats.
‘Anyway, he asked if he could bring him to my place. I had lots of rooms so I agreed, and after that I never saw the end of him. He always seemed to be there.’
If Ronnie Kray was grateful, he had a strange way of showing it. Some years later, with newspapers reporting that Francis’s paintings were selling for colossal sums, one of the Krays’ heavies broke into his studio in London and stole some of his pictures.
Too scared to involve the police, the artist only got the paintings back when they eventually turned up at auction, paying a ridiculous sum of money for his own work.
And he was not free of the Krays even after they were locked up for life in 1969. ‘I still hear from them,’ he told me. ‘They send me these paintings they do there. They’re very odd, always of these soft landscapes with little cottages in them.’
In Tangier, Francis had seen the Krays force a man to go down on his knees and kiss their shoes in a restaurant full of people.
‘Deep down I hated the idea of what they did to people,’ he said, and yet they clearly fascinated him, as did so many other men from the East End.
He believed that they were somehow more ‘real’ and ‘direct’ than their effete, devious counterparts elsewhere, and at one point he bought a house on the Thames near Limehouse, East London — which is today part of fashionable Docklands but was then one of the roughest parts of the city.
This was somewhat ill-advised, since the light constantly reflecting off the water proved distracting to his work. But for Francis, the area had the advantage of abounding with villains, and toughs working in the docks.
He described it melodramatically as ‘the house I shall be murdered in’ and, although he lived there only a short while, he clearly loved the danger of what Oscar Wilde called ‘feasting with panthers’.
Wearing gold watches which he flaunted as a come-on to ‘rough trade’, he had very specific tastes.
‘I actually prefer men who aren’t queer, or who don’t think they are,’ he told me. ‘That’s in the beginning at least. Afterwards, of course, they’re just as boring as the others.’
For many years, his lover was George Dyer, a pale and athletic young man who had the air of a successful East End entrepreneur.
In fact, as I learned from the gossip in Soho bars, he was an unsuccessful thief and burglar. One story suggested they met when Francis caught him breaking into his studio in Kensington via a skylight.
Their relationship was in its early stages when I first met Francis in 1963. As I explained in Saturday’s Mail, I was then a 21-year-old student who sought an interview with him for the magazine I edited at Cambridge University.
Although I have always been determinedly heterosexual, we developed a lasting friendship and I was often invited to see his paintings before they had been revealed to the wider world.
The first he showed me was one of a series of portraits of George who was then around 30 — some 20 years his junior. It depicted him as so badly beaten up that his own mother wouldn’t recognise him.
I wondered what went on between them. Perhaps Francis’s desire to pummel the figures he painted was a kind of re-enactment of what he himself went through as a willing victim of sadomasochism.
He told me that one former lover in Tangier had possessed a collection of rhino whips and been ‘kinky in all sorts of ways and very extreme’. On one occasion, Francis was turned out into the street by this man after being thrashed so badly that the police picked him up and took him to the station, thinking he was the victim of a severe random assault.
I myself had seen him barely able to walk or turn his head, presumably because he’d been so violently attacked by other passing lovers, and in George he had hoped to find a muscular East End ruffian who would punch and kick him within an inch of his life.
Instead, he found a confused and gentle young man whose clinginess often led to tensions between them.
Their relationship moved towards its tragic conclusion in 1971 when Francis received what he regarded as the greatest accolade of his career — being accorded the honour of a major exhibition in Paris.
This was where he most craved recognition, believing that the French were more demanding and discerning than any other nation when it came to art. Many of the portraits in the show were of George — caught in a black mirror, welded to a bicycle, corkscrewed to a chair.
On arriving in Paris, where I was working as a journalist, Francis told me that he’d only reluctantly brought his lover with him.
‘There’s been nothing between us for ages now but he asked whether he could come with me, and since he’s in so many of the pictures I could hardly say no.’
George had then only recently emerged from a rehab clinic where he’d sought a ‘cure’ for a severe drinking problem. Robbed of the oblivion he found in drink, he was clearly aware that he had lost Francis as well.
He looked pale and strained, and on the very day the show opened he took his own life, swallowing an overdose of sleeping pills in their hotel room.
Francis had been preparing for the exhibition at the time and told me he would never get over his guilt, both for leaving George alone that day, and for ever involving him in his world in the first place. ‘By giving him enough money to be able to do nothing, I took his incentive away,’ he said. ‘His stealing at least gave him a reason for living, and I should have left him exactly as he was. He’d have been in and out of prison, but at least he’d have been alive.’
In the aftermath of George’s death, Francis spent longer and longer periods in Paris, completing a series of profoundly moving paintings dedicated to the memory of his dead companion. During those two remaining decades of his life, our friendship deepened and his despair did not keep us from hitting Parisian high spots in determined fashion.
This took us from tea and dainty cucumber sandwiches at the Ritz to champagne in fashionable nightclubs such as Le Sept. This was a predominantly homosexual disco where Francis was greeted as a hero, even on crowded evenings when other celebrities such as the dancer Rudolf Nureyev and fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent were having supper.
There were star-studded parties, too, where guests included the likes of Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol — the latter responding mechanically to whatever you said with the words: ‘Gee, that’s great.’
In contrast to all this, one of our epic drinking bouts ended at a late-night bar in Paris, where porters from a food market would go for a quick brandy before hoisting sides of beef off lorries in their blood-smeared white overalls.
As Francis paid for each round, he pulled out a large ball of money, apparently not noticing the odd large note that fluttered into the sawdust on the floor — a performance that several meat porters followed with obvious interest.
When I finally decided I could drink no more, I bade him good-night. I have no idea whether he ended up with any of those porters.
But, for all his protestations that he’d never have another intimate relationship following George’s death, eventually there were other significant men in his life, including a Spaniard named Jose Capelo, 40 years younger than him.
A Madrid-based banker who spoke several foreign languages, he was a departure from what Francis described as the ‘brutes’ he usually found attractive.
It was with Jose that Francis turned up at Wiltons restaurant in Mayfair on a day when he and I had arranged to lunch together. We had made a firm date over the phone, but he looked surprised to see me and clearly thought that the two of them were eating alone.
By then he had turned 80 and his increasingly unreliable memory, along with a shortness of breath and alarmingly orange hair — the result of a bad dye-job — were all signs that he was fast ageing, something he had always dreaded.
‘Getting old is like having some deadly disease — and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,’ he said.
That was in 1990, and two years later I was in New York when I saw a newspaper headline announcing that he had died of a heart attack while on holiday with Jose in Spain.
He had left a body of work which is among the most expensive sold at auction today. It includes portraits of such notables as Lucian Freud and Mick Jagger, but the person he painted more than anyone else was his lover George Dyer.
One of the unlikeliest muses in art history, he was also among the most tragic. His fate reminds us that, for all the disquiet surrounding Bacon’s works, nothing he put on canvas could ever match the dark reality of his private life.
Jailed for murder as a member of the Kray brothers’ gang, Chris Lambrianou has seen life’s dark side, yet his collection of thoughts and meditations seek to lift the reader from his or her own high walls of captivity.
Do the Walls Come Down?: Reflections of a Lifer by Chris Lambrianou
Graham Sutherland, a mutual friend and artist, introduced Freud to Bacon in 1945, inviting them to his house. They formed a close friendship and saw much of one another in the following years.
Bacon had a great influence on the younger Freud and is often credited with liberating his style and fuelling his desire to depict human life.
In the early 1950s, the artists sat for each other; Bacon’s first portrait of Freud came in 1951, and many others followed. Freud painted Bacon just twice.
It was originally known as Tyneside Cyrenians and led by Canon Thomas Gaughan, head of Catholic social services, Brian Roycroft,former director of Newcastle social services, Frank Welsh and Frank Pollock, both members of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
It began as a soup run each evening in the city but, when the extent of the homeless problem became evident, it opened its first hostel – based near Leazes Arcade, close to Newcastle’s Haymarket – in 1972.
Manned seven nights a week by volunteers, there was a nightly draw for the 24 beds at 6pm. Admission for the lucky ones was at 8pm and they got a meal and a clean bed. The doors re-opened between 5am and 9am the next morning for others to be admitted for a breakfast of porridge, soup, bread and tea. Between 1973 and 1974, further Cyrenians projects opened in St Edmund’s House, Gateshead, and Factory House in Walker, Newcastle.
Viscount Brentford, (Earl of March) the president of the Church Society, whose wife was a member of the Crown Appointments Commission which chose Dr WilliamsViscount Brentford, the president of the Church Society, whose wife was a member of the Crown Appointments Commission which chose Dr Williams.
The Duke held a number of senior positions in the Anglican church, including membership of the Church Synod and the World Council of Churches. He was also Chancellor of the University of Sussex from 1985 to 1998.
He and his wife Susan Monica Grenville-Grey, the Countess of March, attracted attention when they adopted two girls of mixed race in the 1960s at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment was running high and the interracial relationships were frowned upon.
Prisoners Abroad is a UK-registered human rights and welfare charity[1] which supports British citizens who are imprisoned overseas. It also works with ex-prisoners returning to the UK and family members and friends of those detained.
In 2007 Prisoners Abroad was awarded the Longford Prize,[3] awarded annually by the Longford Trust to “recognise the contribution of an individual, group or organisation working in the area of penal or social reform who/which has shown outstanding qualities of humanity, courage, persistence and originality”.[4]
In 1977, Righton also participated in the London Medical Group’s annual conference, on this occasion the subject being ‘Human Sexuality’, speaking alongside agony aunt Claire Rayner amongst others (M. Papouchado, ‘Annual Conference of the LMG: Human Sexuality
In 1979, Righton sat on a steering committee to establish a course for training staff to work with disturbed young people, together with John Rea Price, director of Islington Social Services, 1972-92, subsequently the Director of the National Children’s Bureau. Other’s on the committee included G Godfrey Isaacs, chairman of Peper Harow, Mary Joynsons, director of child care for Barnardos, Janet Mattinson, Tavistock Centre, and Nick Stacey
William Clive [Bridgeman], 1st Viscount Bridgeman, JP DL PC
only son of Rev Hon John Robert Orlando Bridgeman, Rector of Weston-under-Lizard, co. Stafford (by his wife Marianne Caroline Clive, only dau. of Ven William Clive, Archdeacon of Montgomery), 3rd son by his first wife of George Augustus Frederick Henry [Bridgeman], 2nd Earl of Bradford
born
31 Dec 1864
mar.
30 Apr 1895 Dame Caroline Beatrix Parker DBE JP (d. 26 Dec 1961), 1st dau. of Hon Cecil Thomas Parker (by his wife Rosamond Esther Harriet Longley, dau. of Most Rev & Rt Hon C T Longley DD, Archbishop of Canterbury), 2nd son by his second wife of Thomas Augustus Wolstenholme [Parker], 6th Earl of Macclesfield
children
1. Hon Robert Clive Bridgeman, later2nd Viscount Bridgeman
2. Brig Hon Geoffrey John Orlando Bridgeman MC FRCS LRCP, of Watley House, Sparsholt, Winchester, co. Hampshire ,Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at St George’s Hospital (b. 3 Jul 1898; d. 15 Oct 1974), mar. 3 Jul 1929 Mary Meriel Gertrude Talbot (d. 5 Jul 1974), only dau. of Rt Hon Sir George John Talbot, and had issue:
1a. Robin John Orlando Bridgeman, later3rd Viscount Bridgeman
1a. Helena Mary Bridgeman (b. 2 Nov 1932), mar. (1) 18 Jul 1953 (div. 1963) as his first wife Hon Paul Asquith (b. 4 Jan 1927; d. 12 Nov 1984), 2nd son of Cyril [Asquith], Baron Asquith of Bishopstone (Life Peer), by his wife Anne Stephanie Pollock, 1st dau. of Sir Adrian Donald Wilde Pollock KCMG, and (2) 15 Jul 1963 James Francis Lesley Bayley, of Wassall Houzse, Rolvenden, cranbrook, co. Kent, son of Thomas Eliot Bayley, of Edinburgh, and has issue by both husbands
2a. Daphne Bridgeman (b. 9 Apr 1940), mar. 4 Dec 1965 as his second wife William Howard Clive Montgomery, of Grey Abbey, Newtownards, co. Down, 1st son of Maj Hugh Edward Montgomery DL, of Grey Abbey, co. Down, and has issue
3. Hon Sir Maurice Richard Bridgeman KBE, Chairman of British Petroleum 1960-69 (b. 26 Jan 1904; d. 18 Jun 1980), mar. 23 Feb 1933 Diana Mary Erica Wilson (d. in a motot accident 20 May 1979), 2nd dau. of Humphrey Minto Wilson, of 9 South Audley Street, London, and had issue
18 Jun 1929 Viscount Bridgeman, of Leigh in the County of Shropshire
suc. by
son
note
Private Secretary to the Colonial Secretary 1889-92 and the Chancellor of the Exchequer 1895-1902; Member of Parliament (Unionist) for Oswestry 1906-29; a Lord of the Treasury 1915-16; Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour 1916-19 and the Board of Trade 1919-20; Privy Councillor 1920; First Secretary for Mines 1920-22; Secretary of State for Home Affairs 1922-24; First Lord of the Admiralty 1924-29; Elder Brother of the Trinity House 1928
Robert Clive [Bridgeman], 2nd Viscount Bridgeman, KBE CB DSO MC JP DL
1. Hon Anne Caroline Mary Bridgeman (b. 30 Jul 1932), mar. 19 Jul 1955 Rev Nicholas David Stacey, of The Old Vicarage, Selling, Faversham, co. Kent (d. 8 May 2017), 1st son of David Henry Stacey, of Knaphill Manor, Chobham, co. Surrey, by his wife Isobel Part, and has issue
2. Hon Susan Elizabeth Bridgeman JP, Lady-in-Waiting to Lady May Abel-Smith, wife of the Governor of Queensland 1958-60 (b. 19 Oct 1935; d. 26 Aug 2013), mar. 1 Aug 1962 David Kenneth Dudley Foster, of The Spicer’s House, 101 Corve Street, Ludlow, co. Shropshire, 1st son of Kenneth Dudley Foster, of The Lodge, Claverley, co. Shropshire, and had issue
3. Hon Mary Selina Bridgeman JP (b. 14 Jan 1940), mar. 14 Jul 1962 Jeremy David Bagot Bayliss FRICS, of Sheepbridge Court, Swallowfield, Reading, co. Berkshire, only som of Edmund Bayliss, of Guernsey, Channel Islands, and has issue
died
s.p.m. 17 Nov 1982
suc. by
nephew
note
joined the Rife Brigade 1914 and served in the First World War 1915-18; MC 1918; Capt 1921, Brevet Maj 1932, Brigade Maj 1932-34, Brevet Lt Col 1935, General Staff Officer 1935-37; DSO 1940; CB 1944; KBE 1954
Robin John Orlando [Bridgeman], 3rd Viscount Bridgeman
born
5 Dec 1930
mar.
10 Dec 1966 (Victoria) Harriet Lucy Turton, 3rd dau. of Ralph Meredyth Turton, of Kildale Hall, Whitby, co. York, by his wife Mary Blanche Chetwynd-Stapylton, 1st dau. of Col Bryan Henry Chetwynd-Stapylton CBE
children
1. Hon William Orlando Caspar Bridgeman (b. 15 Aug 1968; dvp. 12 Nov 2000)
2. Hon Luke Robinson Orlando Bridgeman (b. 1 May 1971), mar. 25 May 1996 Victoria Frost, yst. dau. of Henry Frost, and has issue:
1a. Valentine Henry Ralph Orlando Bridgeman (b. 11 Oct 1999)
2a. Felix Bridgeman (b. 30 Mar 2002)
1a. Artemis Mary Rosalind Margaret Bridgeman (b. 12 Nov 2004)
3. Hon Esmond Francis Ralph Orlando Bridgeman (b. 3 Oct 1974)
4. Hon Orlando Henry Geoffrey Bridgeman (b. 11 Apr 1983)
note
elected to the House of Lords 1999
June 20 2003,
Mr Nunc Willcox
A memorial service for Mr Nunc Willcox, Chairman of the General Committee of the Garrick Club, 1983-95 and Trustee, 1983-2002, was held yesterday in the Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy, Savoy Hill, London, WC2. The Rev John Robson officiated. Mr Anthony Butcher, QC, read the lesson.
Mr Peter Horsfield, QC, read from The Idea of a University by John Henry Newman, and Mr Geoffrey Samson read In Praise of the Garrick Club by Kingsley Amis. Sir Paul Wright and Mr Jim Willcox, brother, paid tribute.
Former Archbishop, Donald Coggan, who died in 2000 and who ordained Ball in 1977, wrote: “I have seen a good deal of excellent qualities in his work. I have known him as a godly man, totally devoted to his church. He has had an unblemished record.”
Michael Ramsey (right), the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Donald Coggan, the Archbishop of Bradford, at the spring session of the Church Assembly, Church House, London, February 7th 1961.
The raping Bishop Ball was jailed in October after years of abusing youngsters .
He was able to get away with his crimes because, just as in the case of Savile , he was protected by friends in high places who were no doubt sharing in his sordid practices.
According to the Telegraph, a whole cohort of members of the British establishment came to Ball’s defence and appear to have committed perjury in the process, including the godfather of our own necrophiliac PM, David Cameron:
” A Freedom of Information request by the Telegraph has led to the release of the letters written by some high profile figures in his support, they include former Lord Justice Anthony Lloyd, former Archbishop of Canterbury Donald Coggan and David Cameron’s late godfather Tory MP Tim Rathbone, who gave Mr Cameron his first work experience in the House of Commons.
Vicount Ian Kerr CGC @IanKerr
Dr Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Cantebury, Radio 1’s BBC Paris Theatre, Lower Regent Street, London. 30/04/1971
Archbishop’s treasure found in river
A number of valuable ecclesiastical treasures given to a former Archbishop of Canterbury have been found dumped in a river
A bronze given to the Archbishop of Canterbury by the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is one of the precious relics discovered by diver Trevor Bankhead, who was diving in the River Wear in Durham
3 Oct 2009
A haul of 32 artefacts, including gifts from Pope Paul VI and a commemorative medallion presented to the bishop for the Queen’s coronation in 1952, have been recovered from the River Wear in Durham.
They had been in the possession of Michael Ramsey, the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, who spent part of his retirement in the northern city where he served as bishop.
One theory is that he may have cast the items into the water himself at various times, having a reputation for eccentricity before his death 21 years ago at the age of 83.
Another suggestion is that they may have been stolen before being discarded by thieves for some reason as they crossed Prebends Bridge.
However, there is no record of the house where Ramsey and his wife Joan lived on South Bailey having been burgled.
The objects, some solid gold, have been discovered by amateur divers Trevor Bankhead, 40, and his brother Gary, 44, a fire service watch officer, over the past two and a half years.
They conducted 300 dives and believe there are no objects left on the river bed after their last find on Sunday.
It is their belief belief the items could have been put into the water deliberately as a “gift” to the city by Lord Ramsey.
Trevor Bankhead, a former soldier, said: “We believe the Archbishop threw them into the river in 1983 or 1984, by which time he would have had limited mobility.
“So we chose places which were easily accessible by the water’s edge and threw silver washers in the river to try and trace the trajectory the objects could have taken.”
The dives were carried out under licence from Durham Cathedral which owns both banks of the stretch of river.
Mr Bankhead added: “It’s been very exciting, not just finding the objects, but also researching them and being able to pin down the time when he would have received them.”
Their first find was an ornate silver trowel presented to the Archbishop for laying the foundation stone of an Indian church in 1961.
The brothers have since retrieved over 30 other items linked to Ramsey, along with hundreds of medieval and Saxon artefacts.
Among them are gold, silver and bronze medals struck to commemorate the second Vatican council, which must have been presented to Ramsey, who was the most senior cleric in the Church of England from 1961 to 1974, when he met Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in 1966.
It was during the same visit the Pope gave Ramsey his episcopal ring which the Archbishop wore until the day he died and is now kept at Lambeth Palace.
Other items discovered include a solid silver coin from the Greek Orthodox Church and a solid gold coin, likely to have been presented when Ramsey met Nikkyo Niwano, president of the Japanese Buddhist movement, in 1973.
Anne Heywood, chapter steward at Durham Cathedral, described the notion that Lord Ramsey may have been responsible as “pure speculation”.
She said: “We don’t know whether he might have had a burglary. Somebody might have thought these were worth something, and discovered when they were running across Prebends Bridge that they weren’t, and just threw them in the river – but again that is just pure speculation.”
Mark McIntosh, professor of divinity at Durham University, who was a student of Lord Ramsey, said the former Archbishop’s health declined in his later years.
He said: “My hunch would be that he would have had very little knowledge of where most of his things were at that point in his life as he was growing feebler by the day.”
The value of the items has still to be established, with estimates up to £10,000, and will be split between the cathedral and the brothers.
It is hoped some will eventually go on display at Durham’s 11th Century cathedral.
Rev Baker said they first met Knight in April 1983 when Knight moved to the village of Newick near Lewes in East Sussex
The contents of exhibits 204 and 205 were withheld from the public ear….Baker objected to a move for the text of two exhibits – an agreement signed by Knight and an addendum – to be read aloud.
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Peter Ball with Vickery House in 1986
2001
goodnessandharmony 
Fry’s lurid details of the sex act with the young man and what he would or would not perform was too much for some guests. ‘Fry’s speech was deeply distasteful
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2618339/EPHRAIM-HARDCASTLE-Stephen-Frys-lurid-speech-liberal-minded-guests-dinner-event.html
Stephen Fry, Alastair Campbell and Lord Melvyn Bragg – Savile
Mental health charity Mind photocall
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/paul-farmer-mind-apologises-report-pro-paedophile-leader-spoke-1975-event/communications/article/1305020
https://twitter.com/ian_pace/status/502389865695440896