History > 2008 > UK > Crime (II)

Six arrested

as police seize

£15m cocaine haul at port

Monday May 5 2008
The Guardian
Matthew Taylor
This article appeared in the Guardian
on Monday May 05 2008
on p5 of the UK news section.
It was last updated at 00:08 on May 05 2008.

Detectives yesterday seized cocaine with an estimated street value of £15m in one of the biggest hauls in British history. Six men were arrested after the cocaine was discovered when two cars were searched at a UK port. The vehicles were targeted after a long-running inquiry by Cumbrian and Lancashire police working alongside HM Customs.

Officials said the seizure was a breakthrough in the fight against drug smuggling. "This is one of the biggest mainland seizures ever seen in the UK," a police statement said. "This is a major breakthrough in the fight against trafficking of cocaine."

Detective Chief Inspector Jeff Ashton, of Cumbria CID, refused to say how much cocaine had been seized. He said the inquiry was continuing, and a number of private and business addresses in Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire were being searched.

He declined to identify the port where the seizure was made for "operational reasons" but said the vehicles had been stopped and searched as they entered the UK from mainland Europe yesterday morning. He did say that the port was outside the Cumbrian area.

"At this stage I don't want to disclose further details of how or where the seizure took place," he said. "This is because six males have been arrested and are in custody awaiting interview.

"There are also ongoing operations with about five other forces to trace others suspected of being involved. Private and business addresses across the UK are being raided. I am absolutely delighted with the success of this operation and the fact that we have prevented such a large quantity of cocaine from reaching the streets of Britain."

The seizure comes two months after the UN warned that big drug traffickers are operating with virtual impunity because governments across the world were failing to target the cartels.

According to the 127-page annual report from the UN's International Narcotics Control Board, governments need to make greater efforts to freeze the traffickers' assets, improve access to drug treatment programmes and expand the range of non-custodial sentences available for convicted users.

The report said the emergence of new smuggling routes was a growing problem, with cocaine from South America being stockpiled and repackaged in west Africa before entering Europe.

Six arrested as police seize £15m cocaine haul at port, G, 5.5.2008, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/05/ukcrime.drugstrade

Man taken to hospital

after two boys found dead in car

Monday May 5 2008
Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent
This article appeared in the Guardian
on Monday May 05 2008 on p4 of the UK news section.
It was last updated
at 00:08 on May 05 2008.

Police have launched a double murder investigation after the severely injured bodies of two young brothers were found in a car near a beauty spot on the outskirts of Glasgow.

The vehicle was found by passersby late on Saturday afternoon in a secluded car park in a quiet country lane leading from the village of Lennoxtown to Campsie Glen, an area of hills popular with walkers and cyclists.

Paul Ross, six, and Jay Ross, two, from Glasgow, are suspected of having suffered violent deaths. A man, understood to be their father, was taken to hospital with very severe burns. Paramedics were unable to revive either child.

Police are pursuing the theory that both boys were killed, and that the man, who is understood to be separated from their mother and who had weekend visiting rights to the children, allegedly tried to set the car on fire and kill himself. He was in Glasgow royal infirmary under police guard, and was believed to be in a critical condition. Police have not confirmed his relationship to the boys.

Initial reports that the boys had been killed by carbon monoxide from a pipe connected to the car's exhaust were discounted by police.

Detectives are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths. In a statement, they said: "Following post-mortem examinations, the deaths are now being treated as murder ... Police are continuing to follow a positive line of inquiry."

Strathclyde police added last night that they had appointed a family liaison officer to support the boys' mother. Witnesses said the extent of the tragedy became clear after they saw fire engines, police and ambulances heading towards the area and a helicopter overhead. Witnesses said one ambulance returned down the B822 Crow Road with its lights flashing, a second following.

Ronnie Jannaway, club steward at Campsie golf club, said: "The only indication was when the police cars started to go past and we thought maybe it was a road accident; it's quite a bad road for accidents. It wasn't until later on that people heard the full story, and everyone was quite shocked about it."

He said 20 members arrived at 7.30am yesterday but were prevented from going on to the course by police.

David Whitton, the constituency MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, said: "It's obviously a terrible thing to have happened. Clearly there will have to be an investigation to find out why this happened. It's a quiet back road up towards the Campsie hills and there are various places where you can park and no one would pay much attention to the car."

The car was removed from the car park on Saturday night and yesterday police continued to search the scene, using sniffer dogs. The secluded road remained closed during the search, but was reopened yesterday afternoon.

    Man taken to hospital after two boys found dead in car, G, 5.5.2008, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/05/ukcrime.scotland

12.30pm BST

Recorded crime falls by 12%

Thursday April 24 2008
Guardian.co.uk
Alan Travis, home affairs editor
This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Thursday April 24 2008.
It was last updated at 15:11 on April 24 2008.

Although crime has dropped in London, fear of violent crime is high. Michael Stephens/PA

Recorded crime fell by 12% in the last three months of 2007 - the largest drop in at least five years - according to Home Office figures published today.

Police in England and Wales reported substantial falls in robbery (down 21%), car crime (down 19%), criminal damage (down 17%) and violence against the person (down 10%).

The total number of offences recorded from October to December 2007 dropped to 5.05m - a fall of 12%. This is the biggest single quarterly drop in the crime figures for at least five years.

Police recorded a 20% rise in drug offences due to greater use of cannabis warnings, and a 4% overall rise in gun crime from 9,594 incidents to 9,967.

The number of people shot dead, however, fell from 56 in 2006 to 49 in 2007 and shootings involving serious injury dropped from 424 to 355.

The overall rise in gun crime was due to an increase in incidents where slight injuries were sustained, or the weapon was used to threaten.

The 12% fall in crime follows a 9% drop between July and September, a 7% fall between April and June, and a 3% fall from January to March, suggesting the drop in crime is now both sustained and accelerating.

The British Crime Survey, which is based on a survey of 40,000 people's experience of crime, confirms this, with the risk of being a crime victim falling to 23% - the lowest since the survey began in 1981.

Overall, the BCS puts the fall in crime at 6% during 2007, with violent crime also down 6%, and significant falls in car crime and vandalism.

The fall in the crime rate was accompanied by a reduction in the fear of crime, with the number of those with a "high level of worry" about violent crime falling from 17% to 15%, and about car crime or burglary down from 13% to 12%.

Concern about antisocial behaviour continued at about the same level, with 28% saying they were worried about vandalism, graffiti and criminal damage.

Ian Johnstone, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, welcomed the 12% fall in the police crime rate and the "notable reductions in robbery and violent crime". He said he was pleased to see the fall in the number of gun-related deaths because driving out gun and gang culture remained a high police priority.

"The impact of increased enforcement activity are evident in today's figures on recorded drug crime, which shows an increase of 20%. Revised ACPO guidance to forces has resulted in an increase in cautions for cannabis possession, while tough enforcement to tackle class A drugs remains a priority for the police service."

The shadow home secretary, David Davis, said the figures showed drug and gun crime had continued to rise unabated. He claimed violent crime had doubled under Labour because of its "lax approach to law enforcement and failure to address the causes of crime".

The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, called for tougher action on gun crime and claimed there were nine times as many customs officers looking for smuggled cigarettes as contraband guns.

    Recorded crime falls by 12%, G, 24.4.2008, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/apr/24/ukcrime.police

Violent attacks on babies double

Thursday, 24 April 2008
The Independent
By David Barrett, PA


Violence against babies and young children more than doubled last year, a national survey of hospital data revealed today.


Accident and emergency departments in England and Wales saw the number of children aged 10 and under who were injured in a violent attack rise from an estimated 3,805 to 8,067 - or a 112 per cent increase.

Violence against people of all ages fell by 12 per cent overall compared with 2006 - a trend which will give a boost to Home Office ministers on the day quarterly crime figures are due to be published.

But today's report by experts from Cardiff University's violence research group said the unexpected rise in child victims was a "cause for concern".

Under 10s were the only category to see a rise in violence against them.

Maxillofacial surgeon Professor Jon Shepherd, who chairs the group, said: "We would have expected levels among 11- to 17-year-old children to show a rise, because of the increases in youth violence that people have in the back of their minds.

"But that was not what we found."

The report said: "It is not clear whether violence at the hands of parents or carers is responsible for this increase - recent evidence suggests that violence between children at school and in public places is also a problem.

"In any event, the roles of child safeguarding agencies including the NHS, police and local authorities remain essential and should be enhanced.

"This increase against violence directed against children in England and Wales is cause for concern."

The assault injury rate for under 10s rose from 0.7 per 1,000 in 2006 to 1.5 last year, it added.

Victims over 18 saw the greatest fall in violence, and among over 50s there was a 17 per cent decline, but those aged 18 to 30 remained at greatest risk, making up nearly half of violence-related patients.

In the year an estimated 322,000 people went to A&E after suffering violence compared with 364,000 in 2006.

The report said this continued the downward trend seen since 2000.

"This A&E-based study does not shed light on the causes of these decreases," it said. "Potential reasons include more effective policing, stemming from reliance on more targeted approaches."

It added that violence had shown a "much greater decrease" in the second year after controversial round-the-clock drinking reforms were brought in than in the first 12 months.

The document warned that data on hospital admissions appeared to show a different trend to A&E figures.

Violence-related admissions from 2000 to 2005 had decreased in frequency but increased in severity, it said.

The experts gathered data from 29 A&E departments and then extrapolated the figures to national levels.

Kathy Evans of the Children's Society said: "This is of serious concern.

"It is a shocking reminder that, while many are preoccupied by violence perpetrated by children, we need to look at the violence the children are experiencing from a very early age, and how it influences them."

She added: "It is particular concern to see that this young age group was the only group to see an increase."

The NSPCC's head of child protection awareness Chris Cloke said: "The high number of children being treated at hospitals for violent injuries is deeply worrying.

"It's not clear why there appears to be a dramatic increase but we urge all hospital staff to be vigilant to possible cases of child abuse.

"This is why we are working closely with doctors and nurses to advise them on spotting deliberate injuries."

He added: "Hospitals and children's services need to work better together to identify children who have been deliberately injured and act to protect them.

"Sadly, violence against very young children is nothing new."

A Home Office spokesman said: "Any violent crime is intolerable particularly when it is directed against children.

"That is why the Government's recently published Tackling Violence Action Plan includes new resources for healthcare providers, local authorities and the police to share information to ensure that people at risk are protected and offenders are brought swiftly to justice.

"Violence makes up less than 1 per cent of all crime and the risk of being a victim of violence is extremely low.

"This report actually reveals a 12 per cent fall in violence last year and the British Crime Survey shows that violent crime has fallen by 31 per cent over the past 10 years. In 2008 our grip on violence will tighten further to ensure that this downward trend continues."

    Violent attacks on babies double, Ts, 24.4.2008, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/violent-attacks-on-babies-double-814862.html

13.15pm GMT

Police find

two more Jersey 'punishment rooms'

Tuesday March 25 2008
Guardian.co.uk
Claire Truscott and agencies
This article was first published on guardian.co.uk
on Tuesday March 25 2008.
It was last updated
at 13:21 on March 25 2008.

Two more "punishment rooms" have been found at the former Jersey children's home where police are investigating a major child abuse scandal.

The two secret underground chambers were found by forensic teams at Haut de la Garenne, the home where 100 people claim they were physically and sexually assaulted from the 1960s. Search teams have already excavated two other cellars at the site.

Victims said the chambers were "punishment rooms" where they were kept in solitary confinement and assaulted.

The buried remains of a child were found on February 23 during searches at the former children's home.

Jersey police said tests on those remains, which have been dated no earlier than 1920, are inconclusive and more will be carried out. Senior investigating officer Lenny Harper said: "We have now established that there are a further two rooms, and we have received evidence from another victim over the last few days which tells of abuse in one of these two new rooms.

"A number of items have been recovered from the cellar [rooms], which tend to corroborate the statements of victims."

Harper could not say what the items are as they may lose "evidential value" if the details are published.

Work will not start on excavating the third cellar until forensic teams finish in the second chamber.

So far one person has been charged in connection with alleged abuse at Haut de la Garenne.

The home's former warder, Gordon Claude Wateridge, has been charged with three offences of indecent assault on girls under 16 between 1969 and 1979.
The 76-year-old was remanded in custody and will next appear before St Helier magistrates on April 14.

The police inquiry is focused on Haut de la Garenne, but a number of other care facilities on Jersey are also being investigated.

Police believe there may be as many as 40 suspects in the inquiry.

Haut de la Garenne closed as a children's home in 1986.

    Police find two more Jersey 'punishment rooms', G, 25.3.2008, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/mar/25/hautdelagarenne.jersey.childabuse

After 24 days,

the sound of footsteps

then a policeman's shout:

'We've got her'

· Missing nine-year-old found in drawer of bed
in flat one mile from Dewsbury home
· 39-year-old 'loner' arrested on suspicion
of abduction as family celebrate discovery
 

Saturday March 15 2008
The Guardian
Paul Lewis, Martin Wainwright and Rachel Williams
This article appeared in the Guardian
on Saturday March 15 2008 on p4 of the Top stories section.
It was last updated at 01:46 on March 15 2008.

There were no sightings of Shannon Matthews, no fingerprints to work on or images of suspects. In the end, it was the sound of small footsteps through a ceiling that led police to the missing nine-year-old girl, hidden in an upstairs flat overlooking the former textile mills of Batley Carr.

At 12.30pm yesterday, four police vans converged on 26 Lidgate Gardens - less than a mile from Shannon's home - acting on a tip-off from a neighbour who had heard the shuffling above. Officers did not stop to ring or knock but battered in the blue door and ran upstairs.

At first the flat appeared empty, but neighbours told police that the owner - believed to be the uncle of the girl's stepfather - never left the flat without his car. The car was still parked outside.

Forcing their way into a bedroom they found Shannon hidden in the storage drawer of a divan bed. The man was reported to be in the bed's second drawer.

Minutes later, the girl emerged from the flat. Witnesses said she looked upset but calm, and was clinging to the neck of one of the officers. Another shouted: "We've got her." With those words West Yorkshire police brought to a close what they have described as the largest investigation of its kind since the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, and ended an agonising 24-day wait for the girl's family and friends.

"We knew right off it was Shannon," said David Hughes, 46, who saw the police operation. "I asked the copper though and he said: 'Yes, it's her and she's all right.'"

Moments later a thin, pasty-faced 39-year-old man was hustled from the house in handcuffs with officers half-dragging and half-carrying him. "He was refusing to walk - had his legs curled up behind him," Hughes said. "I started hurling abuse at him then, cos of all this time we've been waiting for Shannon."

The man was "whingeing and complaining and telling police 'You're hurting me, you're hurting me'," Hughes said.

Neighbours of the suspect, who was in custody last night and is thought to be connected to Shannon's extended family, said he appeared to live on his own and had been behaving normally recently.

Hughes had bumped into him before his dramatic arrest. "Just this morning he got out of his car down here with his shopping and I said 'Morning' and he said 'Morning' back."

Another neighbour, Ilyas Nurat, whose house looks across a slope towards the flat where Shannon was found, said the arrested man often behaved oddly.

Other neighbours said the man had two daughters aged 10 and 12, but had lost custody of them after splitting with his wife two years ago.

The father of an 11-year-old on the small estate, who gave his name as Sean, said: "My girl invited the two of them up to play out in our garden, but he wasn't having it. He used to keep a really strict eye on them - they'd go out to the shops and he'd be right behind them. They were always very well dressed and neat, and he was always with them."

Ashraf Dadiwallah who runs the local newsagent's on Upper Road, said of the arrested man: "He came in here regular to buy his paper, and there'd never been any sign of anything funny going on." His son Ibrahim, who delivers a paper every day to No 28, next door, said: "No one ever saw a little girl or anything like that. It's a complete surprise."

Until yesterday, Shannon had not been seen since 3.10pm on February 19, leaving school wearing pink furry boots. There had also been unconfirmed reports from schoolfriends that Shannon was seen elsewhere in the area. One suggested she had been sitting on a wall, in tears, clutching a plastic bag containing her swimming kit.

Last night a West Yorkshire police spokesman said Shannon was in protective custody having been made subject of an emergency police protection order. "This may be a long process, but throughout this inquiry our main focus has been and continues to be Shannon's welfare," he said. "This will remain in place until we have had time to establish the full facts of what happened in the time since her disappearance."

The search for Shannon was exhaustive; police scoured the council estate and surrounding moorland and combed through more than 2,000 homes.

Half of the UK's victim recovery dog teams had been dispatched to West Yorkshire to search for traces of blood. Detectives have contacted more than 1,000 known sex offenders within a 25-mile radius, and, from the outset, were open to the possibility that somebody close to Shannon could be responsible for her disappearance.

As hopes dwindled the spotlight turned on Shannon's family; the talk was of whether the girl's family - in particular her stepfather Craig Meehan - had any involvement in her disappearance.

Less than 24 hours before Shannon was found, her mother, Karen Matthews, seemed despondent. Sitting on her sofa, she leafed through the morning papers looking for pictures of her daughter. It was a daily routine she had stuck to ever since Shannon disappeared.

As she turned the page to pictures of her daughter's smiling face, she said: "It will be somebody who knows me really well. Otherwise she'd have been found by now."

Last week Karen Matthews' brother, mother and father heightened speculation after they said they wanted to "put on the record" their concerns about Meehan, 22. They said Shannon may have wanted to escape from Meehan, who they suggested had a history of harming the children.

Shannon's grandmother, June, 64, described an occasion when she found a grandchild crying at the top of the stairs. "I asked what had happened and the child said 'Craig, punch, punch, punch. He punched my belly'." Their comments put those close to her on the defensive. Karen Matthews said she was upset with her parents' intervention. Meehan, who was questioned by police, repeatedly denied harming his stepchildren and ruled out any involvement in Shannon's disappearance.

He told the Guardian: "If they get told off, they normally get sent to their bedrooms to calm down, then they're fine. We don't hit them, not like that, no. It's like they were saying in the papers - that on the Monday morning there was supposed to be a row between me and Shannon, that Monday morning. I was at work at five o'clock in the morning, so I don't see how that's possible. So we knew that were a lie from start off. My friends and family have all backed me up, and they know all the allegations were rubbish."

He added: "Basically I'm in the clear now - all my alibis were true. That Tuesday [when Shannon disappeared] I was in until the police officers came round. Then me, my brother-in law, my cousin and my mate went out searching. I live in this family - why would I want to do it for? I love Karen and I love the kids - everybody knows that. I know she's my stepdaughter. But I always treated her like my own flesh and blood."

Under the strain, the couple had stopped speaking to some reporters - a move which their supporters feared would damage publicity for campaign.

With little news from police, Karen Matthews and Meehan started pushing the theory that Shannon was abducted to get at them personally.

They talked about the idea that they were victims of some kind of vendetta. "They are waiting for us to split up, and then they'll release her," Karen said.

Meehan, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, agreed. "Seems that way: that somebody has took her to get back at us." But with a family feud erupting in public, it was the couple who appeared defensive. Shannon's uncle Neil, 36, who lived next door, said he was unsurprised the media tone had turned sour.

"It was like the sunshine before the storm: everybody was all sympathy and all that, at the start, and then it turns to finger wagging," he said.

Their campaign looked to be falling apart. Outside their window, a row of flowers donated by well-wishers were rotting into the rubbish-strewn lawn.

Neighbours, who stuck by the couple throughout the ordeal, had promised to replant the front garden with fresh flowers.

Hours before Shannon was found, Julie Bushby, chair of the estate's tenants' association and de facto leader of the missing Shannon appeal, promised that the local community would not flinch in the face of accusatory stories in the press. "I call it 'Shannon versus Maddie [McCann]' - they've tried that angle - hasn't bothered us. They tried the angle 'Let's have a go at Craig' - hasn't bothered the community. At the end of the day, we know Craig better than you lot do, and if you want to slag us off - I mean they've even slagged the community off - go for it. We'll rise above it - simple as."

There was a stoicism behind almost every door of the estate. The response to questions about the couple was almost always the same: this was, they said, not about the parents, but a missing little girl.

Most of the Dewsbury Moor estate was celebrating last night; a huge drift of ripped-up posters and leaflets swamped the play area outside the community centre.

"It's the best thing in the world," said Steve Cheshire, sharing beers with two friends, Rachel Hoodless and Gary Install, who had spent days searching for the missing schoolgirl with other local volunteers.

"We've made thousands of these posters and raised thousands of pounds too, which isn't easy for a community like this. But there's nothing better than being able to rip them all up and say: we don't need you any more. We've got her back."

Timeline

February 19 Shannon is seen leaving Westmoor Junior school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, at 3.10pm after swimming lessons. She is later reported missing by her mother, Karen Matthews.

Police launch an all-night search of the local area.

February 20 Karen Matthews, issues appeal for her daughter to return home. Posters distributed and posted around the neighbourhood. 200 officers and scores of local people spend a second night scouring gardens, parks and buildings.

Shannon's friends from school release a YouTube video appeal.

February 21 More than 250 officers and 60 detectives join the hunt. Several unconfirmed sightings, one of which is described as "significant". More than 200 houses within a half mile radius are searched.

School friends claim Shannon talked of running away, police reveal. She is described as vulnerable and certainly not "streetwise".

February 22 CCTV footage is released and photos of pink and grey Bratz boots Shannon was wearing when last seen.

Shannon's natural father, Leon Rose, says his daughter may have tried to get to his home in nearby Huddersfield.

February 23 Police dredge a pond behind Dewsbury hospital and search Dewsbury Moor.

February 24 Police focus on areas close to the family home.

February 25 50 specialist officers scour bins between Shannon's school and the family home.

February 26 2,000 houses searched, 1,500 motorists interviewed.

March 1 Karen Matthews makes an emotional Mother's Day appeal for daughter's return.

March 4 10% of Yorkshire police force is involved in the hunt - the biggest since the Yorkshire Ripper.

A composite fingerprint and DNA profile of Shannon is built up from school books and items in her bedroom.

Shannon's stepfather, Craig Meehan, denies any involvement in her disappearance.

March 5 Police release a tape of Karen Matthews' 999 emergency call.

March 11 Three weeks after her disappearance, police emphasise there will be no let-up in the operation. Half the UK's specialist search dogs are involved in the hunt.

March 12 Shannon's mother says on radio that she believes someone she knows has snatched her daughter to hurt her.

March 14 Shannon is found alive in flat in Batley Carr, a mile from the family home.

    After 24 days, the sound of footsteps then a policeman's shout: 'We've got her', G, 15.3.2008, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/mar/15/ukcrime

5.45pm GMT update

Jersey police enter new secret chamber

in children's home abuse inquiry

Monday March 10 2008
Guardian.co.uk
David Batty
This article was first published
on guardian.co.uk on Monday March 10 2008.
It was last updated
at 17:48 on March 10 2008.
 

Detectives investigating allegations of child torture and sexual abuse in Jersey today broke into a second underground chamber at a former children's home.

A sniffer dog will be sent in to search for signs of human remains and blood in the bricked-up room under the Haut de la Garenne home, where a child's skull was unearthed two weeks ago.

A police spokesman said: "We have accessed the second room and are preparing to enter."

It is thought the second room is up to three times the size of the first chamber, which officers broke into on February 27.

The development came as the island's police said former officers are trying to discredit the child abuse investigation.

The force said several former officers who had left in recent years following corruption allegations were conducting a smear campaign to rubbish detectives leading the inquiry.

More than 160 people have claimed they were beaten, drugged and raped at the home from the 1960s to the 1980s.

A Jersey police spokeswoman said a letter or email had been sent to a number of national newspapers aimed at discrediting the inquiry.

She said a former officer had also approached a politician connected with the child abuse allegations and warned him not to trust or cooperate with detectives leading the inquiry.

"We would emphasise that there is at present no evidence to suggest that these officers were involved in any so-called 'cover-up' of former offences of the type being investigated," she said.

"The focus of the inquiry team remains the detection of people who have committed offences against children and we will not be deflected from this."

She said no current Jersey ministers were thought to be involved in the smear campaign.

Last week the detective leading the inquiry, deputy police chief Lenny Harper, said he was considering suing the island's health and social services minister, Ben Shenton, for an email in which the politician referred to him as "Lenny Henry". Harper said the email was a "clear attempt to damage the inquiry".

The intensive search of the Haut de la Garenne home and its grounds began after a child's skull was found more than two weeks ago.

Police believe there is a network of four secret rooms at the home but have struggled to access the bricked-up chambers.

Fragments of bone, blood spots and graffiti reading "I've been bad for years and years" were found in the first hidden chamber.

Police are still awaiting tests on the bone and blood samples to help them trace and date the finds.

Investigators apparently expect to make three arrests within a fortnight - two on Jersey and one on the mainland UK.

Harper told the Sunday Telegraph police were concerned that one incident could have led to the death of a child.

"We have a particularly graphic account of an incident which still causes us concern," he said.

"We can't say that a person definitely died, but if you look at it you have to think there is a strong possibility that the person died … this person was never seen again."

    Jersey police enter new secret chamber in children's home abuse inquiry, G, 10.3.2008, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/mar/10/ukcrime.childprotection

1pm GMT

3,000 women a year

forced into marriage in UK,

study finds

Saturday March 8 2008
Guardian.co.uk
Jo Revill and Anushka Asthana
This article was first published
on guardian.co.uk on Saturday March 08 2008.
It was last updated at 14:43 on March 08 2008.

At least 3,000 young women in Britain are the victims of forced marriages each year, with the scale of the problem far bigger than originally thought, according to a groundbreaking report out this week.

The first study ever conducted in the UK into the prevalence of the custom shows that there are far more victims, spread across different ethnic minority communities, than official figures suggest.

Teachers should be given a key role in talking confidentially to young girls whom they believe may be at risk of being coerced into marriages, particularly if there is suspicion that an older sister has been married off against her will, the report recommends.

But there also needs to be more determined effort within communities to end the practice, so that forced marriages become a matter of shame and humiliation for parents, instead of being a matter of pride.

The Home Office-funded study calls on authorities to take the institution more seriously, so that it is treated as an issue of illegality, domestic violence and bullying.

The study, which looked at cases in Luton, a town with a large south Asian community, found at least 300 cases where victims had contacted community organisations. Yet the government's forced marriage unit, set up to tackle the problem three years ago, handles only 300 cases a year nationwide.

The report concludes that at least 10 times that number, and possibly far more that, are taking place, without any agencies ever finding out, although forced marriages are illegal under British law.

The government has ordered a national count of missing schoolgirls amid fears that hundreds have been forced into marriage, or are living in fear of so-called "honour" violence.

Researcher Nazia Khanum, who carried out the study, said: "There is this wall of silence around forced marriages.

"Of course, there are thousands of arranged marriages happening in Britain each year but that is very different, as both partners in these are willing participants.

"We are talking about girls being very much coerced into those marriages, often not knowing beforehand who their husbands will be, and then having little or no rights once they are married. Most of them feel there is simply no one they can turn to.'

Labour MP Margaret Moran, who helped set up the study in her constituency of Luton South, said she was shocked by the scale of abuse which they had uncovered. "It's uncomfortable for people to think about, but it can't remain this hidden any longer.

"It's not simply about Muslim families; we also found that it happens among Chinese and African communities too, such as the Somali families. Nor is it something that comes across with new immigrants.

"Many of these women were third-generation British and it is just a custom that is being handed down between the ages. It is something that causes enormous grief and now has to be seen for what it is: a form of bullying, often resulting in violence and great damage."

The report has discovered that sometimes brides are being forced into marriages with men who are severely disabled, and whom they have never met before. There are particular concerns about the women who are brought up outside the UK, are married overseas and then brought into the country as brides.

Many women then find themselves "subjugated into the in-laws' family culture" which can be a traumatic experience.

Some girls are married off when they are just 16, and even if they want to go into higher education, it almost certainly means the end of their schooling.

Shaminder Ubhi, the director of the Ashiana Project, which provides refuge to south Asian, Turkish and Iranian women, said in response to the report: "Certainly we agree that forced marriage, at a basic level, is an abuse of human rights. It can affect girls as young as 14, 15 and 16 years old and can involve emotional coercion, forced imprisonment, violence and in the extreme, murder.

"It is an abuse of women."

    3,000 women a year forced into marriage in UK, study finds, G, 8.3.2008, http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/mar/08/religion

3.45pm GMT update

No more human remains

found at Jersey home,

say police

Monday March 3 2008
Guardian.co.uk
David Batty, Ian Cobain and agencies
This article was first published on guardian.co.uk
on Monday March 03 2008.
It was last updated
at 15:43 on March 03 2008.

Police investigating a former children's home in Jersey where a child's skull was unearthed nine days ago said today that no further human remains had been identified at the site.

The deputy chief officer of Jersey police, Lenny Harper, said an anthropologist who examined the remains excavated from the home at Haut de la Garenne believed most of the bones were animal.

But he said a sniffer dog specially trained to find human remains had given a strong reaction to some of the items uncovered.

Harper, the detective leading the investigation, said: "We continued to excavate the first site at the house and have taken out a few items. It is too early to say what the significance of those are. They're possibly pieces of bone."

The officer said the investigation could go on for another four weeks, but he was not in a position to say when the next arrests would be made. Only one person who worked at the home has been charged.

Police have compiled a list of 40 suspects, many of whom worked at Haut de la Garenne, after talking to more than 160 alleged victims and several dozen witnesses.

Among the suspects are people who had "some official connection with the Jersey establishment", according to the island's chief police officer, Graham Power.

Detectives are understood to be keeping a watch on ports and airport for suspects leaving the island.

Police say they have reason to believe a former care worker at Haut de la Garenne has threatened a former resident to try to dissuade him from cooperating with the police investigation.

Harper warned that anyone attempting to pervert the course of justice would be committing a "serious criminal offence", and added: "This is a stark warning - we will not tolerate it."

A former care worker at the home today told how she saw young residents "absolutely ice cold and frozen with fear".

Christine Bowker, a former volunteer at the home at Haut de la Garenne in the early 1970s, said she left due to the conduct of some of the staff but was met with a "wall of silence" when she tried to raise concerns.

Bowker described some staff at the home as "very rigid and very controlled".
"They had no civil contact with me whatsoever, and watched me very carefully with the children," she said.

"And if the children relaxed at all or responded to my affection, they glared at the children and they glared at me, then the children just went back into their shells."

Bowker told BBC News 24 that she was "in total shock" that the allegations of physical and sexual abuse were emerging.

She said: "I left in distress and abuse I received from some of the staff... I couldn't get anybody to listen to the problem. Nobody would listen. There was just a wall of silence.

"I mentioned it to some of the people in Jersey. Everybody covered everything. The attitude was really nice people managed by the state, we get decent people to run things.

"I didn't say anything to the staff because I knew something was going on which I couldn't quite put my finger on."

Police confirmed yesterday that one individual against whom serious allegations have been made is Wilfred Krichefski, a business leader and politician who died in 1974.

Officers are understood to have spoken to at least one former resident who claims to have been repeatedly raped by Krichefski at Haut de la Garenne in the early 1960s.

Police sources disclosed yesterday that officers had been monitoring some islanders' use of child pornography websites for up to 12 months before the existence of the operation was made public in November.

Although police kept the inquiry secret for a year, there have been rumours on the island about abuses at Haut de la Garenne for a generation or more.

The Rev Lawrence Turner, the Anglican vicar of St Martin's, the parish within which the home lies, says he first heard whispers about physical abuse shortly after arriving in the area in the mid-60s.

He was told of a number of specific incidents by a senior figure within his parish and advised the man to contact the authorities. "Either he didn't tell them, or he was ignored. That is the bad part; that is the thing we all have to live with," he said.

Photographs of the cellar that is being searched, released yesterday, show a low bath or cattle trough that is said to feature in a number of statements taken from abuse victims. Many have talked of being held in the cellar.

One photograph shows a pillar supporting the ceiling on which someone has scrawled "Ive been sad 4 years & years".

The pictures also show the dirty, rubble-strewn conditions in which police teams are slowly searching, not only for any human remains but also for other pieces of evidence.

Officers have discovered there may be as many as four rooms beneath one wing of the 140-year-old building, and suspect there may be other cellars that will need to be examined. However, it is thought that shackles found in a cellar last month may have been used to restrain livestock and may have played no part in the abuse.

While many of the crimes being examined date back to the early 60s, others took place in recent years and one was allegedly committed a few weeks before Christmas, it emerged yesterday.

It is unclear where that offence is said to have taken place. The home at Haut de la Garenne closed in 1986, but officers are investigating allegations of abuse at other institutions on Jersey.

A spokeswoman for the island's government declined to identify the institution yesterday but indicated that a member of staff had been suspended.

Police think it may be another 12 months before the investigation is completed. An extra 12 detectives from the mainland joined the team today.

    No more human remains found at Jersey home, say police, G, 3.3.2008, http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/mar/03/childprotection

Jersey 'punishment room' pictures

show haunting message


March 3, 2008
From Times Online
David Byers and agencies

The first picture of a "punishment room" at a former children's home at the centre of a major child abuse investigation has revealed a haunting message written on the wall.

On a wooden post against the wall of a secret chamber under Haut de la Garenne, in Jersey, was written the message: "I've been bad for years and years." The picture also appears to reveal a large, concrete bath.

Police have excavated one underground chamber at the former home, which until recently been used as a youth hostel, and believe there could be three more.

Today Lenny Harper, the deputy chief constable of Jersey Police, said officers did not know where the message came from. "We have no idea how long it has been there, or who wrote it," he said.

The chamber has been described by victims as a punishment room where they were physically and sexually assaulted and kept in solitary confinement. Police have not confirmed reports that staff at the home would put up to 25 children in freezing water in the bath.

Officers have been searching Haut de la Garenne since forensic teams found a child’s skull in the north west corner of the building on Saturday, February 23, and more than 160 people have since come forward to claim that they were abused while staying there.

The allegations of physical and sexual abuse go back 40 years, and there are 40 suspects in the inquiry.

As the pictures were released, a former volunteer at the home spoke of encountering children who were "frozen with fear," and said she had been met with a "wall of silence" when she tried to raise concerns.

Christine Bowker said that worked at Haut de la Garenne in the early 1970s before leaving due to concerns at the conduct of some of the staff, who she described as "ice cold".

"They had no civil contact with me whatsoever, and watched me very carefully with the children," she said.

"And if the children relaxed at all or responded to my affection, they glared at the children and they glared at me, then the children just went back into their shells."

She told BBC News 24 that she tried to raise concerns about the atmosphere she encountered at the home after leaving, but was obstructed when she tried to do so.

"When I left... and I left in distress and abuse I received from some of the staff... I couldn’t get anybody to listen to the problem," she said.

"Nobody would listen. There was just a wall of silence. I didn’t say anything to the staff because I knew something was going on which I couldn’t quite put my finger on."

Victims have claimed physical and sexual abuse was "rife" at the former home, which was used for orphans and children with behavioural problems.

It has been claimed that the abuse, the majority of which is understood to have taken place in the 1970s and 1980s, involved staff sexually assaulting boys and girls.

Extra support has been brought in to help the growing police inquiry, after more than 70 victims came forward in the last week and an extra 12 detectives started work today.

Giving the latest press conference outside the home this afternoon, Mr Harper said that several unidentified items had been found in searches so far, and that these had been taken away for examination. He added that bones had also been found, but that they were not human.

"It is too early to say what the significance of those (items discovered) are, but we are going to look at those and are sending them away for further examination," he said.

The deputy chief constable added that it would probably be the end of the week until officers reached the second room.

    Jersey 'punishment room' pictures show haunting message, Ts O, 3.3.2008, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3476811.ece

Police to extend

their search of punishment pits

at Jersey care home

March 3, 2008
From The Times
David Brown

Police are preparing to hunt for a second network of cellars at a Jersey children’s home at the centre of allegations of sexual and physical abuse.

Specialist search teams hope this week to complete their examination of an underground room they found at the Haut de la Garenne home in which former residents claim to have been brutalised.

The activities of more than 40 suspects are being monitored by police as detectives confirmed they had received complaints of abuse that allegedly took place only months ago.

A police spokesman said: “There was an offence committed late last year which is being dealt with. It is not related to offences committed at [Haut de la Garenne].”

Investigations into claims of abuse started in 2003 when a former resident of Haut de la Garenne, which closed in 1986, was convicted of blackmailing a care worker by threatening to expose him as a paedophile.

The investigation has been widened to include the island’s Greenfields Secure Unit and the Sea Cadet force which used Haut de la Garenne. More than 200 alleged victims and witnesses have contacted police about alleged abuse from the 1960s to 1986.

The first underground chamber to be uncovered at Haut de la Garenne is a 12ft square room containing a 5ft-deep communal bath. A pair of shackles were also found in the room.

Detectives exploring the cellar hope later this week to break through to an adjoining chamber which has a bricked-up doorway.

Former residents have told detectives that the cellar complex, referred to as “Baintree”, was used to punish misbehaving children. Victims have described being lowered into a “deep, dark pit” where they were left with other children in a large bath of cold water before being abused by care workers and outsiders.

Police believe that a similar-sized underground complex could also exist in Haut de la Garenne’s north wing, close to where a piece of child’s skull was discovered last month. Detectives are reviewing the discovery of other bones at the spot in 2003 which were thought to have come from an animal.

They will also investigate an underground storage area close to the building’s swimming pool and two 3m-deep pits in the courtyard. Detention cells in which former residents claim that they were abused in the main building will be examined as well as the newer Aviemore wing.

A leading member of Jersey’s political establishment was confirmed by police yesterday as among those named as an abuser. Wilfred Krichefski, a senator in Jersey’s government and chairman of several committees, allegedly regularly visited Haut de la Garenne to abuse boys until his death in 1974. Living members of the island’s establishment, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have also been identified as suspects.

One former resident has claimed he was repeatedly raped at the children’s home by Krichefski between 1962 and 1963. The man, now in his late 50s and living in the West Midlands, said that every month he and another boy would be taken into a back room at the home and abused by two men.

The former resident said he would be woken by a care worker with the words, “There is someone here to see you.” The only person he told about the abuse was a psychiatrist who told him he would be placed in a mental hospital if he repeated the allegations.

Police to extend their search of punishment pits at Jersey care home, Ts O, 3.3.2008, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3471765.ece