Ignore, Spin or Just Make Outlandish Statements the Jersey Way

I am flabbergasted by the series of absurd media stories coming out about Jersey, the past few days. In the wake of Walker and Warcup’s pressers, it seems the outlandish has been ratcheted up.

Harper and Graham were out of control - how did this happen?

3 separate reports from the independent Association of Chief Officers, ACOP, were issued regarding the Haut de la Garenne investigation. They were pleased with the way the investigation was being handled. Suggestions they offered were quickly put in place and the ACOP commented they had never seen recommendations acted on so quickly.

In their trashing and bashing of the investigation and evidence, Warcup and Walker conveniently made no mention of the ACOP reports.

So, the evidence painstakingly gathered by a team of professionals and reviewed by the APOC is just trash and “in tatters”?

It’s apparent to me who the rogue agents are here!

Eddie the sniffer dog - it’s his fault and Lenny will be the reason for no convictions!

The Daily Mail: In any event, what is now clear is that the fiasco goes back to the beginning, with Mr Harper's sudden and dramatic announcement on February 23 about finding the remains of a child, along with the claim that Eddie the sniffer dog - the very same beast that had already caused the parents of Madeleine McCann months of unjustified misery by finding the 'scent of death' in their Portugal apartment - had identified six further sites where children might lie buried.

Two trials of alleged abusers are pending.

'The fear is that Lenny's behaviour will make it impossible to get convictions,' one senior Jersey legal source said. 'Instead of obtaining justice for the victims, he may have weakened their prospects of getting it.'

Darn that cute little Eddie – he just can’t be trusted! Or, maybe Eddie is a secret agent!

One has to ask, has Jersey now set the stage to dump any and all prosecutions? Lame excuse - blaming that on Harper. The judiciary has not moved several files in many, many months. There are at least 18 individuals under investigation.

Senator Wendy Kinnard has resigned so lets trash her also!

This Is Jersey: Yesterday’s revelations have raised fresh questions about the timing of her departure. On 21 October she made a statement to the States that she was stepping down ‘on a point of moral conscience and principle’. She said at the time that her decision to go was based on a refusal by the Council of Ministers to discuss a change in the way that judges instructed juries over uncorroborated evidence.

At the time her resignation raised eyebrows among her political colleagues, who found it difficult to believe that she would stand down so quickly and over such a matter. They and others are now asking whether she was looking for an excuse to leave office to avoid taking responsibility for the way the historical child abuse inquiry had been handled.

Home Affairs Minister Andrew Lewis suggested that the actions of Senator Kinnard would be a feature of the inquiry into how things got so out of control. ‘The public deserves to find out why, and that is why we are conducting an investigation,’ he said. ‘We are reviewing the actions of the chief of police. The actions of everyone will be subject to inquiry.’

Hmmm Wendy, Lenny, Graham and Eddie all seem to be in cahoots!

Forget what the Howard League Report says - we need tougher punishment for children!

"Howard League Report 'Naive'

The man who wants to be Jersey’s next Home Affairs Minister has criticised a report into the island’s youth justice system.

Senator-elect Ian Le Marquand says calls to stop locking up children are naive.

The former magistrate has been giving Channel 103 his response to the Howard League for Penal Reform’s findings.

He thinks punishments need to be tougher. He’s been complaining for years that existing provisions are not strong enough and the courts have no effective enforceable punishment for children under 15.

"We’re getting groups of youngsters who consider themselves absolutely untouchable under law who just carried on offending and offending and the courts could do absolutely nothing about it."

" I want to go in the opposite direction - but in a controlled and measured way."

Yikes, what the hell is, “a controlled and measured way?" Perhaps the scary Mr. Le Marquand skipped over this part of the report -

8.3 The proportion of children in Jersey remanded to custody (80%) is very high. In England and Wales, the remand proportion is typically 20% or just over. It is likely that the extraordinarily high remand proportion is related to the lack of legal framework for remands, alluded to at para 2.17.

8.4 In relation to Jersey’s small population, the juvenile custody rate of the island is unacceptably high.

Or, maybe Le Marquand should just lock-up all Jersey children – till they reach adulthood. Problem solved, no?

Am I done yet?

Not nearly!