Asylum For The Senator

As you may remember, the Senator was arrested in April under the Jersey’s data protection laws after he published details of a police investigation into a registered nurse which he believed showed that the person remained a danger to the public and had been ignored by the authorities.

It’s been an interesting few weeks following Stuart Syvret!

We must begin back on October 21 when he authored the following e-mail to the judiciary:

From: Stuart Syvret

Sent: 21 October 2009 14:00

To: David Le Heuze; 'Stephen Baker'; Jonathan Bertram; William Redgrave

Cc: William Bailhache

Subject: Forgetfulness.

Importance: High.

Dear Mr. Le Heuze, Advocate Baker, Mr. Bertram, Mr. Redgrave

I do apologise. You know, these exercises are so complex and demanding, the most obvious of things can escape one's mind!

I can't actually be in court at 2.00 pm this afternoon - as I'm in London - where I have come to seek and secure some heavyweight legal advice. Who knows - perhaps some expertise that might even approach Advocate Baker's mastery of the subject?

Naturally, the people I'm hoping to secure advice from are very learned and very busy, so it has taken longer than I expected. Oh - I nearly forgot - I am also discussing the case with a number of Members of Parliament.

But - as this afternoon's event is merely a directions hearing, there isn't actually a specific requirement for the accused to be present.

Not - frankly - that it would make one atom of difference if I were present; Advocate Baker and the Jersey judiciary are going to undertake the extraordinary and unprecedented step of having the extant - and previously un-resisted defence case - that of public interest disclosure, based upon the catastrophic failure of the 1999 investigation into "Nurse M" - suddenly ruled "inadmissible" - because Advocate Baker and his Jersey oligarchy paymasters simply have no answer to the defence case - whatsoever.

Oh - silly me! I nearly forgot another reason for my presence in London. I'm in the process of finalising my legal action for personal damages against UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw, which I will have served in the next few days. After all, Mr. Straw himself has accepted, on-the-record, that he does carry responsibility for good governance and the proper administration of justice in the Crown Dependencies.

As I'm sure you'll recognise - he has very badly failed to carry out those duties - in a number of cases - not merely mine. For example - there can't be many places in the world that won't prosecute a child battering maniac - preferring instead to leave him in charge of the Education Department.

But, I imagine, such decisions free-up resources to enable the very obviously necessary prosecution of an elected representative of the people of Jersey - for trying to stop their grandmothers getting murdered.

Once again - do please accept my apologies for forgetting to alert you to my absence earlier.

After all - we can all be very forgetful about the most obvious of things - can't we?

For example like a judge turning up to hear a case - and having to borrow the relevant law book from the accused.

Or - oh so easily - the prosecution lawyer, allowing it to escape his mind that - in fact - he was aware of very significant items of evidence relevant to the defence - so didn’t declare or disclose them.

Fortunately, I was able to prompt Advocate Baker and remind him of the existence of that evidence, which he was then able to remember - for example - the fact that Mick Gradwell spent over half his time in Jersey doing nothing except “investigate” me and Lenny Harper.

And that Gradwell had two full-time cops - Mark Cane and Julia Jackson - doing nothing except investigate me - at the behest of Bill Bailhache - in a desperate search for something - anything - that could be used to side-track and discredit me.

You see - even though such evidenced facts are plainly of the most central importance to my abuse of process application - the prosecution unfortunately forgot about them.

It's easily done, I'll concede.

Indeed - why - only this morning I was e-mailed two further items of evidence - which the prosecution had forgotten - hitherto - to make me aware of - let alone disclose.

But - we're all forgetful, once in a while - don't you agree?

So once again, please accept my apologies for forgetting to alert you earlier to my absence.

See you in court next time.

Regards.

Stuart.

OK, yes it was sarcastic and cocky, but consider the incredible frustration Stuart has had to deal with; what with all the dirty tricks and illegal cover-ups and perversion of justice perpetrated by the powers in Jersey, that he has uncovered.

Well as expected, the oligarchy went further insane and on the very same day, the legislature repealed the Human Rights (Jersey) Law 2000! Wait, it gets better and as Stuart says, “you can’t make this stuff up!” By that afternoon it had become a criminal offense not to turn up to a court hearing that one didn’t have to turn up to and an arrest warrant has been issued for Senator Stuart Syvret for contempt of court by Jersey's Magistrate's Court.

British Liberal Democrat MP, John Hemming, offered Stuart sanctuary. Hemming has informed Jersey authorities that any attempt to extradite Syvret will be done “over his dead body!”

“He is staying at my London flat as my guest and they can arrest him over my dead body,” Mr. Hemming said. “He is a brave and principled politician, but the authorities are prosecuting him rather than investigating the allegations about the nurse. We should not allow him to be prosecuted in a kangaroo court.”

Love him or hate him, the Senator firmly believes in his convictions and principles and I respect his doggedness and determination!

On the other hand, when will the powers that be in Jersey finally realize that the rest of us have figured out their motives? Game up!

Senator Stuart Syvret Blog

Channel Television

The Independent

The Telegraph

Lenny Harper and Irresponsible MSM

On Sunday I ran Lenny Unleashed – The Jersey Way which contained excerpts from Lenny’s lengthy, yet extremely well written, detailed response to the recent incessant lies being published and broadcast about him personally, as well as the Haut de la Garenne investigation. The complete response by Mr. Harper can be found on Senator Syvret’s blog, LENNY HARPER’S GUEST POSTING.

Usually after I have run a story about the Jersey child abuse scandal I am often asked, “where is the media in all this?”

Precisely!

Nobody is acknowledging Lenny’s countering of the lies the mainstream media (MSM) has so irresponsibly put out there to the public.

We all know to count The Rag (JEP) out – they print only what the establishment directs them to. Yup, real journalism at it’s best!

BBC basically indicated that blogs can’t be counted on as accurate sources and said Lenny would have to contact them directly to confirm he, did indeed, pen the response. Hmmm, maybe they should have confirmed the stack of lies spoon-fed to them by Mick Gradwell.

Understand; Lenny has provided all this information to numerous local and national outlets, so BBC knows damn well, it was written by Lenny. Seriously, who other than Lenny would have the knowledge and documentation –dates, times, places, names - to write such a detailed rebuttal?

Well, here it is, Tuesday and the media still hasn’t picked up on Lenny’s rebuttal posted on Saturday. Hell, even Stuart Syvret contacted them and has yet to receive a response.

We did however see a very powerful video today: Carrie Modral’s emotionally stirring statement was televised and may be seen on channelonline.tv.

Transcript

Victims speak out

The Jersey Careleavers have spoken out about the effect the historic abuse inquiry has had on their lives.

Careleavers spokesperson Carrie Modral says victims feel like they're being abused all over again.

She says all the victims want is justice. And they have been left confused and distressed by the way the inquiry has been run.

The Jersey Careleavers statement in full, reads:

"For the past 2 years or so the people of Jersey have lived with the horrors of the unfolding story of Haut de la Garenne and related matters. We, on the other hand, the so called “victims of historic child abuse” have lived with the horrors for decades.

We are a group of people only because we all share a similar dreadful experience. We were all innocent children but we are as different from one another as any other people in society. We all had our own individual characters, ambitions and abilities.

Some of us have survived our experience better than others. Some have found happiness with our own families but some have found personal relationships impossible to achieve. Others sadly have succumbed to despair. But, we were all damaged in some way as a result of the abuse that we suffered whilst in the care of the States of Jersey.

When the States of Jersey Police announced 2 years ago that investigations were being commenced into child abuse allegations at various care homes, we responded with some reluctance to the call to come forward with our testimonies.

Many of us have tried to make complaints to officials about our abuse in the past, but have not been believed or have been further humiliated or worse. To re-live the experiences of our childhood abuse, even amongst family and friends, is an extremely stressful experience and it is not something that we undertake with any enthusiasm.

Nevertheless, we were given every assurance by Lenny Harper and his Police team that our experiences would be treated seriously and would be properly investigated and so far as we are aware, the investigations by Lenny Harper and his team were carried out with care and sympathetically.

We had no reason at all to believe that the Jersey Police were not managing our cases in a professional manner. We were at all times kept informed of the progress of our individual cases and we were led to believe that those who had abused us would be prosecuted where ever possible. We had no complaints about our treatment by the States of Jersey Police whilst Lenny Harper was in charge of the investigations.

However, since Lenny Harper retired, we have found that the States of Jersey Police have consistently failed to communicate directly with us, or to keep us informed of progress on our individual cases or the investigation in general.

On the contrary, we have repeatedly discovered through the media that the standards of Police conduct are hotly disputed; that there are allegations of incompetence and malpractice and such information has not been the result of casual rumour, but the deliberate outpourings of the most Senior Police Officers themselves. And most of us have learned, by the same means that more and more cases have been abandoned and that now, only one or two prosecutions only might yet be initiated, but we do not know which these might be, if any. There have only been three cases taken to Court to date, all of which came back with a guilty verdict and all as a result of the work carried out by Lenny Harper and his team.

During the past 2 years we have had the most private and painful details of our lives broadcast world-wide. These details have been discussed, analysed, argued and fought over, in public, by police officers, politicians, lawyers, journalists and every Tom, Dick or Harry. Our emotions have been mangled. Our dignity stripped bare and our reputations and motivations called into question. We did not and do not deserve such treatment.

During the past two weeks the public of Jersey has been exposed to a barrage of information via the Jersey media from, and interviews with, retiring police officer Gradwell which has totally rubbished the credibility of the entire investigation carried out by Lenny Harper and his team. In addition, the public have been told that the enormous expenditure is not justified.

All this has taken place in an Island where the Chief of Police is suspended from duty for reasons which have not been made public and our Political and Judicial heads seem to take every opportunity to discredit us, our complaints or the manner in which these have been dealt with. Yet, nobody made any official attempt to prior warn us that these things were likely to happen or that our cases might have been handled with such incompetence. Nobody has offered us even the hint of an apology that such things have been allowed to happen. They should all hang their heads in shame.

Once again, we who were abused as children and at every turn when we sought help have been treated with contempt by the Jersey Police and other island authorities. We have been humiliated yet again and are now presented in the public mind as the cause of many problems whereas we are, in fact the totally innocent victims.

Now, the investigation is in disarray. But our lives are more damaged than they were 2 years ago because we have dared to trust in the Jersey Judicial system and to cooperate with the Jersey Police, we are being abused all over again.

We are reluctant to offer any public statement on these matters because every word that is uttered only adds to our grief and the discontent among our families and friends. We are also aware that enquiries still continue and we do not want to say anything that could harm these cases.

But we want the public of Jersey to understand that we did not wish for any of these things to happen. We have only sought to achieve justice for the wrongs committed against us when we were children whist in the care of the States of Jersey and we have been let down very, very badly, all over again.

May God forgive you."

Lenny Unleashed - The Jersey Way

~Lenny Harper

Its been going on – mostly behind closed doors - for several years. Since Lenny Harper’s retirement and departure from Jersey, the politicos, and media have - in a very public way - attempted to tarnish and denigrate Lenny Harper and his team regarding the child abuse investigation, specifically Haut de la Garenne.

While those of us who have followed this scandal have watched these shenanigans, spin doctoring, and well ok, the spewing of out-and-out lies, the assaults began to take on a shocking intensity and frequency as the Gordon Wateridge case got under way.

So, that begs the question WHY?

WHY did the ‘faux’ journalist, Diane Simon – a disgrace to journalists, worldwide – write totally false and misleading information about Lenny and the investigation? And, least we forget Mr. Harper has addressed the issues directly with her and by email on several occasions.

WHY does The Rag editor, Chris Bright allow such tripe to run in his paper? Has the JEP never heard of investigative reporting? Verifying sources? Unbiased Journalism? Oh wait - the only paper on the island is a government puppet.

WHY do Mick Gradwell and David Warcup obviously go out of their way to tarnish the investigation and call into question Mr. Harper’s integrity? Mick Gradwell, in a recent flurry of activity, has suddenly shown up in print and on local TV to specifically trash, and well ok, spew out-and-out lies about Lenny and the investigation. How ironic that Gradwell chose to blatantly proffer his rubbish just as he retired and left the island - to avoid questioning by responsible journalists?

WHY did and does the Jersey government, continue to interfere with the investigation?

Lenny has responded to the claims and assertions on Senator Stuart Syvert’s blog – not much sense responding to The Rag now, is there?

Some bits and pieces:

Ms. Simon and officers Warcup and Gradwell seem to be saying that I became a really bad cop “overnight.”

I do not know a lot about Mr. Warcup or the now retired Mr. Gradwell.

I do not know the extent of Mr. Warcup’s practical experience…

However, I do know that he has admitted destroying evidence in the abuse case - which perhaps does give some clue as to his motivation or professional judgment.

Haut de la Garenne a waste of time and money:

The attention seeking headline in the Gradwell article was that the operation at Haut de la Garenne was “a waste of time and money.” According to Mr. Gradwell, as reported in the JEP, the decision to excavate was made without hard evidence or intelligence. Up until then, he said, the enquiry was being run “essentially along UK lines.” Okay – if I understand him then, we were doing OK until we decided to excavate HDLG. It follows then that he would not have done so. He would have ignored all that we found and walked away. Here again are the (much repeated) reasons why we excavated - in chronological sequence.

There was evidence from one witness that a child had been chased by a member of staff through an upper floor corridor and in desperation had leapt out of a high window. The child had not been seen again. We had non-specific information from a number of witnesses that they had witnessed children being dragged away at night and not being seen again. There was intelligence of illegal forced abortion and of a stillborn child.

I found all of this highly alarming and worrying but I did not consider at that stage that it warranted a full excavation of HDLG. (This is an important point, because after speaking to Gradwell and Warcup, the Met Police accused me of ordering the excavation on the evidence of a few “disturbed” people.

I arranged to go to the UK to meet experts who would be well qualified to advise us on the way forward.

The decision made at this meeting was that we should carry out an initial reconnaissance of the site over a short period to seek to clarify a number of objectives. It was decided that we would deploy several different assets, to be deployed in a “systematic fashion using best value and best practice guidelines.” In simple terms, we wanted to establish if there was anything there which would need further investigation - or if we could “walk away” from it -without further investigation.

Evidence and reports disappear:

…during this process that builders who had worked on the site told us that a few years before they had found bones they were convinced were human but had been told to ‘forget them’ and “let bygones be bygones.” (Eventually these bones were examined by a Jersey Pathologist after police had called her to the home. She told the officer “I don’t like the look of this,” but was later to say she could not remember making that comment. She was “not saying it wasn’t made, but just couldn’t remember it.” She took the bones to her boss whose extremely short (five lines) report said the bones were too large to be human but also stated that one of the bones “could not identified.” He gave the measurements of the bones and our anthropologist took issue with his findings saying that the size of the bone concerned was within the size range of a child. Unfortunately the bones were destroyed by the pathologist without being examined by an anthropologist. Our advice was that they should have been so examined as the pathologist was not qualified to rule on whether or not they were human. The builders told us that they had found two child’s shoes with the bones. The pathologist told us that he had sent them for examination and had been told they were Victorian. The person he said he sent them to remembered no such incident. Unfortunately the shoes too had been destroyed and were unavailable to us.

Lenny was wrong when he claimed there was murder:

Messrs Gradwell and Warcup said there was no evidence of murder and that my team was wrong to say there was. They are not telling the truth, deliberately or otherwise - because I had never said there was evidence of murder - only evidence that there was something that needed investigation.

There are many, many examples of what I did, actually say, to be found still. Check the BBC News website on 31st July 2008. Read David James Smith’s excellent article in the Sunday Times. (Reproduced in Stuart Syvret’s blog on Sunday, 10th May, 2009). They all state - clearly and unequivocally - that I was saying ‘we did not have evidence of murder’.

We think we know how the bones ended up where we found them, and that was expertly laid out by Karl Harrison in his Archaeological Theory of the Burnt Debris including Human Bone Fragments and teeth found in the East wing. We included his report in the document we posted on our website. Strangely enough when the Sunday Times journalist David James Smith attempted to access this document it had been removed under Warcup’s leadership. David James Smith was told by the Press Officer that there had been a problem with the computer. Of course there was!

Gradwell inherited a mess from Lenny:

Mr. Gradwell says he inherited an ill managed mess, that there were no proper papers left behind. Here, he is in conflict with the ACPO Review team, who said, in their report, the policy books were properly kept and maintained.

Three convictions:

Which brings me to another very inconvenient fact for Mr.Gradwell, which is this:

All three convictions so far have resulted from the work done by my team’s enquiry.

He looked very proud and self-important as he stood on the steps of the court after the Wateridge conviction. It must have crossed his mind, surely, that all three convicted had already been charged and made their first court appearances before he’d even arrived in the island?

One has to wonder why the Attorney General, William Bailhache, sent instructions to me not to charge Wateridge? It is fortunate indeed that I was a rather thick cop and “misunderstood” the instructions conveyed to me by a lawyer. Otherwise it is possible the now convicted Wateridge may never have even been charged.

The Maguire’s

A few other things about that Gradwell JEP interview: He said in it, when referring to the disgraceful case where the lawyer changed ‘his mind’ after telling us to arrest the ‘lovely’ pair - who delighted in hitting children in the back of the head with cricket bats - that it was one of my own team who told the lawyers there was not enough evidence. I find this rather unlikely for a number of reasons. Firstly, my team were very angry at the late changing of the decision. They had been told by the lawyer that subject to interview this pair should be charged with serious assaults. We of course had an agreement that we would arrest no one unless we got the go ahead from the lawyers appointed by the AG. We adhered to this.

The team arrested this pair - only to have the rug snatched from under their feet. After a rather strained conversation with the AG’s lawyer, who was sitting on a platform in a railway station in the North of England with trains running in the background, I ignored his instructions and called the Centenier into the police station to charge these two. Mr. Gradwell of course would not have done this he says. In any event, the Centenier stated that although he agreed that there was ample evidence to charge, he did not want to go against the lawyer’s ‘revised’ instruction. Never mind justice or the victims!

No human remains have been found:

Of course, Mr. Gradwell didn’t just sound off to the JEP. On the BBC he asked the question why, if I had evidence or intelligence about rapes 20 or 30 years ago did I then dig for human remains? I think that question is answered clearly above. He said there were no human remains found. I beg to differ. For a start, there were approximately 70 children’s teeth. Of course, Mr.Gradwell thinks they are down to the Tooth Fairy. Forget what two experts said. But let us look at his claim that “only one human bone was found and that was from the ‘Plantagenet’ era.”

….numerous bones were examined by the UK Anthropologist Andrew Chamberlain who issued a report saying the bone examined was human juvenile, had been burnt soon after death, and buried soon after burning. He also said that the bones were no more than a few decades old. His report, strangely enough, has never been mentioned by Mr. Warcup or Mr. Gradwell.

Skull or coconut:

Diane Simon - “Harper lied about the fragment” seemed to be the gist of her recent story. I have already gone through this with her two or three times, personally, face to face, and a couple of times on e-mail.

...we received an e-mail from a Ms Brock at the Laboratory in relation to the fragment. Here are some excerpts from the e-mail.

“Hi Vicky. Here are the details of the Jersey skull as discussed on the phone earlier. As I said, the chemistry of this bone is extremely unusual – nothing I am familiar with.”

“During the first acid washes we often get a lot of fizzing as the mineral dissolves. The Jersey skull didn’t fizz at all, which suggested that preservation was poor, and which led me to test the nitrogen content of the bone.”

“The Jersey skull had 0.60 nitrogen, which suggested that it contained virtually no collagen. Once we had this result, Tom phoned you and told you it would be unlikely that we could date the sample, but that we would continue with the pre-treatment just in case.”

“Very surprisingly, the sample yielded 1.6% collagen (our cut off for dating is 1%).”

“As there is no nitrogen it cannot contain collagen unless it is highly degraded. The chances are it is highly contaminated and any date we get for it might not be accurate. I have e-mailed the director and asked if we should proceed with a date.”

It is clear from those e-mails that the lab did not know what the fragment was. Why, then, have Messrs Simon, Gradwell, and Warcup insisted that the fragment was identified as a coconut by a person qualified to do so? By the time I retired, the only person to suggest the item might be a fragment of coconut was a technician who was trying to date it. No Anthropologist has ever identified it as such. One way to clear this would be to have it further examined, and I am not aware if that has ever been done. I am told, rightly or wrongly, however, that it has been lost. If true, how convenient.

Harper is a bully:

Several journalists have told me that Mr. Gradwell and indeed his boss in Jersey, have alleged that I was a bully, and that I aroused fear among officers. I certainly hope I did arouse fear among a small minority of officers.

There was no doubt we did deal firmly with the bullies and the few corrupt members of staff. All of the allegations of bullying made against me seem to have come from those who were dealt with in this fashion. Bullies do not take kindly to being stood up to. Several of the corrupt cops that we removed from the force complained about their treatment. Without exception their complaints were found to be malicious or unsubstantiated. Several of them even tried to damage the historical abuse enquiry.

Hostility from those in power:

I already knew the hostility that existed among many politicians and other areas of the establishment. I had my first taste of this back in 2007 the day I went public with the enquiry. I was ordered to attend at the office of Frank Walker, the Chief Minister. I went there with Graham Power and found that also present with Walker, were Bill Ogley and Home Affairs Minister Wendy Kinnard.

Walker started off by telling me I was looking at a very angry Chief Minister. I asked why. The conversation then went as follows:

FW. “You have been talking to Stuart Syvret.”

LH. “Yes I have. It was necessary for me to talk to him as not only does he have evidence that I may need, but the victims trust him and he may be able to persuade them to come to us.”

FW. “But you told him that you were going public.” (Stuart had released a press statement that morning to coincide with mine – a move which I have to admit, I did not anticipate!!)

LH. “Yes, but I also told you I was going public.”

FW. “But you showed him your press statement.”

LH. “Chief Minister, I showed it to you.”

FW. “But we’re the Government.”

Bill Ogley then intervened to ask me, “You do realise this could bring down the Government?” I told him that was not my concern. My concern was getting to the truth.

There then followed an argument about my use of the word “victims” in the media release. Walker ordered me not to use it. He explained that there were no victims until someone was convicted. I told him that was not the case. When someone alleged that they were a victim of crime, they were a victim.

So, back to WHY.

WHY the lies, the spin, the interference?

WHY so much cover-up to protect people who are guilty of various crimes?

WHY has evidence been lost or admittedly destroyed?

Lenny Harper has responded to the majority of these allegations many times. Was I shocked at anything? Nope! Putting it all together and seeing it laid out in one place, at one time, is what is shocking.

One last WHY.

WHY do the coppers, The Rag, and the government continue to believe folks in Jersey and around the world will be hoodwinked by this farce? It is insulting to any thinking person!

Well done Lenny and Stuart! You both could have walked away long ago; yet you didn’t. I speak for many when I say thank you for your continued commitment, integrity, and dedication to justice!

There is so much more detail on Senator Syvert’s blog.

Another Outrage In Jersey

UPDATED

Within minutes if not already, Senator Stuart Syvret will be arrested and charged with breaches of the Data Protection Law. As you recall, the good Senator was jailed for seven hours and his residence tossed without a warrant last month. He has been told to present at Police Headquarters at 5.00 pm this afternoon.

This latest outrage comes on the heels of William Bailahche’s announcement the charges and cases against eleven accused child rapists, child batterers, and those who concealed the child abuse are to be dropped.

At this point it is unknown whether Stuart will be allowed bail or will be kept in jail for an unspecified period of time.

Least you forget, William Bailhache is the Attorney General and solely in charge of prosecution decisions in Jersey.

I shall be emailing Mr. Bailhache in a few moments politely (gag) reminding him that he, himself, is not beyond reproach or above the law!

He does so enjoy having his clerk respond to me!

Update from Stuart

Oh - by the way - I'm out...two charges under the data protection law - both very incompetently written.

And guess what? The charging officer stated unambiguously that the charges had been brought under the direction of Bill Bailhache.

Justice - Jersey style.

Senator Stuart Syvret Blog

Jersey - The Ultimate And Final Betrayal

It really comes as no great or unexpected surprise, yet it does not lessen the profound sadness and despair I, many in Jersey, and people, internationally feel.

The historic abuse inquiry is to be formally announced as “over” – by Gradwell, Warcup and their puppet-master, Bill Bailhache - they’ve decided that it can all be wrapped-up now.

As I sit here weeping for the victims, their unwavering advocates and supporters, the professional and dogged investigators who uncovered volumes of evidence exposing the abuse perpetrators, I am left with a feeling of hollowness and anguish for the good and decent folks of Jersey who continue to suffer at the hands of the upper-crust government buffoons.

“…know this – the memory of this horrifying, decades-old history of foul and monstrous abuse – and the memory of those who contributed to the concealing of that abuse – is not going away; will never be hidden – will never be forgotten about.

So this is not the end.

On the contrary – we live in the 21st century – when those who were weak have now become strong.

The abusers, those who have failed to prevent that abuse, those who have concealed that abuse, those who have contributed to the barbarism and criminality of the suppression of the truth – are going to be beaten.

Victims, Senator Stuart Syvret, Lenny Harper, Graham Power, Simon Bellwood, John Hemming and all of those I have come to know and deeply respect and admire in the past two years, know you have continued support and we will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the fight for justice!

Senator Stuart Syvret Blog

Jersey 7/4/09 Protest March For Justice Photos

Are The Times A Changing in Jersey?

An emergency meeting of the States is scheduled for this coming Tuesday due directly to the recent unlawful arrest of Senator Stuart Syvret and the illegal search of his home!

Deputy Geoff Southern has issued a report and proposition that has been tabled for this extraordinary emergency meeting.

Reprinted from Senator Syvret’s blog:

STATES OF JERSEY

ARREST AND DETENTION OF SENATOR STUART SYVRET AND ASSOCIATED MATTERS

Lodged au Greffe on 16th April 2009 by Deputy G.P. Southern of St. Helier.

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion _

(a) to express their concern in respect of the apparent interference in the communications between elected representatives and their constituents which arises from the arrest and detention of Senator Stuart Syvret on 6th April 2009;

(b) to further express their concern in respect of the suppressing effect of such actions upon other elected representatives, and members of the public;

(c) to further express their concern in respect of the searching of premises, without a search warrant, and the consequent taking of communications between members of the public and their elected representatives;

(d) to request the Minister for Home Affairs to make an urgent statement concerning the decisions, whether operational or political, taken by the States of Jersey Police and the Minister in relation to the arrest and detention of Senator Stuart Syvret;

(e) to request the Privileges and Procedures Committee to make an urgent statement explaining the extent of the protection offered to States members, and their constituents, by parliamentary privilege.

DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER


REPORT

Emergency States Sitting.

This is an urgent proposition, dealing as it does with matters of immense gravity that go to the very heart of free, functioning democracy in Jersey.

This proposition most certainly amounts to, as standing order 26 (7) says, “a matter of such urgency and importance that it would be prejudicial to Jersey to delay its debate.”

The States Assembly will, therefore, be asked at the beginning of the requisitioned meeting, to agree – as described in standing order 26(7) – to set aside the minimum lodging period in respect of this proposition.

The facts

At approximately 9.00 a.m., on Monday 6th April 2009, Senator Stuart Syvret, the senior Senator of the States Assembly, was arrested by the States of Jersey Police as he stepped from the door of his home. The arrest took place in the presence of approximately 8 police officers who were on the scene in 4 police vehicles.

Senator Syvret was told he was under arrest for alleged breaches of the Data Protection Law, and was, more specifically, later told that the alleged offences related to material published on his Internet blog.

The Senator’s home was then searched, although no search warrant was issued for the alleged offence under Schedule 9, Article 50, Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005.


The implications

The manner of Senator Syvret’s arrest, the search of his home without a warrant, and the taking away of some of his possessions and the possessions of others residing in the premises raises serious concerns for democracy in Jersey, Jersey’s external reputation, Parliamentary Privilege, the Rule of Law, and the accountability, control, and judgement of the police and judicial authorities.

For the avoidance of doubt, this proposition is not about –

1. Senator Syvret as an individual;

2. the merits or otherwise of any allegations or charges being made or brought against him by the police; or

3. the content of his blog.

The proposition, however, is about –

1. The reputation of Jersey as a democracy

It is difficult to describe the damage to Jersey’s reputation – even its very appearance as a functioning democracy – if Laws are used against members of the legislature and their constituents, in ways that appear to be disproportionate and of dubious validity.

The arrest and detention of a member of the legislature, and the searching of his home – without a search warrant – can only make Jersey appear as some kind of democratically bankrupt republic like Zimbabwe.

2. Parliamentary Privilege

The rights and privileges of parliamentarians have been the subject of a long and protracted battle over the last 400 years and should not be discarded lightly.

What is of profound concern is that any members of the Jersey parliament can be arrested in a patently excessive manner – and their home be searched by a large number of police officers – merely for publishing information which they believe to be in the public interest.

Of grave concern is that some of the material seized at Senator Syvret’s home not only concerned privileged communications between him and his constituents, but also similar privileged communications between another States Member and their constituents.

The information and equipment seized by the police included documents and computers owned by the Senator, as well as his Security ID fob for access to the States network, thereby giving the police access to communications between other States Members on a wide variety of issues, including the suspension of the Chief of Police and other allegations of police misconduct. In addition, computer equipment belonging to other family members not connected with the police enquiries was also removed for examination.

The police action can only be viewed as a direct threat to the people of Jersey and the democratic right of the public to communicate with their political representatives and for those representatives to fearlessly fight for their constituents.

A number of other States members now feel threatened and constrained in their work as elected representatives of the people of Jersey, as a direct consequence of the actions against the Senator.

If States members can have their communications interfered with and can be arrested and detained in a police cell for 7 hours, whilst their home is searched – without a search warrant – then Jersey is not a functioning democracy; instead members will always feel threatened by the prospect of such excessive and abusive actions against them.

The anger from all sides of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom at the arrest of Damien Green M.P., and the searching of his office, illustrates just how diligently members of a legislature guard their right to be free from persecutions and trivial harassments so they may speak and act for their constituents without fear.

If members of the States of Jersey fail to express similar concerns, the damage to our reputation will be colossal.

3. The misuse of the Police Procedures and Criminal Evidence (Jersey) Law 2003

Senator Syvret was told he was under arrest for alleged breaches of the Data Protection Law, and was, more specifically, later told that the alleged offences related to material published on his Internet blog. Information which the Senator believes is in the public interest.

If the Senator was allegedly in breach of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005, which has specific provision in Article 50, Schedule 9, for the search of premises and the seizure of material, why were these provisions not used instead of Article 29 of the Police Procedures and Criminal Evidence (Jersey) Law 2003? Especially as the raid was obviously a pre-planned operation on Senator Syvret’s home. Why was Senator Syvret not merely invited to attend the Police Station?


4. Double standards

Why have the police gone to such extraordinary measures in this case when there have been other well-documented breaches of the Data Protection Law by other States Members – breaches of no public interest merit – which have not merited such action?

5. Role of elected and unelected Members of the States and Honorary System

A further consideration arises which directly affects the credibility of the Assembly as presently constituted. What was the role of the Bailiff, Deputy Bailiff, Attorney General or Solicitor General or Minister for Home Affairs in this affair?

Did the Connétable of the relevant parish know anything of the action against Senator Syvret? Did the States police undertake such a dramatic action without any prior consultation or notice to the honorary police in the parish?

Were any of the Connétable’s honorary officers actually involved in the action?

What role, if any, did the Connétable himself play in the planning or execution of this policing action in his parish?

Those supporting this proposition believe it to be absolutely vital to Jersey’s standing as a respectable democracy that the legislature meet as a matter of great urgency in order to debate the implications of the arrest and detention of Senator Stuart Syvret.

The Assembly must debate these issues in order to restore the public’s confidence in their ability to communicate freely and in confidence with their elected representatives.

The Minister for Home Affairs must be asked for an urgent statement concerning the decisions, whether operational or political, taken by the States of Jersey Police and the Minister in relation to the arrest and detention of Senator Stuart Syvret.

The Chairman of the Privileges and Procedures Committee must also be asked for an urgent statement outlining the extent of the protection offered to States members and their constituents by their parliamentary privilege.

Both democracy and the rule of law have been shaken by recent events.

The Assembly must exhibit the appropriate leadership.

Deputy Geoff Southern.

Stuart does express some pessimism:

What’s the betting the States Assembly rejects it? Or even refuse to debate it this coming Tuesday?

Sadly, I think we all understand those odds only too well.

I, on the other hand, am praying for the residents of this tiny island that their government is finally waking up to the realization they it can no longer continue operations as usual and moves into the 21st century!

Harper and Power Being Set Up As Fall Guys in Jersey Abuse Scandal?

Lenny Harper will be giving evidence to the High Court in London next month about obstructions he faced in trying to bring cases to court during his tenure as lead investigator at Haut de la Garenne.

MP John Hemming and Jersey Senator Stuart Syvret challenged the High Court over the handling of the Jersey child abuse investigation with claims they don’t have confidence in the Jersey’s authorities ability to properly administer justice. Harper will provide evidence of the obstruction and interference he faced during the investigation an is expected to tell the High Court that victims may not get justice unless an outside body steps in. He said he is concerned that there have been no more arrests or further progress in the investigation.

Harper has filed a complaint with the Jersey Police Complaints Authority about the smear comments made by Deputy Chief Officer David Warcup and Detective Superintendent Michael Gradwell at a recent press conference.

Mr. Harper told the Belfast Telegraph he recently received a “bizarre” letter from Mr. Warcup requesting the return of any unused documents relating to the case.
“I have no unused material whatsoever. I have nothing which is relevant to the inquiry. This letter was very puzzling and a little disturbing. I can only think of two possible reasons — one that it is an attempt to intimidate me just before I give evidence in the High Court or two, that it is an attempt to set the scene to blame me for any discontinuation of proceedings. In light of all that has been happening I believe I am being set up to take the blame if no charges are brought.”

Suspended Police Chief Graham Power claims that he is the victim of a ‘blatant abuse of political power and an independent review may be held soon.

Constable Simon Crowcroft has submitted a proposition to Jersey’s Bailiff calling for a ‘compliance check’ into the way Minister Andrew Lewis handled the suspension of Graham Power. Power has claimed that his November 14 suspension was not carried out properly.

JEP

Senator Stuart Syvret Blog

Jersey Christmas Speech and Senator Stuart Syvret Under Arrest?

In just a few short hours, Senator Syvret is scheduled to address the assembly as they finish the session for Christmas break.

Last year’s Christmas speech was an attempt to express empathy and acknowledge the Jersey child abuse survivors.

We all know what happened there! The Bailiff called a halt to the speech and cut Stuart’s microphone. Then mayhem ensued as other States members came up to Stuart and screamed in his face.

Stuart no doubt will attempt a similar speech today and has declared if prevented from delivering the Christmas speech he will simply do it outside of the assembly, publicly, in the Square.

How fun is that?

Now, remember Stuart’s, “you’ll never take me alive, copper!” response to the UK police?

Syvret possibly faces legal threat, intimidation, having his home raided and his files seized, and the prospect of his blog being shut down. He could be arrested and prosecuted because he allegedly received a leaked, confidential report.

The good Senator believes there is likelihood the raid could be imminent. You see, the States assembly shuts down for the holidays this afternoon and the UK parliament will be finishing up for the holidays as well. The MPs who support Syvret will be off for a month and unable to raise the issue.

Timing is everything!

To be sure, if any or all of this occurs Stuart, the outcry will be heard round the world!

Senator Stuart Syvret Blog

“You'll never take me alive, copper!” and Jersey Abuse Scandal Takes More Twists and Turns

As reported previously, efforts to smear Lenny Harper, Graham Power and the entire Haut de la Garenne investigation have been moving forward.

The new UK coppers that have been brought in since Harper retired are relentlessly pursuing Chief Constable of the Jersey Police Force.

A discipline inquiry into the conduct of Graham Power has been launched. The home affairs minister, Andrew Lewis, suspended Graham in November.

Graham Power is fighting back, claiming his suspension did not follow correct procedure, a claim that has been rejected by the home affairs minister.

Power has threatened to sue the minister over a ‘blatant abuse of political power’ by breaking the formal procedures set up to govern suspension of the chief of police.

Power says he plans to take the minister to court over several decisions made by the minister and that he had the full backing of the UK association of Chief Constables.

Now, the latest attempt by the government to minimize the scandal and intimidate those who brought the scandal to light indicates that Senator Stuart Syvret is now in the crosshairs.

I’m not even going to attempt to paraphrase - directly from Senator Stuart Syvret’s blog:

The Jersey Establishment Party have at least three, key aims:

1: Intimidate and silence me.

2: Intimidate and frighten my constituents who whistle-blow to me.

3: Force me into revealing my sources.

1 and 3 of those objectives are simply unattainable. I don’t “do” intimidated.

And – without exaggeration – I would sooner be jailed than betray my sources.

So – I face the very real prospect of raids on my home, arrest, questioning under caution, prosecution - and jail.


THREATENING E-MAIL MESSAGE, FORWARDED TO ME IN THE NAME OF DCI TIM NUNN OF SUSSEX CONSTABULARY:

-----Original Message-----
From: Newman, Mark [mailto:M.Newman@jersey.pnn.police.uk]
Sent: 03 December 2008 16:55
To: Stuart Syvret
Cc: Timothy.Nunn@sussex.pnn.police.uk
Subject: Independent Investigation

Hi Stuart,

I am leaving the enquiry and returning to my UK Force tomorrow. I have been asked to pass onto you the following message from DCI NUNN of
Sussex Police.

I am no longer going to be part of The Operation Rectangle Enquiry but should you wish to contact me my email back in force is [E-MAIL AND MOBILE DETAILS EXCISED]

Many Thanks
Mark

FROM DCI TIM NUNN:

Mr Syvret, Having spoken with Mark, I have asked him to pass on this rather unusual introduction in the hope that we can establish a dialogue. A few weeks ago, I was asked by the Deputy Chief Officer (DCO) David Warcup to conduct an investigation on behalf of the States Of Jersey Police (SOJP). This is standard practice when there is a need to illustrate 'independence' in an investigation where the police themselves might be considered to have a 'conflict of interests'.

The remit of my investigation was to establish how the report from the then DCO Lenny Harper dated the 29th June was disclosed and is now in the public domain. You are more than aware of that report as it appears on your Blog. Clearly, in publishing it, potentially you commit offences under the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005 and these are the subject of a separate investigation by the Data Protection Commissioners Office. I want to speak with you as a witness.

In simple terms, I want to ask you about the circumstances in which you came into possession of that report. My favoured way of doing this [EMPHASIS ADDED] would be to meet you in person. Please can you let me know, either by E mail or using the mobile number below, whether you are prepared to meet me to discuss this further. Thanks in anticipation, Tim.

Detective Chief Inspector Tim Nunn Staff Officer to Deputy Chief Constable Giles York

[telephone number excised]


RESPONSE BY SENATOR STUART SYVRET:

-----Original Message-----
From: Stuart Syvret [mailto:S.Syvret@gov.je]
Sent: Wednesday 03 December 2008 23:13
To: NunnTimothy CN800
Cc: Newman, Mark
Subject: RE: Independent Investigation

You'll never take me alive, copper!

Senator Stuart Syvret
States of Jersey.

A few observations:
Instead of the government putting the focus on the victims of the abuse scandal and the on-going cover-up – where it should be - they continue to pretend nothing happened at Haut de la Garenne and create boogy-man stories for public consumption.

Am I the only one who thinks it strange that Tim Nunn communicated with Stuart through Mark Newman? And, just how disrespectful – intentional? – not to refer to Stuart by his proper title of Senator?

Lastly, I am a little bit annoyed by the Senator – it took me 15 minutes to clean up the coffee I spewed after reading his response to Nunn!

BBC

This is Jersey

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!