Two Jersey politicians have released a Press Statement (below) asking for the UK to fulfil its constitutional obligation and restore the Rule of Law and good governance in the Crown Dependency of Jersey.
Below the Press Release is an in-depth, and exclusive, interview with the two politicians, Deputies Shona and Trevor Pitman, who have experienced, first hand, the cost, both financial and emotional, of attempting to obtain justice in Jersey.
PRESS RELEASE:
Jersey Corruption: UK Government fails
constitutional obligations
on ‘good governance’
Two Members of Jersey’s Parliament have today called for the
UK government – which has overall responsibility to ensure ‘good governance’ in
the Channel Islands - to urgently investigate what they describe as the
‘spiralling evidence of the wide-spread breakdown of law within the island’s
justice system.’
Child Abuse Scandal
The Deputies say that ‘justice in the island’ (which came
under the global spotlight with the unfolding of the ‘institutional’ child abuse
scandal in 2008) ‘is being betrayed by a mixture of top level incompetence,
corruption and intimidation. Much of this being a direct reaction from those in
the island’s Establishment desperate to bury any dissenting opposition to
getting to the truth about decades of child abuse cover-ups.’
‘Far from ensuring justice for the people of Jersey our Law
Office has become the tool of choice for the clique at the apex of power to try
to silence and, if necessary, drive from office or ruin those who dare
challenge the established order; or persist in fighting the cause of the ever-growing
number of people coming forward to complain of corruption; whether relating to
child abuse or abuse of the legal process.’
This has already seen the former Chief of Police (the initiating
officer of the child abuse investigations), Mr. Graham Power QPM forced from
office by an illegal suspension that failed to result in any disciplinary
charges. It has also seen a former Health Minister, at the centre of
revelations about the abuse, ousted; and currently being silenced by a blatant misuse
of the Data Protection Law within ‘top secret’ Royal Court hearings – all being
paid for out of the tax coffers. Files and records relating to children abused
within the Jersey care system have conveniently ‘gone missing’ from within both
the Police system and government departments. Evidenced cases against abusers
have inexplicably not been pursued by the island’s Law Office.
Banning of US
Journalist
This manipulation of justice has even seen the contrived
banning of a respected US journalist, Leah McGrath Goodman, from the island
once it became apparent she was researching child abuse cover-ups and the
island links to Jimmy Savile. A ban only lifted following the intervention of
UK MP John Hemming and an international petition campaign initiated by Deputy Trevor
Pitman himself. Trevor Pitman states that along with two other political ‘backbench’ colleagues the number of
complaints alleging corruption received from members of the public has reached deeply
disturbing proportions in recent months.
Legal System -
Corruption
These complaints have included alleged tampering with court
transcripts; destruction of and refusal to look at evidence; inconsistency in
sentencing; and even perjury and collusion between lawyers. The recently leaked "BARTON REPORT" of a disciplinary hearing involving police at the centre of the
illegal bugging allegations in the ‘Drug Baron’ Curtis Warren case even
revealed claims of falsified and unsigned statements being presented instead of
original documents.
Yet the Deputies say the cold, hard evidence of the justice
system being in desperate need of external investigation; and the depth of the
obstacles facing victims of the cover-ups was only brought home to them after
they pursued the island’s only, and hugely influential, pro-establishment newspaper,
the Jersey Evening Post to court for defamation along with one of its
millionaire clients. The newspaper and its estate agent client Broadlands had mocked
the couple after Trevor Pitman’s election, falsely claiming they had increased
their salary four-fold by entering politics when in reality they had taken a
drop in income of thousands.
Jurat Supports
Paedophile in Previous Job as Vice-Principle
‘It was shocking enough given the evidence that we then found
ourselves losing the case,’ say the Deputies; ‘we subsequently then discovered
that the Senior Jurat (lay judge) John Le Breton had been allowed by the
Bailiff’s Office to sit in judgement of the case even though he was a personal
friend of the newspaper’s longest-serving Director; the two regularly socialising
together and even going to dinner at each other’s home. All of this being
evidenced’.
An even bigger shock for the Deputies was the subsequent
leaking of a government suppressed report (the 1999 Sharp Report) into another horrific
child abuse scandal at the island’s Victoria College (an exclusive ‘fee-paying’
secondary school). The report revealed
that John Le Breton, as Vice Principle had refused to look at evidence against a
friend and colleague, the predatory paedophile, Andrew Jervis-Dykes.
He instead wrote in support of him claiming amongst other
things that: Jervis-Dykes had served the College in an ‘outstandingly competent
and conscientious way’; that unless police decided to prosecute, the abuse
would be seen as ‘an unsubstantiated allegation’. Le Breton even appealed for
the paedophile to be allowed to stay on at the school and if he had to resign
be allowed to do so with ‘some dignity’. Incredibly Le Breton was put forward
for the Jurat role by a politician who was both on the College’s Board of
Governors at the time and a former president of the government’s Education
Committee!’
The Deputies add, ‘when you bring this to the attention of
the Chief Minister, Bailiff (Head of Judiciary and Legislature) and Deputy Bailiff, where both Crown Officers just
happen to also be friends of the Jurat in question - you are told: ‘if you
don’t like it – appeal’. The Crown
Officers know full well, that the above information not only came to light
after our case and has implications far beyond this alone; but that it would
necessitate at least another £30,000: monies that most ordinary people do not
have.
Jurat Le Breton was allowed to sit by two successive
Bailiff’s for a period of 14 years – including sitting on some child abuse
cases until retiring just after the Pitman’s’ case. ‘This demonstrates just how
unfit for purpose Jersey’s system of election and monitoring of Jurats is’,
says Deputy Shona Pitman, adding ‘how in the 21st Century can Jurats
be elected in secret by only politicians and lawyers – many of whom will
regularly be friends of those proposed?’
UK Justice Minister
fails obligations of good governance
Yet even with the backing of around a dozen equally appalled
fellow politicians and prominent justice campaigners, the Deputies say that the
injustice they have been dealt is as yet failing to be adequately dealt with as
it should by the UK justice Ministry. ‘The evidence in our case is
overwhelming,’ say the Deputies, ‘just as it is in many other cases. Yet even
when presented with all of the details (as outlined above) and letters of
support from other concerned public figures, the excuse from Lord McNally has
been that as “Jersey has its own justice system we can’t really interfere’’
(see enclosed correspondence).
‘Most absurd of all perhaps’, add the Deputies, ‘is that ‘the
Justice Minister instead offers to ‘forward our concerns’ to the Bailiff – the
very individual who has allowed all of this to happen! What this shows is the deeply
troubling attitude to justice from those holding power within the justice
system here and the UK Minister responsible for ‘good governance’ in a small
and apparently ‘insignificant’ jurisdiction’.
‘At the bottom line’, conclude the Deputies, ‘if these
failings are allowed to continue, if successive Bailiffs and other Crown
Officers can allow an individual who refused to look at evidence against a predatory
paedophile yet supported him – to sit as a Jurat for 14 years; including on subsequent
cases of abuse what hope, we ask, have the victims of Jimmy Savile and the Haut
de la Garenne child abuse scandal of getting justice here? What hope has any
ordinary citizen who rocks the Establishment boat? The answer must be a
resounding none. It is time the UK government stepped up to the plate and
fulfilled its obligations. Should they not do so then it can only be concluded
that Westminster must be complicit in all of this.’ Full story: www.thebaldtruthjerseyblogspot.com
For further
information contact: Deputy
Trevor Pitman 07797 824243/ (01534) 863436
Deputy Shona Pitman 07797 778561(END)
This Press Statement has been issued to the island's State Media and Bloggers (Jersey's only independent media) It remains to be seen what, if any coverage or investigation, it receives other than that from the independent Bloggers.
The UK has failed in its obligation to ensure the rule of law and good Governance in Jersey and the Lieutenant Governor should also be held to account for this. Things have been allowed to get way out of control with Jersey's so called justice system and I for one fully support the Deputies in attempting to clean this place up.
ReplyDeleteToo disgusting for words but how predictable. Trevor and Shona are brave, good people and politicians. The very reason why our establishment mafia want to shaft them. If our Law Office get away with excusing this then there is no hope. We must all stand up and say enough is enough.
ReplyDeletehi vfc
ReplyDeleteboth shona and trevor are good people. but if uk will not do nothing were do they we go iv said it before and i say it again now.it will come down to a force of arms if the uk will not sort out good governance in jersey the law office lieutenant governor,the evil bailhache boys and there dishonourable minister,s are nothing but a disgrace and make a mockery of law in jersey.
Not before time this is happening, and long overdue in my estimation. Trevor and Shona put in a tremendous amount of good work in the interests of the people they represent and in the interests of justice and fairness which we do not see an awful lot of here.
ReplyDeleteThey, as have others are the victims of the corruption that is this Island. I hope many people find it in themselves to give them their support, because there but for the grace of .... goes any of us.
Readers might also be interested in THIS
ReplyDeleteThe Legacy of Police, CPS and Government cover-up of Child Abuse has created a Nation where no child is safe
ReplyDeleteThis is the Legacy of the cover-up of decades of child abuse by the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service and the Government. Britain has become a nation where no child is safe.
Senior positions in the Police, the CPS, the Courts and in Government Departments have been given to Paedophiles. These powerful Paedophiles have created an avalanche of child abuse victims.
Sadly abuse begets abuse and many Paedophiles were themselves abused as children. Abuse as a child causes a catalogue of psychological problems with long lasting effects. This has to stop now!
A report published in April 2012 shows to some extent the scale of the problem:-
MORE than 400 children are sexually abused every week in Britain — one every 20 MINUTES, a shock investigation has revealed. These are only the cases where a complaint has been made and recorded. Police often fail to report even complaints. So these figures are just the tip of the iceberg
The 43 police forces in England and Wales recorded 23,097 child sex offences in 2011. That included rape, incest, child prostitution and pornography.
The annual figure is equivalent to 444 attacks a week — or one child abused every 20 minutes.
And the total scandal is , only 2,135 of offences reported — ten per cent — led to someone actually being convicted and sentenced. Thouseands of paedophiles go scott free each year.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/4dA7cq
RS
The HUGE burning unanswered question here is; just who does have responsibility for the Rule of Law and good governance of this island? Somebody must be held to account for all this alleged corruption!
ReplyDelete"Those who benefit from any societal mechanism rarely wish to understand that mechanism especially if it appears to grant them power, control or authority over their fellow man and understanding that mechanism would limit, diminish or remove that apparent power, control or authority. They simply do not want to know. Because… It is far easier to Ignorantly Control Others than it is to Wisely Control Yourself."
ReplyDeleteTHE RATS are leaving the sinking ship that is HMS Jersey!
ReplyDeleteOnce again, an excellent new VFC blog posting.
ReplyDeleteCommenter at 19:55 asks the right question, in my opinion. I would hope John Hemming MP, would pose this question to Parliament. I know what the technical answer would be, but the reality is that no one in a position to enforce the Rule of law and good governance for Jersey is willing to do so.
Elle
I have taken the opportunity to review the Pitman case in the light of their press release above and, in particular, by reference to the fact that the cartoon or caricature contained a provably false statement. In retrospect, I notice several things: that although the hypothetical reasonable person test was outlined its application is, I think, a matter of law. The Jurats were not asked to determine the case as a matter of law but to draw conclusions on matters of fact laid before the court. For example, if there was some conflict between the evidence of Mr Pitman and Mr Trower in relation to Mr Pitman's salary. Secondly, there is not much evidence as to how the Jurats applied the hypothetical person test; the judge merely gives an insight in some of the discussions between himself and the Jurats and ultimately says that they decided. Although the judge may be an expert in defamation libel and slander it is not clear that he had given much consideration to the relative roles of commissioner and Jurat in the present case.
ReplyDeleteshame on jersey and best to the good people above fighting for justice. please stay with it. the children who were victims deserve reform.
ReplyDelete3 Good government
ReplyDeleteThe Crown has ultimate responsibility for the good government of the Islands.
— Kilbrandon Report, para 1361
36. Kilbrandon explains that the basis on which the Crown has ultimate responsibility for the good government of the Crown Dependencies stems partly from the fact that, with the UK, they are all part of the British Isles. Whilst this did not make uniformity essential, it was "nevertheless highly desirable that the institutions and the practices of the Islands should not differ beyond recognition from those of the United Kingdom". All parties were in favour of the Crown Dependencies expressing their individuality, but it was recognised that "the British Islands were an entity in the eyes of the world, and the United Kingdom Government would be held responsible internationally if practices in the Islands were to overstep the limits of acceptability".[48]
37. There is a high degree of consensus amongst academics, legal advisors, politicians and officials about the meaning of the term "good government" used in the Kilbrandon Report.[49] They agree that good government would only be called into question in the most serious of circumstances, exemplified by the recent events in Turks and Caicos which did, indeed, lead to UK Government intervention.[50] Such circumstances are likely to include a fundamental breakdown in public order or endemic corruption in the government, legislature or judiciary. Kilbrandon himself gives a restrictive view of the circumstances which would legitimately give rise to the duty of the UK Government to intervene in insular affairs on the ground of good government, whilst recognising that those circumstances need not be too tightly defined:
I need to request uk government intervention as a result of fundamental breakdown of public and international order and endemic corruption through the facilitation and legalisation of money laundering worldwide by jersey courts - to whom do do we submit our evidence to
DeleteThere is room for difference of opinion on the circumstances in which it would be proper to exercise that power. Intervention would certainly be justifiable to preserve law and order in the event of grave internal disruption. Whether there are other circumstances in which it would be justified is a question which is so hypothetical as in our view not to be worth pursuing. We think that the United Kingdom Government and Parliament ought to be very slow to seek to impose their will on the Islands merely on the grounds that they know better than the Islands what is good for them; there is ample evidence in the differences between United Kingdom and Island legislation in social matters to show that this policy has in fact been followed for very many years.[51]
ReplyDeleteKilbrandon suggests that intervention to preserve law and order or in the event of grave internal disruption would be justifiable, but that an attempt to define the circumstances further would be essentially pointless. He points to ample evidence of a policy of restraint in the use of power on the part of the UK Government as a reason for not pursuing the matter.
38. The current ministerial team are clearly following this non-interventionist policy. The Justice Secretary told us that he has the power to intervene in insular affairs on the ground of good government, but that he had not found it necessary to do so. He favoured a collaborative approach, whereby the UK Government and the Crown Dependencies worked together to anticipate any problems which might conceivably arise and deal with them in good time in order to prevent the need for active intervention.[52] Closely following the Kilbrandon formulation, Lord Bach stated in the House of Lords that intervention in circumstances of "grave breakdown or failure in the administration of justice or civil order" would be justified. However, he added—paraphrasing the Kilbrandon Report—that "It is unhelpful to the relationship between Her Majesty's Government and the Islands to speculate about the hypothetical and highly unlikely circumstances in which such intervention might take place.[53]
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmjust/56/5606.htm
Can you please inform you're outside readers if the Jersey media have run with this...
ReplyDelete"Can you please inform you're outside readers if the Jersey media have run with this..."
ReplyDeleteBBC State Radio mentioned it a couple of times yesterday that seems to be about it.
Two members of the Jersey Parliament asking for UK intervention due to alleged corruption in the judiciary isn't a subject that the State Media would want the general public to know.
I cannot see anything at all about their press release in today's JEP.
ReplyDeleteExcellent interview, as usual.
ReplyDeleteWorth supplementing the press release with the video to show they are two sane, sober, concerned people.
Comments at 11:30 and 11:32 illustrate the tightrope Jersey and the UK walk in claiming UK oversight and similar rule of law, even as they retreat from any obligation to do so. "See what a clean and transparently lawful island we are as a British Isle," when it suits, but when accused of allowing breakdown in normal rule of law, Both Jersey and the UK agree, "As long as there is no grave civil unrest, Jersey should be allowed to govern in any fashion without interference."
ReplyDeleteStill nothing about this press release in State Media? And this comes on the day the BBC Savile Report was released, filled with so many redactions no one will ever take it seriously.
ReplyDeleteVery insightful coverage today from Nick Shaxson, on his blog, http://treasureislands.org/what-the-hell-is-the-uk-doing-in-its-tax-haven-of-jersey/
ReplyDeleteIt is regrettable that the mainstream news services have been unwilling to investigate Deputy Pitman's allegations. Even if we leave aside the complaint concerning their own case, local journalists ought to at least investigate other complaints alleging corruption.
ReplyDeleteJersey's legal system is urgent need of reform. I would say that much would be gained locally if, for example, the regulation of the legal profession in Jersey was the responsibility of a minister who had the ability to investigate.
It would appear that there is now more evidence (by mere fact of omission), that the local media is controlled by those elite, it is not reporting in the public interest what should have been front page news!
ReplyDeletePerhaps Lenny Harper may wish to consider offering his services to assist with this in some way, it could lead to a website for Jersey!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://misty53.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/team-investigating-activities-of-jimmy-savile-launch-website/
Haut De La Garenne MOOCHERS UNMASKED
ReplyDeleteHow will the rogue BBC Jersey outlet cover the Wednesday debate? If they do broadcast everything, they risk allowing more listeners to learn how ridiculous and equivocating the ministers really are, when it comes to paedo-protecting by means of desperate image-protecting. It has been a long time since the oligarchy made a convincing case for their coverup. Can the Beeb afford to let the public in on the level of desperation?
ReplyDeleteExperience has shown us that the disgraced BBC will BURY IT
ReplyDeleteI recommend reading Is CoI a bigger issue than you imagined?
ReplyDeleteVoice. Your team should send this to the Queen's representative in the island. The UK is meant to have responsibility ultimately for ensuring law and order and so justice. If Her Majesty's representaive knows about this case and then does nothing what is the point of being linked to the UK at all?
ReplyDeletewho is the queens representative please and how do i contact them
DeleteHee Hee, those two comments are absolutely hilarious. Titter Tee Hee....WAKE UP!!!
Deletehttps://therightofreply.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-united-nations-now-owns-absolutely.html