Jersey Child Abuse Inquiry Witness. (Trevor Pitman)

Trevor Pitman.

On Wednesday 18 November (day 109 of Inquiry) anti Child Abuse campaigner, and former Jersey politician, Trevor Pitman, gave his, much anticipated, evidence as a public witness to the on-going CHILD ABUSE INQUIRY.

Mr. Pitman's substantial statement, with some 20 plus supporting documents, was believed to be a damming, and scathing, indictment on Jersey authorities, not only in Child Protection failures, but in the corrupt and politicised "justice" system which, it is believed, is at the heart of the Child Abuse cover-ups.

In the video interview below Mr. Pitman talks of his shock after being asked by lawyers to the Inquiry to familiarise himself with a number of documents because he was to be asked questions on them. Only to discover that NO questions were asked on the documents he was provided. Why would the Inquiry Team apparently mislead, or waste a witness' time like this?

Francis Oldham QC.

The fact is that Mr. Pitman was questioned on very little else other than his time working as a professional Youth Worker. This is a little concerning when one considers that Mr. Pitman was giving evidence to the Inquiry as part of phase two which according to the Chair Francis Oldham QC:

“In October the Inquiry will begin hearings in relation to Phase 2. At that stage we will look at the decisions taken in relation to the timing of the police investigation and subsequent decisions to prosecute alleged abusers. Did those responsible for deciding which cases to prosecute take a professional approach? Was that process free from political or other interference at any level?"

It is difficult to reconcile how experiences of being a Youth Worker meets the criteria for phase two of the Inquiry. It's further concerning (as discussed in interview below) to discover that, according to Mr. Pitman, the Inquiry Team does not have possession of a number of crucial documents needed to understand "The Jersey Way" and the culture that allows Child Abuse(rs) to continue on the Island despite the Establishment cry "Lessons Have Been Learnt."

Graham Power QPM.

These documents include the six appendices to The Sharp Report, The Hansard of the In-Camera debate where former Home Affairs Minister Deputy Andrew Lewis revealed that he had (possibly illegally) suspended the then Chief Police Officer Graham Power QPM where Mr. Lewis has some significant questions to answer. The third set of documents are a number of boxes of documents, where there is a paper trail, seem to have gone missing. It is unclear as to whether the Inquiry Team has made any attempt to obtain any of these sets of documents but it was made aware of their existence some 17 months ago.

Mr. Pitman's live evidence lasted approximately two hours which, as mentioned above, largely consisted of questions relating to his time as a Youth Worker. When Counsel to the Inquiry announced she had no further questions for Mr. Pitman there were audible gasps from a packed public gallery who were left wondering is the Inquiry just going through the motions by calling Anti Child Abuse Campaigners as witnesses? Why was Mr. Pitman not questioned according to the criteria of phase two? Is the Inquiry burying crucial evidence that could expose "The Jersey Way?"

As we have mentioned previously the Inquiry looks to have done some GOOD WORK in some areas and some NOT SO GOOD work in other areas. This latest episode unfortunately falls into the latter category.