Jersey child abuse investigation

Before that, social worker Simon Bellwood had made a complaint about a "'Dickensian' system" where children as young as 11 were routinely locked up for 24 hours or more in solitary confinement in a secure unit where he worked.

[5] It later transpired that the forensic team had informed the police prior to the announcement of the discovery of supposed human remains that the item might predate the inquiry timeframe, being from infill from a graveyard or of prehistoric origin.

In November 2008, the Deputy Chief Officer, David Warcup, expressed "much regret" that misleading information had been released throughout the conduct of the enquiry, although this has been bitterly contested.

[11] In March 2008, BBC television personality Jimmy Savile started legal proceedings against The Sun newspaper which had, wrongly he claimed, linked him in several articles to the child abuse scandal at Haut de la Garenne.

[12] Savile initially denied visiting Haut de la Garenne, but later admitted that he had done so, following the publication of a photograph showing him at the home surrounded by children.

[29] In August 2009, Claude Donnelly, then 69, was sentenced by the Superior Number of Royal Court to a total of 15 years in prison after two trials in May 2009 and June 2009 for offences against young girls between 1968 and 1982.

[30] Royal Court Commissioner Sir Christopher Pitchers, presiding, said that the abuse had had a terrible effect on Donnelly's victims, and that the substantial period of imprisonment recommended by the Attorney General was correct.

[31] In November 2010, Morag and Anthony Jordan, a married couple who worked as house parents at Haut de la Garenne during the 1970s, were convicted of eight separate counts relating to physical abuse and subsequently received jail terms of nine and six months.

The former minister for health and social services Senator Stuart Syvret, said that he had been made aware in early 2007 of abuse at the home and had called for an independent enquiry.

[37] He and Senator Syvret sought permission to apply for a judicial review of UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw's decision not to intervene over the prosecution of historic child abuse cases.

[42] The Chief Officer of the States of Jersey Police, Graham Power, was suspended in November 2008 pending an inquiry into his handling of the case, in particular into his release of preliminary findings to the press.

[11] Defence advocates for Aubin, Wateridge and Donnelly argued in pre-trial proceedings that inaccurate and sensational publicity surrounding the inquiry would seriously adversely affect the cases against their clients, and that there had been political pressure to bring charges.

Royal Court Commissioner Sir Christopher Pitchers (a retired High Court of England and Wales judge appointed to preside over the trials of Wateridge and Donnelly) rejected the defence applications to halt proceedings and permitted the prosecutions to continue, despite what he described as the way in which the senior investigating officer "whipped up a frenzied interest in the inquiry", as he believed that the November 2008 statements by States of Jersey Police that there had been no child murders had done much to mitigate the effects of earlier publicity.

[44] In 2011, Leah McGrath Goodman, an American journalist, claimed that she was banned from re-entering either the United Kingdom or the Bailiwick of Jersey for a period of two years, whilst in the middle of undertaking research on the abuse allegations.