Lord Janner to be found 'unfit to stand trial', court hears

Lord JannerPA

Prosecutors and Lord Janner's defence team agree he will be found unfit to stand trial for sex abuse charges, a court has heard.

Judge Mr Justice Openshaw told a pre-trial hearing at the Old Bailey it was "obvious and inevitable" the peer, who has dementia, would be found unfit.

The 87-year-old is accused of 15 counts of indecent assault and seven counts of a separate sexual offence, against a total of nine complainants.

He denies the allegations against him.

A fitness to plead hearing is on track to take place on 7 December, the court heard.

'Entitled to know'

The former Labour MP for Leicester North West was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2009.

At the pre-trial hearing, prosecutor Eleanor Laws QC said: "Both parties agree the defendant is unfit to plead and unfit to stand trial."

Judge Mr Justice Openshaw agreed and said: "Plainly there is a public interest in these matters and the public are entitled to know the evidence on which the finding has been made.

"Should the medical reports be made available to the press - that is a question we will need to address on 7 December."

If the judge decides the peer is fit to plead, then a full trial would take place.

But, if not, a "trial of the facts" will take place, where a jury will decide if he committed the abuse, with no finding of guilt or conviction.

The Old Bailey heard that the most likely trial date is expected to be on 11 April next year.

Who is Lord Janner?

PA

  • Born in Cardiff in 1928

  • Served in the Army and studied at Cambridge before becoming a barrister and then QC

  • Labour MP for Leicester North West and then Leicester West from 1970 until retiring in 1997, when he was made a life peer

  • Diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2009

  • Suspended from the Labour Party but will remain a member of the House of Lords until his death or until he retires

  • Described by his family as a man of "great integrity" and "entirely innocent of any wrongdoing"

Updating the judge on the progress of the trial, Ms Laws said the prosecution was "on track" with the timetable set for disclosing material to the defence.

But she said there would be thousands of pages of material relating to children's homes, which the prosecution was not intending to use, but that Lord Janner's defence team was entitled to see.

The allegations against Lord Janner allegedly took place in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Greville Janner was made Lord Janner of Braunstone in 1997. He remains a life peer, but has been on leave of absence since 2014.