Lord Janner inquiry: Alleged victims felt 'fear and shame'

Lord Janner, who was a Leicester MP, died in 2015

Children allegedly abused by the late Lord Janner did not immediately contact police because they felt "fear, shame, embarrassment and confusion", an inquiry has heard.

Lord Janner, a former Leicester MP, died in 2015 while awaiting trial for 22 child sexual abuse offences.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) heard complainants were "worried they would not be believed".

Lord Janner had denied the charges.

The inquiry will not decide if he was guilty, but will look at how authorities reacted to the multiple allegations of indecent assault and buggery dating as far back as the 1960s.

Many of the alleged victims, some from care homes, have only come forward in recent years.

Brian Altman QC, counsel to the inquiry, said: "There are a myriad of reasons why the complainants say they did not make their disclosures at the time.

"The reasons include feelings of fear, shame, embarrassment and confusion."

Lawyer David Enright said one alleged victim described how it felt like "poor children are on a conveyor belt to abuse, and that nobody seems to believe them".

The inquiry heard how Tracey Taylor, a complainant who has waived her right to anonymity, said she was raped by the former MP after entering the care system at 14.

She said he told her he "could make her the next prime minister's wife".

She added she tried to tell police about the alleged abuse on a number of occasions but was not believed and was called "Crazy Tracey" by officers.

Prof Alexis Jay is leading the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA)

The Lord Janner case

• Lord Janner was the subject of child sex abuse allegations dating back to 1955.

• Three police investigations took place in the 1990s and 2000s, but no charges were brought.

• Following a fourth inquiry, he was charged in 2015 with offences against nine alleged victims. Police say 38 people accused him of abuse.

• The peer, who suffered from dementia, was ruled unfit to plead, and died aged 87 before a trial of the facts could take place.

• An independent inquiry in 2016 found that the three earlier investigations were "missed chances" to prosecute him.

• Nine of Lord Janner's accusers began the process of suing his estate for damages.

• Three dropped their cases in March 2017 and the remaining six two months later.

Lord Janner was charged with counts relating to nine boys after Leicestershire Police launched an investigation into the allegations in 2012.

He denied all charges and criminal proceedings came to an end when he died in December 2015 at the age of 87 following a "long illness".

Lawyers representing the alleged victims said the prosecution had come "too late".

Nick Stanage said: "[It] came many years after allegations first surfaced... justice delayed was justice denied".

Lord Janner's family has continued to defend their father's reputation.

Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Lord Janner's youngest daughter, said in a statement the family does not "recognise any of [our] father's character" in the allegations.

She added: "[This was] never the lost opportunity for justice it is misleadingly claimed to be."

The inquiry continues.