Lord Janner inquiry: Alleged abuse investigation was 'cover-up'

Lord Janner, who died in 2015, denied all charges against him

Police investigations into allegations of child sexual abuse against Lord Janner amounted to a "cover-up", an inquiry has heard.

A lawyer for some of the alleged victims told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) he was shown "deference and preferential treatment" because of his position.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and officers involved denied this.

Lord Janner himself denied abuse charges before his death in 2015.

The former Leicester MP had been facing trial for 22 child sexual abuse offences.

The inquiry, which is on its final day, will not decide if he was guilty, but will look at how authorities reacted to multiple allegations of indecent assault and buggery, dating back decades.

Despite a number of earlier investigations, he was not charged until Leicestershire Police launched Operation Enamel in 2012.

Lord Janner, pictured here in 1987, was a Leicester MP for 27 years

Will Chapman, representing 13 complainants, said during one of those previous investigations that statements from two complainants were "dismissed", which "points to something much darker".

He told the chair Alexis Jay: "You should call this what it is: a cover-up."

Nick Stanage, who also represents 13 complainants, said the overall impression from the evidence was of "a police force that... didn't make the effort".

He added: "The institutional touching of the forelock well into the 21st Century is foolish and discreditable.

"The evidence shows an unjustifiable, unexplained and suspicious reticence properly to investigate Lord Janner."

Leicestershire Police accepted Lord Janner "could and should" have been investigated more thoroughly.

'Exacerbate myths'

But lawyers for former senior officers denied being swayed by his position.

A representative of the CPS also said there was "no evidence of preferential treatment" on their part.

Lord Janner's family have always maintained his innocence.

Their lawyer, Daniel Friedman, said: "Unless you are prepared to look at the evidence that caused [decision makers] to take the view [that the evidence could not produce a successful conviction in court], then you will be rubber stamping a revisionist history without reading the primary sources.

"You will exacerbate the myths about Janner rather than ground the public in legality.

"When complaints were made, it was right they should have been investigated. If a case called for an answer, he should have been interviewed when he was able to defend himself.

"Where that didn't happen as it should have, it was not his fault."

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 40 people accused him of abuse.

• The peer, who had 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 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's family have always maintained his innocence, and his son has described the inquiry as a "macabre proxy criminal trial".