The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.
The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.
1240/5(5390)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS BY DEPUTY T.M. PITMAN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 25th MAY 2010
Question
"Following my questions on 11th May 2010, when the Minister informed the Assembly that he did not know whether or not the former senior investigating officer of the Historic Abuse Inquiry had invited a number of the Haut de la Garenne survivors to the police station in November 2008, where they were shown evidence recovered from the cellars, will he advise whether this event can now be corroborated by the States of Jersey Police; why and for what purpose such an action took place; and advise whether showing evidence to individuals alleging abuse/assault would have, as a consequence, made all such evidence inadmissible in a Court of law?"
Answer
This event took place on 18 November 2008, following the press conference on 12 November at which some items were shown to the national media which were assessed as non-suspicious and non-evidential.
The items were shown to members of the Jersey Care Leavers Association in an effort to be open and transparent and to build their confidence in the police investigation team.
Ultimately it resulted in the JCLA undertaking a joint press conference with the police later that year.
It should be noted that such an event is not unusual when dealing with special interest groups in major enquiries.
As the items had been assessed as non-suspicious and non-evidential, the Police took the view that they would not be used in any subsequent criminal proceedings and that, therefore, issues of admissibility in subsequent proceedings would not arise.