Police had '˜3 missed chances' to charge Lord Janner

Failures by police and prosecutors meant three chances were missed to charge Lord Greville Janner over sex abuse claims, an independent report has found.

Lord Janner died in December at the age of 87, days after he was found unfit to stand trial. Picture: AP

Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders expressed “sincere regret” at the blunders, but this was rejected by a lawyer for the late peer’s alleged victims, who said it was “little consolation”.

The report by High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques found that in 1991 prosecutors made the wrong decision not to charge Lord Janner after an “inadequate” police investigation.

In 2002 Leicestershire Police failed to pass claims made by a second alleged victim to prosecutors, and in 2007 again a flawed decision was made not to charge the politician when a third man came forward.

Ms Saunders said: “The inquiry’s findings that mistakes were made confirms my view that failings in the past by prosecutors and police meant that proceedings were not brought.

“It is a matter of sincere regret that on three occasions, opportunities to put the allegations against Lord Janner before a jury were not taken. It is important that we understand the steps which led to these decisions not to prosecute, and ensure that no such mistakes can be made again.”

The peer died aged 87 in December, days after he was found unfit to stand trial after being charged with sexual offences dating back to the 1960s against nine alleged victims, who were mostly under 16 at the time.

Ms Saunders was at the centre of a controversy last year after originally deciding Lord Janner, who had dementia, should not be charged because of his ill health.

That decision was overturned by an independent review. A special hearing had been scheduled for this year, but last week the criminal case was formally dropped, leaving his alleged victims “devastated”.

Solicitor Liz Dux, from Slater and Gordon, which represents eight of Janner’s alleged victims, said: “Confirmation by the CPS that mistakes were made in handling of past allegations against Lord Janner comes as no surprise to his alleged victims. The CPS’s statement only reinforces our clients’ complaints that opportunities to prosecute Janner and bring allegations before a court were repeatedly missed.

“Alison Saunders’ expression of ‘sincere regret’ over failures will be of little consolation unless it is followed by proper accountability.”