Calls to quit over Jersey 'abuse'

Organisers of a rally in Jersey have called for the resignation of the island's chief minister in protest at the handling of abuse claims.

Islanders took to the streets on Saturday to show concern about the allegations of child abuse at former children's home Haut de la Garenne.

But the chief minister, Senator Frank Walker, pointed to the low turnout at the demonstration.

The police investigation at the site is entering its third week.

Forensic experts are set to break through into a second underground chamber at Haut de la Garenne and detectives have said they expect to arrest three suspects within a fortnight.

Police say about 100 people claim to have been abused at the home, where a child's remains were found in February.

Two of the suspects are thought to be in Jersey, with the third in the UK.

On Monday morning organisers behind Saturday's Time for Change rally, in St Helier's Royal Square, said Senator Walker and his Council of Ministers should resign over the way the authorities had dealt with the abuse claims.

Montfort Tadier said the senator's reaction to the rally showed he was detached from reality and his cabinet was in crisis.

If resignations were not forthcoming he said he would like to see a vote of no confidence brought to the States, Jersey's parliament.

But Senator Walker said it was clear from the "exceedingly low turnout" at the rally that Jersey people recognised organisers were "attempting to use this tragedy to their own political advantage".

He said: "My hope is that the people of Jersey will now come together to fully support the police investigation and the victims.

"We need to bring the guilty to justice and to care for all those whose lives have been damaged by their treatment in the past."

Over the last two weeks, forensic archaeologists working at the site have found a water tank, shackles and several spots of what is said to be human blood in a small underground chamber.

Most recently, bones were recovered during a search of the cellar and an adjacent field, but police say tests may show them to be from animals.

Officers have finished clearing rubble from the first cellar and are planning to start searching a second bricked-up chamber.

Deputy Chief Officer Lenny Harper said his team had been hampered by retired detectives trying to cover up failings.

He said his priority remained the alleged victims and the main inquiry into the people who carried out the abuse.

However, he pledged to look into allegations against people from a number of organisations, including the police, that they did not respond appropriately at the time the allegations of abuse were first made.

South Yorkshire police are conducting a separate inquiry into decision-making within the States of Jersey force.

It could lead to internal disciplinary measures against officers who breached rules.

Meanwhile, the States of Jersey have given Mr Harper a blank cheque to meet mounting financial costs of the investigation.

The police investigation, which began covertly in 2006, led to the discovery of part of a child's skull last month in a stairwell at the back of the building.

The remains are thought to date from the early 1980s. Police have not said whether they are male or female.

Some 25 people are suspected of having taken part in sexual and physical assaults at the home dating back to the 1960s.

The children's home closed in 1986 and was later converted into a youth hostel.