Final witness appeal for the historic abuse enquiry

NOTES FROM MEDIA BRIEFING GIVEN AT POLICE HQ ON WEDNESDAY 10 DECEMBER AT 9.15 AM

States of Jersey Police today held a final witness appeal urging anyone with information about the historical abuse enquiry to come forward.

The briefing was taken by the SIO for the case, Det Supt Mick Gradwell, and was supported by members of the Jersey Care Leavers Association and the dedicated NSPCC counsellor Ray Alexander. The deputy SIO, Det Insp Alison Fossey, was also at the briefing.

Det Supt Gradwell said: ‘Firstly, I would like to reiterate that the States of Jersey Police are dedicated to fully investigating the allegations of historical child abuse which have been made about the Jersey’s care system.

‘We are here today to ask for your help in making a final appeal to witnesses.

‘I am aware some people have not come forward for a variety of reasons. These people may have information that would assist with the ongoing historical abuse enquiry.

‘We would like to stress that we are trying to establish the truth. It is important that people who were in the care system, or people such as staff who may have worked in the care system come forward, if they have information that may be relevant to the enquiry.

‘We believe this will be the last appeal we can make and so we would urge anyone who feels they have information for us to come forward.

‘We do understand why people may not have come forward before now. This has been a high profile enquiry and that may have deterred people. However, if people do choose to come forward, we would like them to know that they can have access to a dedicated NSPCC counsellor, and will be dealt with respect, courtesy and confidentiality by the enquiry team.

There are two numbers people can call to get in contact with us, which are staffed between 7 am and 7 pm from Monday to Saturday. The numbers are:

Incident Room: 612642

NSPCC counsellor number (In Jersey):       

0800 735 7777.

‘As you can see, we are working in partnership with the Jersey Care Leavers, who will speak to you shortly. They support this appeal for people to come forward. We are in regular contact with this group, who offer support for anyone who has been in care in Jersey.

‘The majority of officers working on this case are from the UK with no links to Jersey. We know that there are people out there with information and we would urge them to come forward to us. There is no deadline on this appeal, but we do believe this is the final appeal we can make, unless information comes in which means we would have to try again to bring people forward. We are not closing the door.’

Louise Journeaux

Press Officer

The States of Jersey Police