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You are here: Home » Newsletter » THE CASE OF THE FLAWED TRIBUNAL Previous | Next   THE CASE OF THE FLAWED TRIBUNAL ELEVEN YEARS ago the North Wales Child Abuse Tribunal produced its report, “Lost In Care”. It cleared North Wales Police of the charge that it failed to investigate child abuse at an early stage. A decade later REBECCA says the Tribunal — which cost £14 million — missed evidence that would have challenged that vindication. The three members of the North Wales Child Abuse Tribunal — Margaret Clough, chairman Sir Ronald Waterhouse and Morris le Fleming. REBECCA says one of their key conclusions is unsafe… Photo © Press Association During its hearings, the Tribunal was made aware by television journalists that new allegations had come to light. The broadcasters had interviewed a witness who claimed he’d gone to the police years before a key child abuser was brought to book. The Tribunal told the reporters they would be in contempt if the allegations were broadcast. The allegations were removed from a documentary about the child abuser.  But having gagged the media, the Tribunal then failed to call the witness. His allegations were never investigated. In the same week that the journalists were being censored, detectives from North Wales Police went to see the witness. Attempts by REBECCA to find out if this was part of a deliberate attempt to keep him away from the Tribunal have failed. North Wales Police have refused to answer questions about this interview — even though its own internal investigation made it clear that those at the top of the force should have replied… The TV programme, A Touch of Frost, screens the interview that HTV was prevented from broadcasting back in 1997. This documentary is based on the article Silent Witness, also released today. A separate article, The Trials of Gordon Anglesea, examines the role of one of the central characters in the whole child abuse saga in North Wales. By the time he retired as a superintendent in 1991, Anglesea was already being accused of abusing children at one of the homes near Wrexham. He won a celebrated libel action in the High Court and the North Wales Child Abuse Tribunal found no evidence that might have changed that verdict. But questions have been raised about the evidence he gave in the libel action — and also when he appeared before the Tribunal.   Previous | Next   Back to top