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Lord Janner: Criminal proceedings over abuse claims end Lord Janner: Criminal proceedings over abuse claims end
(35 minutes later)
Criminal proceedings against late Labour peer Lord Janner over sex abuse charges have ended because of his death, an Old Bailey judge has said. Criminal proceedings against the late Labour peer Lord Janner over sex abuse charges have ended because of his death, an Old Bailey judge has said.
The peer had been accused of 22 counts of sex offences against boys, over a 20-year period from the 1960s - allegations his family denied.The peer had been accused of 22 counts of sex offences against boys, over a 20-year period from the 1960s - allegations his family denied.
A jury was to be asked to decide - without resolving whether he was guilty - if the incidents had taken place.A jury was to be asked to decide - without resolving whether he was guilty - if the incidents had taken place.
A lawyer representing some of the victims said they were "devastated". A lawyer for some of the alleged victims said they were "devastated".
Lord Janner, who suffered from dementia, died in December aged 87. Meanwhile, 12 former residents of children's homes say they were abused by Lord Janner, a BBC investigation has found.
Goddard scrutiny
Lord Janner, who had been suffering from dementia, died in December aged 87.
A trial of the facts had been due to be held in April 2016 - however, prosecutor Richard Whittam QC said on Friday that the law provided no circumstances whereby a dead defendant could face a trial, even a trial of the facts.A trial of the facts had been due to be held in April 2016 - however, prosecutor Richard Whittam QC said on Friday that the law provided no circumstances whereby a dead defendant could face a trial, even a trial of the facts.
BBC home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds says it is expected that Lord Janner's case will now be considered by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse led by Justice Lowell Goddard. Mr Whittam also revealed in court that more charges had been due to be brought.
He also said the defence had been in the process of trying to get the case thrown out due to an "abuse of process".
Mr Justice Openshaw said: "There is nothing more to be said. That's the end of the proceedings, that the defendant is dead."
The Goddard inquiry - the independent inquiry examining historical child sex abuse in England and Wales, chaired by New Zealand judge Justice Lowell Goddard - said it would resume its investigation into the allegations against Lord Janner now that the criminal case had ended.
However, it said the public hearings which would take place in the case were not the same as a trial of the facts in a criminal court.
"They will be focused on different issues, subject to a different procedure and determined according to different standards of proof," it said.
'Real travesty'
The allegations centred on claims that Lord Janner, when he was MP for Leicester West, befriended the manager of a children's care home to allow him access to children and carry out serious sexual offences.The allegations centred on claims that Lord Janner, when he was MP for Leicester West, befriended the manager of a children's care home to allow him access to children and carry out serious sexual offences.
Following the news that the case has ended, Leicestershire Police said an investigation into allegations not just against Lord Janner but against other individuals is "live and will continue". Leicestershire Police said an investigation into claims not just against Lord Janner but against other individuals was "live and will continue".
Liz Dux, specialist abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon, who represents six of Lord Janner's alleged victims, said: "My clients are obviously devastated that they are no longer able to give their evidence in a criminal court.
"They understand the reasons why but that doesn't make up for the real travesty - that many gave their statements decades ago and have been denied justice through a failure to prosecute earlier when Janner was alive and well."
Her clients "sincerely hope" the Goddard Inquiry will make their cases a priority and allow them to give evidence in person, she added.
Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said in April last year there was enough evidence to prosecute Lord Janner for 22 sex offences allegedly committed in Leicestershire children's homes between 1969 and 1988, but that he was too sick to stand trial.
She also said the CPS had been wrong not to prosecute Lord Janner following investigations in 1991 and 2007, and that Leicestershire police had been wrong not to pursue him in 2002.