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| Rochdale inquiry: Cyril Smith 'a puppet master abuser' | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Cyril Smith treated a children's home as his "personal fiefdom" and abused residents for "perverted amusement", an inquiry heard. | Cyril Smith treated a children's home as his "personal fiefdom" and abused residents for "perverted amusement", an inquiry heard. |
| Laura Hoyano, representing eight alleged victims, said Smith was a "puppet master" who escaped justice. | Laura Hoyano, representing eight alleged victims, said Smith was a "puppet master" who escaped justice. |
| MI5 intelligence on the allegations "raises a spectre of collusion" over his activities, Ms Hoyano said. | MI5 intelligence on the allegations "raises a spectre of collusion" over his activities, Ms Hoyano said. |
| The independent inquiry is examining the late MP's alleged abuse of young boys in Rochdale institutions. | |
| A dossier of information on the Liberal MP was held by the security services and has been disclosed to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). | A dossier of information on the Liberal MP was held by the security services and has been disclosed to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). |
| It is examining how Smith was able to carry out his alleged offences at a number of institutions, including the Cambridge House children's hostel and Knowl View residential school, where he was a governor. | |
| 'Political pressure' | |
| On Monday, counsel to the inquiry Brian Altman QC, said Sir Norman Skelhorn - then Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) - claimed in 1970 a police investigation of Smith was unlikely to lead to a prosecution. | |
| This was followed nine years later, Mr Altman said, when MI5 was informed the Rochdale Alternative Press (RAP) was told by Sir Norman's successor, Thomas Hetherington, there was no record of the 1970 case. | |
| Referring to the claims, Ms Hoyano asked: "Was political pressure brought to bear upon the DPP from politicians and members of the Liberal Party from 1969 to 1970? | |
| "Why would Sir Thomas Hetherington decide he should lie to journalists, stating that he had not submitted a prosecution file? | |
| "Why would the DPP contact MI5 about this at all? We say this dossier from MI5 raises a spectre of collusion." | |
| The DPP has since been replaced by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). | |
| In an opening statement for the CPS to the inquiry, Edward Brown QC said changes in the law relating to evidence in child sexual abuse cases in the intervening years could explain the decision not to prosecute Smith. | |
| Mr Brown said that until 1995 the law required such allegations to be supported by other evidence in addition to the claims themselves. |