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Janner faces arrest if he fails to appear at court hearing on child abuse charges Janner faces arrest if he fails to appear at court hearing on child abuse charges
(35 minutes later)
Lawyers acting for Greville Janner have lost their attempt to prevent him being forced to attend court on Friday to face child abuse charges. Greville Janner has been ordered to turn up to court or face arrest after he lost a legal challenge over allegations he sexually abused nine boys over three decades.
They had argued that it would be “barbaric, inhumane and uncivilised” to arrest the former Labour peer if he did not attend the hearing. Paul Ozin said there was medical evidence that requiring Lord Janner to attend court would cause a “catastrophic reaction” due to the severity of his dementia. Lawyers for the peer argued that forcing him to attend court on Friday would have a “catastrophic impact” due to his Alzheimer’s.
He told two senior judges: “Lord Janner’s dementia is now at such a level of severity that it amounts to a perfect storm in terms of the adverse impact on him of attending court.” Paul Ozin, for Lord Janner, asked two senior high court judges to spare the 87-year-old the “barbaric, inhumane and uncivilised” ordeal by lifting the threat of an arrest warrant if he failed to attend.
Janner’s lawyers were challenging an order requiring him to attend Westminster magistrates court on Friday over 22 allegations of child sex abuse dating back to the 1960s. But the legal challenge was summarily dismissed on Thursday afternoon by Lady Justice Rafferty and Mr Justice Irwin.
Ozin said the order made by district judge Howard Riddle last week was “perverse” and urged the high court judges to lift the threat of an arrest warrant for Janner if he failed to attend, pending a full judicial review of Riddle’s order. The ruling means Janner must now appear in court for the first time in the criminal proceedings over 22 child sex allegations, in which he is accused of molesting nine boys between 1963 and 1988.
Ozin added: “It is barbaric, inhuman and uncivilised to expose a very vulnerable person to the experience I have alluded to, particularly when it is wholly unnecessary and serves no logical purpose.” Ozin told two senior judges: “Lord Janner’s dementia is now at such a level of severity that it amounts to a perfect storm in terms of the adverse impact on him of attending court.”
He argued there was an alternative method – a voluntary bill of indictment – to bring the peer to trial without him having to appear before the magistrates court in person, which would be “both medically undesirable and potentially dangerous, leading to injury”. He added: “It is barbaric, inhuman and uncivilised to expose a very vulnerable person to the experience I have alluded to, particularly when it is wholly unnecessary and serves no logical purpose.”
But the judges rejected the application on Thursday. Lady Justice Rafferty, sitting with Mr Justice Irwin, said the court had unhesitatingly concluded that the balance between Janner’s human rights and the public interest came down in favour of Janner’s appearance in court for the brief period required by law. Giving the fullest description of Janner’s health to date, Ozin told the high court on Thursday that the former Leicester West MP had “virtually no language left at all” and that he was housebound and suffered symptoms of Parkinson’s syndrome.
However, Janner’s lawyers could still mount an 11th-hour attempt to prevent the peer being compelled to attend court on Friday. Ozin argued there was an alternative method – a voluntary bill of indictment – to bring the peer to trial without him having to appear before the magistrates court in person, which would be “both medically undesirable and potentially dangerous, leading to injury”.
Outside court, Janner’s lawyers said they were considering whether to appeal to a duty judge later on Thursday. If that legal challenge is successful, it would mean Janner would no longer face arrest if he failed to appear in court on Friday. But the judges rejected the application on Thursday. Rafferty and Irwin said the court had unhesitatingly concluded that the balance between Janner’s human rights and the public interest came down in favour of Janner’s appearance in court for the brief period required by law.
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