Even victims say abuse probe should be halted: They demand fourth head of 'shambolic' sex inquiry is removed

By Rebecca Camber And Stephen Wright
Daily Mail
October 17, 2016

https://goo.gl/jzHc2z

Prof Alexis Jay, pictured, has lost the 'respect, confidence and trust' of victims in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, it has been claimed

Prof Jay became the fourth inquiry chairman in two years after Dame Justice Lowell Goddard, pictured, quit in August

Former Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf, pictured, resigned as chairman after a few weeks over claims she would not be impartial

Baroness Butler-Sloss, pictured, was the original chairman of the inquiry but stood down after criticism she would be 'biased towards the establishment'

Prime Minister Theresa May, pictured, is now facing questions over her judgement in 'hastily appointing' Prof Jay

The crisis-hit probe into child abuse was dealt yet another blow last night as victims called for its fourth chairman to be sacked.

Professor Alexis Jay has lost the ‘respect, confidence and trust of survivors’ and her ‘shambolic’ inquiry should be suspended, victims told Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

The dramatic twist came before a review due to be published today by Professor Jay to scale back the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, as it threatens to run on for a decade and cost tens of millions of pounds.

Victims now want Miss Rudd to appoint a High Court judge to carry out a judicial review of the ‘shambolic management of the inquiry’.

Professor Jay, who has no legal experience, also faces claims of a ‘potential conflict of interest’ over her past as a social worker in Scotland, which critics say may taint her views about those abused while in the care of council staff.

The developments raise new questions about Theresa May’s judgement in hastily appointing the inquiry’s fourth chairman in two years, after Dame Justice Lowell Goddard quit in August.

Last night Imran Khan, a solicitor who represents 47 victims, wrote to Miss Rudd saying: ‘Professor Jay is not legally qualified; has no record in cross-examination or questioning of witnesses in a forum such as this; and has no experience of legal decision- making.

'Our clients are of the view that this lack of expertise means that she cannot fulfil the inquiry’s terms of reference.’

The letter goes on to accuse Professor Jay of ‘bias’ after she admitted she may have previously worked with a child abuse victim – who has since become a core participant in the inquiry – when he was a social worker in Glasgow.

After Professor Jay joined the inquiry’s panel, the victim boasted online: ‘I worked directly with and for Alexis Jay, I could kick a***s.

Victims are now concerned that she cannot consider his evidence to the inquiry objectively.

Mr Khan said: ‘The potential bias this could cause to the investigation of their abuse is an unacceptable risk to take.

‘It is a distinct possibility that Professor Jay’s work acting as an adviser to the Scottish Local Authority between 1998 and 2005 or indeed her role as a social worker or advisor on social work generally could lead to a potential conflict of interest with the work of this inquiry and its witnesses.’

Andrew Lavery of victims group White Flowers Alba, represented by Mr Khan, said: ‘We have no faith in Alexis Jay, who has been shambolic.

'There is an issue of fundamental bias that this man used to work with her. That’s unpalatable.’

Mr Khan warned some victims were already withdrawing from the inquiry as they couldn’t ‘afford to further put their health at risk’.

He added: ‘Our clients cannot be blamed for feeling that the political will is that this inquiry will continue to implode and lose the support of the very people it purports to serve; that it was ultimately set up to fail.

‘Our clients are of the view that the time has come to suspend the process and subject it to a complete review by an independent body.’

A legal source said the victims’ group could seek a judicial review of any decision to reduce the scale of the inquiry.

This would further delay the probe, which has already spent more than £20million and amassed millions of pages of documents but has yet to hear a single word of evidence two years after it was set up.

Professor Jay is expected to unveil a significantly watered-down version of the inquiry today, which will mean fewer public evidence hearings and a greater emphasis on lawyer-led reviews, focus groups and expert seminars examining claims of sex abuse at dozens of institutions from Westminster to the Church, schools and Armed Forces over the last 60 years.

Victims fear they will lose the right to give evidence and have their allegations investigated properly.

Phil Johnson, spokesman for the Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors group, said: ‘If the inquiry is scaled back into some nice, cuddly discussion forms and conferences, we will be taking legal advice. It’s already a feeding frenzy for lawyers.

Both Theresa May and Justice Goddard said the victims would be at the heart of this inquiry, but it is lawyers and civil servants who are at the heart of this.’

Another survivor Ian McFadyen told the Mail: ‘If the review is going to dumb down and dilute this inquiry I will instruct a lawyer to put in a judicial review because it’s the only way that this government will listen.

‘Alexis Jay does not have the skill set to run the biggest public independent inquiry in the UK.

Yesterday Michael Mansfield, QC, who is bidding to become co-chairman or lead counsel in the inquiry, said: ‘There is a problem still remaining which is that [Professor Jay] is a not a lawyer.’

The barrister, who represented the families involved in the Hillsborough disaster, told BBC Radio 5: ‘One of the ways she could do this is to say “right, we are going to do a lot of this on paper, it won’t be in public, it will be quicker and we will just focus on perhaps a few elements in public in greater detail”.

‘I think that would a travesty to do it that way because public confidence isn’t increased by having things done behind closed doors.’