A former senior cabinet minister is now the subject of a rape allegation currently being considered by the Crown Prosecution Service. Police investigating possible child abuse at the Elm Guest House in West London have submitted a file on the former minister, and the CPS is expected to come to a decision over the matter during the summer. The claims are not believed to relate to the abuse of minors at the guesthouse, and the alleged victim was over the age of consent.

The allegation follows evidence given to the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Fernbridge, which is investigating claims that a well-connected paedophile ring was operating from a guesthouse in Rocks Lane, Barnes, south-west London, in the early 1980s. The inquiry has been examining hundreds of leads submitted to it after a politician claimed that a historic paedophile ring with connections to Downing Street had been in operation there. The extent, breadth and wide timeframe of the claims led police to look beyond the Elm Guest House’s allegedly dark epoch and beyond the abuse of children.

Police have been looking into claims that young boys from the Grafton Close care home, run by Richmond council, were sexually assaulted at the guesthouse – now a block of respectable flats. It is alleged that the boys were taken to organised parties at the house attended by prominent people, where they were made to dress up. The parties were often “Kings and Queens” themed, a practice begun around the time of the Silver Jubilee in 1977.

The lack of charges relating to the guest house has given rise to counter-claims of “conspiracy theories” and cover-ups. But in January 2013, The Independent on Sunday revealed that the disgraced Liberal Democrat politician Sir Cyril Smith, who for decades abused children without ever facing justice, was a regular visitor to the Elm Guest House.

The revelation came after police raided the house of one childcare worker and seized documents said to contain the names of some of those who stayed at the guesthouse. Those on the list also included prominent politicians, judges and celebrities.

The Fernbridge investigation came in the wake of the allegations surrounding the TV presenter and DJ Jimmy Savile.

In October last year, Tom Watson MP told Parliament that an evidence file on Peter Righton, a former child care worker convicted of importing illegal homosexual pornography in 1992, contained “clear intelligence of a widespread paedophile ring”. At Prime Minister’s Questions, he said: “One of its members boasts of a link to a senior aide of a former prime minister, who says he could smuggle indecent images of children from abroad.”

Scotland Yard is still investigating those claims, as well as suggestions that its officers failed to carry out a proper examination of child abuse claims in Richmond in 2003, when the Independent Police Complaints Commission received allegations from a concerned council worker.

And on October 20th 2013, the Daily Express ran a story about a former child protection officer, Chris Fay, who had a gun held to his head by a Special Branch officer when he was trying to help victims of child abuse which included Elm Guest House in Richmond, South London.

From Express.co.uk:

“It became very dangerous. People seem to forget that Special Branch could do what they liked, they were a law unto themselves.

At one point they had me up against a wall by my throat with a gun at my head telling me in no uncertain terms that I was to back away if I knew what was good for me.

A colleague of mine had the same treatment, as did a number of the volunteers. Victims who were actually abused at Elm House were also physically stopped from coming to speak to us at the NAYPIC office in north London.

I witnessed Special Branch officers manhandling them and turning them away with a warning to keep their mouths shut. It was blatant, it was open, they were acting like gangsters.

In the end we had to meet victims at a local community centre without the knowledge of the police to hear what they had to say.” NAYPIC was given the identities of senior politicians who formed part of an alleged paedophile ring at the heart of government.

However, Mr Fay said: “I was told by the police implicitly, ‘We do not want you to come to us with big names’.”

In a sinister twist, he said his kitchen window was shot at, leaving three bullet holes in the glass, although he never found out who was responsible.

An interesting interview here by Bill Maloney of Chris Fay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORU5x-ryedU

The following article appeared in the “This is Local London” series of newspapers and website on 22nd July 2013:

Two charged with historic child abuse under Operation Fernbridge by Richmond Reporter

The former deputy head of Richmond Council’s Grafton Close children’s home has been charged with offences on boys aged nine to 15.

John Stingemore, 71, was today charged along with Father Anthony McSweeney, 66, with indecent assault and making indecent images of children.

Both were arrested under the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Fernbridge, which is investigating historic allegations of sexual abuse at Elm Guest House in Barnes.

They were charged today and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on bail on September 4 – rebailed to September 18th 2013.

Mr Stingemore, who lives in East Sussex, will face eight counts of indecent assault, two of taking indecent images of a child and one of conspiracy with persons unknown to commit buggery.

Mr McSweeney, a Roman Catholic priest from Norfolk, has been charged with three counts of indecent assault, one of taking indecent images of a child, three of making indecent images of a child and one of possessing indecent images of a child.

The charges relate to seven victims, all aged between nine and 15 years when the alleged offences took place during the 70s and 80s.

Anyone with information, who has any concerns or believes they may have been a victim is asked to contact the NSPCC on its helpline 0808 800 5000.

A 69-year-old man remains on police bail, to return in September.

On 24th August 2013 the following appeared on the Justice Denied blog:

http://google-law.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/leon-brittan-finally-questioned-by.html?spref=tw&m=1

It alleges Leon Britton has been questioned, and has some other updates – well worth a look.

Cigpapers Opens Investigation

With no real progress in this investigation by the authorities this blog has filed it’s own Freedom of Information Request with this website https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/ :

From: Sean Moran

14 September 2013