Or why they are so interested in investigating an entity that has nothing to do with them.Of course it should
However, their "investigations" are potentially very important (to the victims) because the only possible outcomes involve that club digging themselves deeper into the hole they are already in. Which is why they/Lawwell need pushed on where the results are, why they have taken so long, and why they have been so silent.
An absolute disgrace.
I posted a question, seems like years ago, along similar lines.Or why they are so interested in investigating an entity that has nothing to do with them.
Very well said sir.The fact that Celtic stated that they had carried out an investigation into allegations of paedophilia within the club means that the said investigation must have material useful to the establishing of the truth for the class action case, and lawyers for the victims should be taking legal action to have the evidence (or lack of) to be handed over to the court.
Having said the above, what we really need is a fully independent public enquiry carried out by agencies with no connection to Scotland, and it should be convened immediately. This is arguably the largest paedophile ring ever witnessed in sport world wide. It is totally unbelievable and unacceptable that the Scottish Government, media, legal and law enforcement have not taken any real interest in getting to the truth of what has being going on at Celtic FC. It is a stain on our once proud country that the hundreds of victims have had to rely on the hard working conscientious group of individuals of Spotlight to investigate and highlight the hell they were put through and god willing get them the closure and peace they deserve.
What kind of person do you have to be to turn your back on innocent children who have been abused in this way? how do the perpetrators, enablers and those who have and continue to cover up these heinous crimes sleep at night? The victims only want the truth to be told of what was done to them, Spotlight will make sure their story is told. It has taken far to long because of the effort being put into the cover up, but the victims are now beginning to win and hopefully it won't be much longer until they can find peace and the families of those who found their ordeal to much for them and took their own lives can also find peace.
Celtic should be under no illusion, Spotlight and the victims are not going away and they are not going to stop unearthing more evidence until the victims have closure. As for those who covered up the abuse and continue to do so to this day, when the perpetrators, enablers and facilitators have been brought to justice then your part in this will be fully exposed.
I see Cairney has the middle name McGinn , wonder if he is related to the priest who sacked him in 1961 Henry McGinn and the priest 's brother Jack who never sacked him when he should have in 1986.
Has it ever been established or declared how out of all the professional , skilled and articulate people in the UK capable of investigating and compiling an 'unbiased' report for the SFA(whitewash) that Martin Henry was chosen, who selected him, was his background checked and was he just a puppet for his paymasters? No doubt the answer to all 4 questions is the same man!
Well said and an excellent post, also what else can we say about the Spotlight Team, simple 'MAGNIFICENT' we are all so proud of your dedication and hard work.The fact that Celtic stated that they had carried out an investigation into allegations of paedophilia within the club means that the said investigation must have material useful to the establishing of the truth for the class action case, and lawyers for the victims should be taking legal action to have the evidence (or lack of) to be handed over to the court.
Having said the above, what we really need is a fully independent public enquiry carried out by agencies with no connection to Scotland, and it should be convened immediately. This is arguably the largest paedophile ring ever witnessed in sport world wide. It is totally unbelievable and unacceptable that the Scottish Government, media, legal and law enforcement have not taken any real interest in getting to the truth of what has being going on at Celtic FC. It is a stain on our once proud country that the hundreds of victims have had to rely on the hard working conscientious group of individuals of Spotlight to investigate and highlight the hell they were put through and god willing get them the closure and peace they deserve.
What kind of person do you have to be to turn your back on innocent children who have been abused in this way? how do the perpetrators, enablers and those who have and continue to cover up these heinous crimes sleep at night? The victims only want the truth to be told of what was done to them, Spotlight will make sure their story is told. It has taken far to long because of the effort being put into the cover up, but the victims are now beginning to win and hopefully it won't be much longer until they can find peace and the families of those who found their ordeal to much for them and took their own lives can also find peace.
Celtic should be under no illusion, Spotlight and the victims are not going away and they are not going to stop unearthing more evidence until the victims have closure. As for those who covered up the abuse and continue to do so to this day, when the perpetrators, enablers and facilitators have been brought to justice then your part in this will be fully exposed.
Mr Halley has been very active in Twitter exchanges regarding this, I’m glad he is finally getting the recognition he deserves.Police open inquiry into claims of child abuse by lawyers
Officers from Police Scotland’s major investigations unit have been instructed to look into claims that senior members of the legal establishment were linked to the sexual exploitation, trafficking and abuse of children.www.thetimes.co.uk
Officers from Police Scotland’s major investigations unit have been instructed to look into claims that senior members of the legal establishment were linked to the sexual exploitation, trafficking and abuse of children.
The Sunday Times understands that at the request of the Crown Office, police have begun their inquiries and will shortly take evidence from John Halley, an advocate who detailed concerns about historical sex abuse against children in a dossier sent to prosecutors in 2019.
Halley was visited by officers on Thursday morning and expects to provide a witness statement this week.
As this newspaper reported last week, Conservative MSP Russell Findlay tabled questions in parliament last month amid concern that senior figures in the government and judiciary had failed to act on Halley’s 43-page note.
The senior lawyer John Watt was jailed for ten years last summer for historical sex abuse against children.
At the time, Susie Henderson, one of his victims, claimed that another man who abused her remained in an influential position.
Police opened an investigation into Watt after Henderson made allegations against several lawyers.
She said that her father, Robert Henderson QC, had repeatedly sexually abused her.
She made similar claims about several of his friends and colleagues, including former solicitor general for Scotland, Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, the late Conservative MP.
As a result of an investigation, Watt, 72, was extradited to Scotland from the US in 2020.
He was convicted in July 2022 of raping Henderson and abusing two other girls and a boy in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of his victims had relatives who were also legal figures.
Halley was appointed as a lead junior counsel to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in 2015 and maintains that his extensive research found evidence of “child trafficking through prostitution of children in care in Scotland”.
He warned that vulnerable young people in care were let down by a prosecution policy that he believes failed to prevent sexual exploitation through prostitution.
The policy, introduced in 1991, concluded that it was not in the public interest to pursue clients of male prostitutes as young as 16 who had previously engaged in homosexual acts.
Halley’s note called for deeper investigation of Tam Paton, the former Bay City Rollers manager who died in 2009.
Paton owned an Edinburgh flat where a 16-year-old boy from a care home was held over ten days, drugged and raped by a number of men in the early 1990s.
It sparked a police investigation, called Operation Planet, which initially resulted in 57 charges against ten men.
This was later reduced to ten charges against five men, whose not guilty pleas were accepted by a court in February 1991.
Findlay said: “This police action is welcome, but the timing is curious given that almost four years have passed since Mr Halley supplied information about alleged connections between prominent legal figures and the abuse of children in care.
“The police action comes a matter of weeks after I lodged a series of written questions asking the Scottish government what action has been taken in respect of this information.
Going forward, transparency is vital.”
Police Scotland said it did not discuss details of investigations.
Police open inquiry into claims of child abuse by lawyers
Officers from Police Scotland’s major investigations unit have been instructed to look into claims that senior members of the legal establishment were linked to the sexual exploitation, trafficking and abuse of children.www.thetimes.co.uk
Officers from Police Scotland’s major investigations unit have been instructed to look into claims that senior members of the legal establishment were linked to the sexual exploitation, trafficking and abuse of children.
The Sunday Times understands that at the request of the Crown Office, police have begun their inquiries and will shortly take evidence from John Halley, an advocate who detailed concerns about historical sex abuse against children in a dossier sent to prosecutors in 2019.
Halley was visited by officers on Thursday morning and expects to provide a witness statement this week.
As this newspaper reported last week, Conservative MSP Russell Findlay tabled questions in parliament last month amid concern that senior figures in the government and judiciary had failed to act on Halley’s 43-page note.
The senior lawyer John Watt was jailed for ten years last summer for historical sex abuse against children.
At the time, Susie Henderson, one of his victims, claimed that another man who abused her remained in an influential position.
Police opened an investigation into Watt after Henderson made allegations against several lawyers.
She said that her father, Robert Henderson QC, had repeatedly sexually abused her.
She made similar claims about several of his friends and colleagues, including former solicitor general for Scotland, Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, the late Conservative MP.
As a result of an investigation, Watt, 72, was extradited to Scotland from the US in 2020.
He was convicted in July 2022 of raping Henderson and abusing two other girls and a boy in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of his victims had relatives who were also legal figures.
Halley was appointed as a lead junior counsel to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in 2015 and maintains that his extensive research found evidence of “child trafficking through prostitution of children in care in Scotland”.
He warned that vulnerable young people in care were let down by a prosecution policy that he believes failed to prevent sexual exploitation through prostitution.
The policy, introduced in 1991, concluded that it was not in the public interest to pursue clients of male prostitutes as young as 16 who had previously engaged in homosexual acts.
Halley’s note called for deeper investigation of Tam Paton, the former Bay City Rollers manager who died in 2009.
Paton owned an Edinburgh flat where a 16-year-old boy from a care home was held over ten days, drugged and raped by a number of men in the early 1990s.
It sparked a police investigation, called Operation Planet, which initially resulted in 57 charges against ten men.
This was later reduced to ten charges against five men, whose not guilty pleas were accepted by a court in February 1991.
Findlay said: “This police action is welcome, but the timing is curious given that almost four years have passed since Mr Halley supplied information about alleged connections between prominent legal figures and the abuse of children in care.
“The police action comes a matter of weeks after I lodged a series of written questions asking the Scottish government what action has been taken in respect of this information.
Going forward, transparency is vital.”
Police Scotland said it did not discuss details of investigations.
Mr Halley contacted us a while ago now and we’ve been doing some work together. We can definitely say that he’s in this for the long haul.Mr Halley has been very active in Twitter exchanges regarding this, I’m glad he is finally getting the recognition he deserves.
Hopefully with him rocking the boat, it causes a situation where all the enabling beasts finally get their comeuppance, including sporting teams whose standing is built on the backs of children being sexually abused.
Absolutely, fkkin, horrendous"It sparked a police investigation, called Operation Planet, which initially resulted in 57 charges against ten men.
This was later reduced to ten charges against five men, whose not guilty pleas were accepted by a court in February 1991."
Welcome to Scotland.
Good to hear BN.Mr Halley contacted us a while ago now and we’ve been doing some work together. We can definitely say that he’s in this for the long haul.
Has anyone ever sent Mark Williams Thomas an email and see if he would help or give any advice ? He has brought down some big rings in the past , brought down Saville and said he still looks at special cases
More than once
Has anyone ever sent Mark Williams Thomas an email and see if he would help or give any advice ? He has brought down some big rings in the past , brought down Saville and said he still looks at special cases
Don’t mean to be disrespectful but I do think you are being naive .The assessing of dementia is carried out by consultant psychiatrists. Serious healthcare practitioners. Don't think they make decisions based on any type of allegiance.
John McCluskey would have been of assistance I'm sure but he is dead now.Police open inquiry into claims of child abuse by lawyers
Officers from Police Scotland’s major investigations unit have been instructed to look into claims that senior members of the legal establishment were linked to the sexual exploitation, trafficking and abuse of children.www.thetimes.co.uk
Officers from Police Scotland’s major investigations unit have been instructed to look into claims that senior members of the legal establishment were linked to the sexual exploitation, trafficking and abuse of children.
The Sunday Times understands that at the request of the Crown Office, police have begun their inquiries and will shortly take evidence from John Halley, an advocate who detailed concerns about historical sex abuse against children in a dossier sent to prosecutors in 2019.
Halley was visited by officers on Thursday morning and expects to provide a witness statement this week.
As this newspaper reported last week, Conservative MSP Russell Findlay tabled questions in parliament last month amid concern that senior figures in the government and judiciary had failed to act on Halley’s 43-page note.
The senior lawyer John Watt was jailed for ten years last summer for historical sex abuse against children.
At the time, Susie Henderson, one of his victims, claimed that another man who abused her remained in an influential position.
Police opened an investigation into Watt after Henderson made allegations against several lawyers.
She said that her father, Robert Henderson QC, had repeatedly sexually abused her.
She made similar claims about several of his friends and colleagues, including former solicitor general for Scotland, Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, the late Conservative MP.
As a result of an investigation, Watt, 72, was extradited to Scotland from the US in 2020.
He was convicted in July 2022 of raping Henderson and abusing two other girls and a boy in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of his victims had relatives who were also legal figures.
Halley was appointed as a lead junior counsel to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in 2015 and maintains that his extensive research found evidence of “child trafficking through prostitution of children in care in Scotland”.
He warned that vulnerable young people in care were let down by a prosecution policy that he believes failed to prevent sexual exploitation through prostitution.
The policy, introduced in 1991, concluded that it was not in the public interest to pursue clients of male prostitutes as young as 16 who had previously engaged in homosexual acts.
Halley’s note called for deeper investigation of Tam Paton, the former Bay City Rollers manager who died in 2009.
Paton owned an Edinburgh flat where a 16-year-old boy from a care home was held over ten days, drugged and raped by a number of men in the early 1990s.
It sparked a police investigation, called Operation Planet, which initially resulted in 57 charges against ten men.
This was later reduced to ten charges against five men, whose not guilty pleas were accepted by a court in February 1991.
Findlay said: “This police action is welcome, but the timing is curious given that almost four years have passed since Mr Halley supplied information about alleged connections between prominent legal figures and the abuse of children in care.
“The police action comes a matter of weeks after I lodged a series of written questions asking the Scottish government what action has been taken in respect of this information.
Going forward, transparency is vital.”
Police Scotland said it did not discuss details of investigations.
I think this is going to be explosive.Police open inquiry into claims of child abuse by lawyers
Officers from Police Scotland’s major investigations unit have been instructed to look into claims that senior members of the legal establishment were linked to the sexual exploitation, trafficking and abuse of children.www.thetimes.co.uk
Officers from Police Scotland’s major investigations unit have been instructed to look into claims that senior members of the legal establishment were linked to the sexual exploitation, trafficking and abuse of children.
The Sunday Times understands that at the request of the Crown Office, police have begun their inquiries and will shortly take evidence from John Halley, an advocate who detailed concerns about historical sex abuse against children in a dossier sent to prosecutors in 2019.
Halley was visited by officers on Thursday morning and expects to provide a witness statement this week.
As this newspaper reported last week, Conservative MSP Russell Findlay tabled questions in parliament last month amid concern that senior figures in the government and judiciary had failed to act on Halley’s 43-page note.
The senior lawyer John Watt was jailed for ten years last summer for historical sex abuse against children.
At the time, Susie Henderson, one of his victims, claimed that another man who abused her remained in an influential position.
Police opened an investigation into Watt after Henderson made allegations against several lawyers.
She said that her father, Robert Henderson QC, had repeatedly sexually abused her.
She made similar claims about several of his friends and colleagues, including former solicitor general for Scotland, Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, the late Conservative MP.
As a result of an investigation, Watt, 72, was extradited to Scotland from the US in 2020.
He was convicted in July 2022 of raping Henderson and abusing two other girls and a boy in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of his victims had relatives who were also legal figures.
Halley was appointed as a lead junior counsel to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in 2015 and maintains that his extensive research found evidence of “child trafficking through prostitution of children in care in Scotland”.
He warned that vulnerable young people in care were let down by a prosecution policy that he believes failed to prevent sexual exploitation through prostitution.
The policy, introduced in 1991, concluded that it was not in the public interest to pursue clients of male prostitutes as young as 16 who had previously engaged in homosexual acts.
Halley’s note called for deeper investigation of Tam Paton, the former Bay City Rollers manager who died in 2009.
Paton owned an Edinburgh flat where a 16-year-old boy from a care home was held over ten days, drugged and raped by a number of men in the early 1990s.
It sparked a police investigation, called Operation Planet, which initially resulted in 57 charges against ten men.
This was later reduced to ten charges against five men, whose not guilty pleas were accepted by a court in February 1991.
Findlay said: “This police action is welcome, but the timing is curious given that almost four years have passed since Mr Halley supplied information about alleged connections between prominent legal figures and the abuse of children in care.
“The police action comes a matter of weeks after I lodged a series of written questions asking the Scottish government what action has been taken in respect of this information.
Going forward, transparency is vital.”
Police Scotland said it did not discuss details of investigations.
It's time the ones responsible for the cover up were brought to task as well. Get them jailed and it may help put a stop to it all.I think this is going to be explosive.
I only hope Russell Findlay has the tenacity to maintain the pressure. Sturgeon and her administration have never been so weak, especially regarding sexual crimes, and this is an opportunity to finally expose and prosecute a decades long cover up.
It may well be that a sporting club is the epicentre of the house of cardsWas Scottish legal scandal a smokescreen for child abuse?
Top lawyer Robert Henderson may have fanned the flames of the conspiracy theory to hide paedophile activity.www.bbc.co.uk
Spotlight could be right,this could go way beyond sex abuse in sporting circles.
Or a church? The more I read the more I believe there is a widespread conspiracy amongst those of influence/ in the establishment to try to bury this.It may well be that a sporting club is the epicentre of the house of cards
It will involve all religions mate .Or a church? The more I read the more I believe there is a widespread conspiracy amongst those of influence/ in the establishment to try to bury this.
Been saying that for years. Police, lawyers, folk of influence in society all got something to lose. God only knows who were/are involved.Was Scottish legal scandal a smokescreen for child abuse?
Top lawyer Robert Henderson may have fanned the flames of the conspiracy theory to hide paedophile activity.www.bbc.co.uk
Spotlight could be right, this could go way beyond sex abuse in sporting circles.
Been saying that for years. Police, lawyers, folk of influence in society all got something to lose. God only knows who were/are involved.
The irony of the BBC posting that article when they covered for Saville for years isn't lost on us either.
It will but one a lot more than others.It will involve all religions mate .
And Nationalists covering for Tories no doubt.It will involve all religions mate .