Thread
1./
In 2018, some on the right disgracefully tried to smear Keir Starmer, then Shadow Brexit Secretary, using the Warboys case. They were wrong and had to retract.
Sadly, some on the left are now repeating those old smears to try to score points today.
Please read & RT
2./
It’s a distressing, emotive case:
An overview:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Worb…
The police were found guilty of bungling the initial investigation, refusing to believe those reporting assault. The police appealed, unsuccessfully, supported by then Home Secretaries May and Rudd:
3./
Warboys was finally arrested & in April 2008 was charged with 23 offences. He was convicted of 19 the following March.
Starmer only became DPP in Nov 2008.
Here, the CPS explains the prosecuting decisions & makes clear he had no involvement in them:
cps.gov.uk/cps/news/cps-s…
4./
Of 83 initial complainants, only 14 saw their cases brought to trial.
Why?
If the evidence isn’t quite there to be sure of winning, and it’ll make no difference to the final verdict, it’s *right* to spare people the trauma of going to court, and of potentially losing.
5./
When people fake complain about all the cases that through lack of evidence weren’t charged, remember they could still be brought NOW.
Would it be right today to make these survivors undergo the trauma of court, risking losing, with no difference to Warboys staying in jail?
6./
Warboys received an ‘indeterminate’ sentence - there was no fixed end-date to it.
Potentially, he would *never* be released, unless it could be *proved* he was no longer a danger.
BUT, in 2012, the Tory government changed the rules, as too harsh:
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
7./
Parole was suggested in Jan 2018, to a huge outcry. Two of the survivors went to court, and, in March, the decision was quashed, and the parole board chief apologised and resigned.
Warboys was never released and remains in jail.
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-435685…
8./
BUT - back in Jan, as soon as that initial parole decision to release was announced, the Tory smear machine got to work.
Because Keir Starmer, who had quit his job to become an MP in 2015 to fight austerity, was now shadow Brexit secretary...
Jan 4
order-order.com/2018/01/04/sta…
9./
Jan 5th
Guido even tries to make Starmer and Warboys look alike, while throwing everything he can at him:
order-order.com/2018/01/05/sta…
10./
The same day, Jan 5th, the CPS steps in, issuing its statement making it crystal clear that Starmer had not been involved:
m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/sir-ke…
11./
Those accusing Starmer of responsibility were forced to accept that he had no involvement and retract, if not apologise.
By the next day, Jan 6th, Tim Fenton can write this:
zelo-street.blogspot.com/2018/01/starme…
12./
So if you wonder why some on the left are now tweeting the likes of the Spectator, or using Guido Fawkes as a template to attack to Starmer, this is why.
They aren’t interested in the truth, or, in fact, the survivors - who, remember, ALL deserve their privacy respected.
13./
It’s especially unfair, since his record as DPP, in changing the culture around prosecution of sexual assault cases, was good - introducing a presumption of belief in victims, mandatory reporting of CA, transparency about prosecuting decisions, etc
civilserviceworld.com/interview-keir…
14./
He acknowledged and apologised to survivors for the mistakes and trauma caused in cases like Rochdale, Savile, and Warboys.
theguardian.com/uk/2013/jan/11…
A fall in reports of cases of sexual and domestic assault didn’t mean sitting back but doing more:
theguardian.com/society/2013/j…
15./
He quit as DPP to fight austerity as an MP.
This was the reaction from those who knew the truth about his record:
“He commands great respect from any charity even fleetingly involved in violence against women.”
theguardian.com/theguardian/20…
16./
No-one is perfect, and he had a tough job dealing with the most difficult cases, but I think he’s one of the good guys.
But if you think he’s the one to lead Labour in future or not, let’s have that debate without trying to destroy each other, or by spreading Tory lies.
17./
Finally, after the botched parole, more charges were brought against Warboys last year. He confessed to further crimes *while he was in jail*. Last December he was convicted of offences against four more women & given two more life sentences.
theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/d…
END/
Just to be clear:
The offences Warboys was convicted of last December were not any of the old ones, but NEW ones from NEW victims who came forward AFTER the publicity of the botched parole, with NEW evidence - not least the fact that Warboys confessed AFTER he had been jailed.
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