FORMER deputy police chief Lenny Harper refused to return to Jersey when the Royal Court issued a summons for him to produce books containing police evidence allegedly in his possession.Court hearings took place where an order was made for Mr Harper to attend and bring to the Island police day books which he was alleged to have kept after he retired. The summons was not enforcable in Scotland where Mr Harper lives, however.
Mr Harper refused to attend a court hearing in Jersey and denied having any day-books in his possession. He is believed to have said that he did not trust the Jersey authorities but would attend a UK court to give evidence.
Details of the alleged missing day books were revealed during a pre-trial hearing in which Advocate Mike Preston, who represented Gordon Wateridge and Claude Donnelly who were charged as part of the historical child abuse inquiry, submitted that they could not get a fair trial due to excessive publicity surrounding the case. Details of that hearing could not be published until the trials of those men had finished.
However, as Commissioner Sir Christopher Pitchers ruled that the day-books, if they did exist, would not affect a fair trial, their existence became irrelevant.
Article posted on 22nd August, 2009 - 3.00pm
Harper refused order to return