Saturday 29 August 2009

Haut de la Garenne dig was ‘waste of time’

By Diane Simon

THE excavation of Haut de la Garenne was a complete waste of public money, time and effort, the senior police officer who led the historical abuse inquiry for the past year has said.

Det Supt Mick Gradwell, who left the Island yesterday when his contract ended, told the JEP that there was no justification for the police excavating at Haut de la Garenne as part of the abuse inquiry.

Mr Gradwell said that there had been no hard evidence or intelligence indicating that such a search should take place.

Until that decision was made, the inquiry, led by his predecessor, deputy police chief Lenny Harper, had been run more along UK policy lines, he said.

Mr Gradwell said that once the excavation was begun, things started to go wrong and he was left with a ‘poorly managed mess’ to sort out.

Article posted on 29th August, 2009 - 3.00pm
Haut de la Garenne dig was ‘waste of time’