Kincora not part of abuse inquiry! Allegations of paedophilia at a notorious Belfast boys home will not be examined in the UK Government inquiry into historical child abuse. It has long been alleged that well-known figures in the British establishment were involved in a paedophile ring that abused boys from the Kincora home in the east of the city in the 1970s. Moreover it has been claimed that the UK security services knew about the crimes but did nothing to stop them, instead using the knowledge to blackmail and extract intelligence from influential men who were committing abuse. The allegations had led to calls for the home to be included in Government commissioned UK-wide probe into historic abuse that is being chaired by Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf. Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers has announced that Kincora will not be covered by the inquiry. Ms Villiers said a more appropriate forum for the allegations to be investigated was through an ongoing Northern Ireland-specific inquiry into institutional abuse in the region. The Conservative MP promised the fullest co-operation by the UK Government, including the Security Service (MI5) and Ministry of Defence, with the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry led by retired judge Sir Anthony Hart. Ms Villiers said that Sir Anthonys inquiry was better placed to pursue allegations of abuse at Kincora. She said her decision was based on several reasons, including the fact that Sir Anthonys inquiry has already received a number of allegations concerning Kincora and had powers to compel witness statements. Ms Villiers said the panel chaired by Ms Woolf had no such powers of compulsion. All right-thinking people will find the offences committed at Kincora utterly abhorrent, and if there was any tolerance of such abuse by people in positions of authority that must also be utterly condemned, she said. I believe that Sir Anthonys inquiry is the best placed body to do just that and it is already planning to look at allegations in respect of Kincora. All government departments and agencies who receive a request for information or documents from the Inquiry will co-operate to the utmost of their ability in determining what material they hold that might be relevant.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 10:51:35 +0000
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