Ex-Bailiff defends decision to drop child abuse charges

Giving evidence to the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry yesterday, Sir Michael, who was Attorney General between 1994 and 2000, said that the case against Alan and Jane Maguire had been ‘finely balanced’ but that he believed the evidence was not strong enough to go to trial.

The Maguires, who ran Blanche Pierre children’s home in the late 1980s and early 1990s, were alleged to have committed a number of assaults on children.

The alleged crimes included excessive smacking, beating them with a wooden spoon and washing their mouths out with soap and water.

Sir Michael, who stepped down as Bailiff last year, told the panel that he would not have dropped the case unless ‘absolutely necessary’, but said he had no choice because the evidence was deemed to have a less than 50 per cent chance of leading to a conviction.

He went on to fiercely deny accusations of broader corruption and cover-ups in Jersey’s legal system, as alleged by Deputy Mike Higgins during a hearing of the inquiry earlier this week.

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