The former Health Minister gave copies of a leaked report into the Jervis Dykes child abuse scandal to the UK media on the steps of the States Chamber this morning.
He also accused senior legal officials of being complicit in covering up the report, which was written in 1999 but never made public.
It dealt with the case of former Victoria College teacher Jervis Dykes, who worked at the school from 1979 to 1996, and was later convicted of abusing six children on school trips.
Senator Syvret told representatives of the local and UK media that he gave a copy of the report to the JEP but they had chosen to do nothing with it. He said that as the Island’s only newspaper, the JEP was complicit in the cover-up of child abuse.
JEP deputy editor Rob Shipley confirmed that the Senator had provided the paper with a copy of the report, but said that this was a year after its publication.
Mr Shipley said: ‘The editor, Chris Bright, reporter Diane Simon and I studied the report and concluded that it revealed very little that had not already emerged. We therefore decided that, at that stage, the events of the Jervis Dykes case should not be raked over in deference to the feelings of the victims and their families. It was as simple as that.
‘I can state categorically and without fear of contradiction by any evidence that the JEP was not involved in any cover-up.’
