During the long-awaited hearing, Sir Philip, who was Bailiff at the time of the Haut de la Garenne investigation and previously held the role of Attorney General, said that:
- he believed that the man on the street would have agreed with his decision when he was Attorney General not to inform the Royal Court about an honorary policemans previous conviction for indecent assault when he became aware of the crime
- he had no recollection of asking a former Education Director to look into claims that a youth worker had abused a child but not to involve the police in the investigation
- with hindsight he would have changed his controversial 2008 Liberation Day speech which criticised the national medias coverage of the Haut de la Garenne investigation but angered victims of abuse in the process
During Tuesday’s day-long hearing, Sir Philip Bailhache defended his decision not to inform the Royal Court of the conviction of paedophile Roger Holland, who was appointed to the honorary police in 1992 despite being sentenced to 12 months probation for assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 1986.
*Full report in Wednesday’s JEP.
