An *adjournment debate in the House of Commons, debated the issue of how evidence is gathered in sex abuse cases.

All the MP's who spoke expressed grave concerns in the way police had gathered evidence the only dissenting voice was that of the Minister for Policing, Crime Reduction and Community Safety John Denham, who didn't believe a word anyone had said.

Extracts from debate:

. . . . All those people discuss their grave concerns about the processes that the police use to execute their inquiries. I think that often, the only difference between those who are acquitted and those who are convicted is luck,

. . . . the processes employed by the police in the execution of their duty, which have been compounded by the Crown Prosecution Service, lead me to believe that opportunities exist for the judiciary and the criminal justice system to abuse those processes to deliver a result.

. . . . How do the police come by the allegations that place those individuals in such a predicament? Police use a number of processes, one of which is trawling, and they receive complaints from a number of sources.

. . . . What is trawling, and where do the complaints come from?

. . . . Some come from solicitors who manage compensation schemes. Their advertisements say, "No win, no fee," and, "Have you been subject to a traffic accident?" or "Have you been abused? If so, you may be entitled to compensation."

. . . . There are also cases in which the police go "cold calling" and realise complaints directly.

. . . . During the conversation the police can say, "There's compensation available; it's only right that you should receive that."

. . . . You know, you're coming up for parole," which may be in 20 years' time, 10 years' time, five years' time or next week. "How good will it look for your parole that you have identified the fact that you were abused as a child?"

. . . . They have more to gain from helping the police than just money. They receive many visits from the police and see much activity. They become the centre of attention; they are not the baddy any more, but the goody.

. . . . Some are very much persuaded by the opportunity to get a good report when it comes to parole time.

. . . . It cannot be right that the only evidence used to convict a man is that obtained by the police from a witness in privacy, with no independent witnesses to the interview.

. . . . People accused have very little recourse to appeal, because they need new evidence, for example about the incompetence of their team. There will be no new evidence for cases in which people believe there was no evidence to convict them in the first place.

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*adjournment debate:

This is a method in parliament for MP's to raise matters that concern them, which would not normally be debated.