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The North Wales Police

 50.01  The North Wales Police assumed that title on 1 April 1974, the date when the new counties of Clwyd and Gwynedd came into existence. The force served the geographical areas of both the new counties as had its predecessor, the Gwynedd Police, which had been formed on 1 October 1967 by the merger of the former Flintshire, Denbighshire and Gwynedd Constabularies, the latter having been the police force for Caernarvonshire, Anglesey and Merionethshire

50.02  The first Chief Constable of the North Wales Police was Sir Philip Myers, OBE, QPM, DL, who was brought up in Wrexham and who had been Deputy Chief Constable of the enlarged Gwynedd Police from 1968 to 1970 before becoming Chief Constable. He retired in 1982 to become one of HM Inspectors of Constabulary. Sir Philip was succeeded by David Owen CBE, QPM, who had been Chief Constable of Dorset from 1980 and who remained head of the North Wales Police until his retirement on 31 March 1994. Owen had had long experience in the Metropolitan Police, in which he had risen to Detective Chief Superintendent, and he had then served in senior positions in the Lincolnshire and Merseyside forces before his Dorset appointment. He served also as President of the Association of Chief Police Officers in 1990/1991. Owen's successor, Michael Argent, had a similar background to him and remains in office. After 25 years service in the Metropolitan Police, rising to Chief Superintendent, he became an Assistant Chief Constable in Merseyside for two years and then Deputy Chief Constable of Suffolk for a like period from 1992.

 50.03  At the time of Owen's retirement there were 1,384 officers in the North Wales Police, of whom 120 were then in the CID.

Investigations 1974 to 1980

  50.04  We have listed in paragraph 2.07(1) to (4) of this report five relevant convictions that occurred during this period, namely, those of Anthony David Taylor (Bryn Alyn, 1976), Leslie Wilson (Little Acton, 1977), Bryan Davies (Ystrad Hall, 1978), Gary Cooke and (Arthur) Graham Stevens (1980). There was also one other person, Albert Frederick Tom Dyson, then aged 40 years, who was convicted in 1980 of three offences of indecency against the boy identified as D in paragraphs 10.15 to 10.19 of this report, for which he was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. Dyson, who had befriended D's family, admitted to the Tribunal that he committed the offences at a time when D was in care and placed at Bryn Estyn, but he was not employed by Social Services at any time: he was then the owner of the 15/20 Club in Rhyl, which he disposed of in 1980, after owning it for 20 years.

  50.05  In addition, the North Wales Police investigated allegations against a gardener/driver (Upper Downing, 1976)[767] , Carl Evans (Little Acton, 1977)[768] and Paul Bicker Wilson (Bryn Estyn, 1977)[769] , but no prosecution ensued at that time against any of these three men. According to the police evidence before us, there was also an investigation in 1980 of allegations against Huw Meurig Jones[770] but neither of the complainants in relation to that investigation (one is dead) gave evidence to the Tribunal and there was no prosecution.

  50.06  We have not received any general criticism of these investigations by the police but it has been submitted that there was a paedophile ring in existence and that the investigations of Cooke, Stephens and Dyson[771] in 1980 should have gone further than they did. We deal with this subject in Chapter 52 of this report.

  50.07  It has not been suggested that these ten investigations, all in Clwyd, were sufficient to trigger a wider investigation by the police of possible abuse of children in care in the county in the absence of other complaints brought to their attention. The allegations ought, however, to have given rise at least to anxiety in the Social Services Department and a corresponding determination to be vigilant. Unhappily, the climate of suppression was such that there was no general awareness of the potential problem and even co-operation with the police in cases such as that of Wilson seems to have been faint-hearted.

Investigations 1981 to 1989

  50.08  During this period there were five further relevant convictions for sexual offences against children in care in Clwyd, as we have listed in paragraph 2.07(5) to (7) of this report. The five persons convicted were Iain Muir (Bryn Alyn, 1986), Jacqueline Elizabeth Thomas (Chevet Hey, 1986), David John Gillison (1987, a social worker who was not then employed in residential care)[772], William Gerry (1987, a former resident of Bryn Estyn) and Gary Cooke (1987, for further offences). It will be seen that only the first two of these were employed in children's residential establishments at the time when their offences were committed; and Thomas' conviction was for an offence against a 15 years old boy who was not in care at the time.

  50.09  One other relevant person, namely, Huw Meurig Jones, was charged in 1981 with alleged sexual offences against a boy in care in Clwyd. Meurig Jones was then an unqualified social worker for Clwyd County Council but had not been employed in residential care in Clwyd, as far as we are aware, after March 1976[773]. He resigned on 28 July 1981 but it appears that the charges against him were not proceeded with.

  50.10  During this same period between 1981 and 1989 allegations against five other residential child care workers in Clwyd were investigated by the police but only one of the five was alleged to have committed sexual offences. The other four were Frederick Rutter (Bryn Estyn, 1983)[774] , Paul Wilson (Chevet Hey, 1985)[775] , Kenneth White junior (Bryn Alyn, 1988)[776] and Y (Ysgol Talfryn, 1989)[777]: each was alleged to have committed a physical assault or assaults on a boy in care but none of the four was prosecuted for reasons that have been stated in the cited passages of our report, where known to us.

  50.11  The fifth person in Clwyd investigated by the police in this period but not prosecuted was David Evans, who was alleged to have indecently touched two girl residents at Park House in 1989[778]. In that case the Crown Prosecution Service advised that there was insufficient evidence to support a charge of indecent assault in respect of either girl.

  50.12  Thus, 11 persons were investigated for alleged sexual or physical abuse in this period[779], of whom five were convicted. Of those investigated six were employed as residential care staff at the time of the alleged offences and one (Y) was employed as a teacher at a residential school.

  50.13  Again, it must be said that we have not received any criticisms of these individual investigations, save for a submission that the further investigation of Gary Cooke (and possibly the investigations of Meurig Jones, Gillison and Gerry) should have been wider because of the alleged existence of a paedophile ring. As we have said earlier, we revert to this topic in Chapter 52.

  50.14  Subject only to this point, the five proved cases of sexual abuse during this period did not, in our judgment, give rise to the need for a wider police investigation. The facts of the inter-linked cases of Gillison, Thomas and Gerry were, however, very perturbing and did call for an investigation in Clwyd on the lines directed by Mr Justice Mars-Jones. As we have said earlier, it is very regrettable that the response to this direction was both perfunctory and dilatory[780].

  50.15  The first relevant police investigation in Gwynedd was into the alleged incident at Ty'r Felin on 24 May 1984 that we have related in paragraphs 33.102 and 33.103. The allegation, taken up by Alison Taylor, was that a boy, resident at Ty Newydd but who attended classes at Ty'r Felin, had been assaulted by John Roberts, who hit him, knocking his forehead against a desk. Roberts' evidence to the Tribunal was that he had asked the boy to sit down and put his hand on the boy's head, directing him towards his seat. We have not heard evidence as to who reported the matter to the police or the extent of the investigation by them. According to former Detective Chief Superintendent Robert Gwynne Owen, who was then head of the North Wales CID, the incident was not reported to the police until September 1984. There was then "an investigation by experienced officers, who, after consideration, decided that there should be no prosecution". The boy himself recollects making a statement to the police and thinks that Roberts was suspended from duty; but Roberts continued to teach at Ty'r Felin until July 1985.

  50.16  It was in February 1986 that the first major police investigation into Alison Taylor's complaints began, following a meeting by Gwynne Owen with her and Councillor Marshall. According to Gwynne Owen, he had already instructed Detective Inspector Maldwyn Jones to investigate an allegation of unlawful sexual intercourse at Queens Park between a resident youth and a female social worker[781].

  50.17  The course of this police investigation has already been outlined in paragraphs 2.12 to 2.15 and the history need not be repeated here. The first phase ended, subject only to minor further inquiries, in October 1986, when the initial decision not to prosecute anyone in respect of Alison Taylor's complaints was taken. It was then re-opened, in effect, because of fresh allegations against Nefyn Dodd by a former female resident of Ty'r Felin and the second phase of the investigation was not finally completed until April 1988, shortly before Gwynne Owen retired in July 1988, after 32 years police service.

  50.18  This Gwynedd investigation has been heavily criticised and we discuss it in detail in the next chapter of this report. It is to be noted here that the initial decision not to prosecute anyone was closely followed by the decision of the Director of Social Services to suspend Alison Taylor from duty, purportedly for other reasons, on 1 December 1986. In the meantime Bowen Rees, the Chief Executive, had made an ill-considered statement to the press[782] about the effect of the decision not to prosecute. In this context there is a conflict of evidence between Gwynne Owen and the Director of Social Services, Lucille Hughes, about what he said to her at that time following his investigation, to which we will revert also in the next chapter.

  50.19  There was one other investigation by the police in 1987 of an allegation of sexual abuse by a foster parent in Gwynedd but there was insufficient evidence to justify a prosecution and we are not aware of any criticism of that investigation[783]. It appears also that they were involved on a number of occasions in dealing with complaints at Paul Hett's establishments[784].

Investigations from 1990 to 1996

  50.20  The first investigation in this period into sexual abuse in a children's home was into offences committed by Stephen Norris whilst Officer-in-Charge of Cartrefle[785]. The police were informed promptly on 17 June 1990 of the allegations that had been made by a boy to Henry Morton Stanley; and, in the course of the subsequent investigation led by Detective Inspector Donald Cronin, all ten current residents of Cartrefle, nine previous residents and 13 past and present members of the staff were interviewed. It revealed that six complainants alleged serious sexual abuse by Norris and on 5 October 1990, in the Crown Court at Chester, he pleaded guilty to five offences of indecent assault, involving three boy residents at Cartrefle. There were three other counts in the indictment against Norris involving the three other boys and an additional count alleging buggery with one of the first three boys but these were not proceeded with by the prosecution and not guilty verdicts were recorded by the Court in respect of three of them.

  50.21  As appears from what we have said, the investigation of these offences was expeditious and the proceedings were completed in less than four months. The only criticism of the investigation of which we are aware is that it has been said that it should have been broadened to include Norris' previous activities at Bryn Estyn before his transfer to Cartrefle, having regard (amongst other things) to the repetitious nature of his sexual misconduct at Cartrefle. We consider this criticism in the next chapter of this report.

  50.22  The other important police investigation before the county-wide investigation began was into the activities of Frederick Rutter as a foster parent and as Warden of a hostel at Connah's Quay[786]. This began on 3 April 1990 when a woman resident at the hostel complained to the police that Rutter had behaved improperly towards her and it culminated in his conviction on 30 July 1991, in the Crown Court at Chester, of four offences of rape and two offences of indecent assault involving three hostel residents and two girls who had lived in his household. We have not received any criticism of this investigation by the police.

  50.23  The list before us of relevant police investigations is not comprehensive and it appears from the evidence that they were involved in at least one complaint of physical abuse at Gatewen Hall (Bryn Alyn Community) in 1990. They were involved also on many occasions towards the end of that year in resolving or investigating incidents arising at or stemming from Ysgol Hengwrt[787]. However, the next important event was the setting up of the major investigation into child abuse in Clwyd at the request of Clwyd County Council in July 1991. We have outlined the background to this request in paragraphs 2.22 and 2.23 of this report; and the investigation was broadened to include Gwynedd early in December 1991[788].

  50.24  The Senior Investigating Officer in Charge of this investigation was Detective Superintendent Peter Ackerley, who became Detective Superintendent (Crime Operations) on 23 August 1991 and who was in his 21st year of police service. He remained in charge throughout but in August 1993, by which time the main part of the investigation was nearing completion, it was decided that there should be a reduction in the resources devoted to the inquiry and that Detective Inspector John Rowlands should take over the lead role under the supervision of Ackerley, who then resumed his general duties as Detective Superintendent (Crime Operations).

  50.25  By December 1996 it is estimated that 3,860 statements had been obtained by the police from 2,719 witnesses (by September 1993, about 3,500 statements from 2,500 witnesses). Of these 2,719 witnesses about 1,700 had formerly been resident in children's homes in North Wales as children in care. About 500 of them alleged that they had themselves been subjected to sexual or physical abuse whilst in residential care at the hands of care workers or social workers (156 alleged sexual abuse). The remaining 1,200 former residents in care were either entirely 'negative' in relation to abuse or gave evidence or information about events or offences involving others. Many had been resident in more than one establishment and more than 36 establishments within North Wales were mentioned, excluding foster homes.

  50.26  Allegations of varying strength against approximately 365 individuals were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for decision. Some of them were the subject of more than one referral and police officers interviewed approximately 160 "suspects" under caution.

  50.27  In the event eight persons were prosecuted, of whom six were convicted, as we have listed in paragraph 2.35 of this report. The two acquitted were the foster parent, Evelyn May Roberts and the residential care officer, David Gwyn Birch. The main culprits were Stephen Roderick Norris (for the second time), Peter Norman Howarth and John Ernest Allen, who were all convicted of grave sexual offences. The only person convicted of physical assaults in a community home, on his own pleas of guilty, was Paul Bicker Wilson.

  50.28  There have been comparatively few criticisms of this major police investigation but we deal with them in the next chapter of this report.

Investigations from 1997 to date

  50.29  Since the hearings by the Tribunal began in Janaury 1997 investigations by the police have continued and some of them have arisen from statements made to the Tribunal in connection with our inquiry. We have been kept informed by the North Wales Police in general terms of the progress of these inquiries. In order to avoid prejudicing the investigations we adopted the general policy that we would not hear evidence in support of complaints that were still under investigation by the police at the time when the evidence would otherwise have been heard by us. We regret that, to that extent, our investigation has been necessarily incomplete. We are satisfied, however, that the general accuracy of the history that we have given and our conclusions from it have not been significantly affected by these gaps in the evidence.

  50.30  The best information that we have to date is that allegations by nine complainants in statements to the Tribunal have been under investigation by the police and complaints by some others not contained in Tribunal statements have also been investigated. The allegations have involved over a dozen members of staff at various homes, one of whom died in the course of the investigations and after our hearings had ended[789].

 50.31  The following convictions and prosecutions since 1997 are relevant to our investigation:

(1)  On 7 March 1997, in the Crown Court at Mold, Roger Platres Saint pleaded guilty to nine counts alleging indecent assaults upon a step-son, two pupils, a foster child and five adopted children; and he was sentenced on 23 May 1997 to six and a half years' imprisonment[790].

(2)  On 14 March 1997, in the Crown Court at Mold, Robert Martin Williams, a former nursing auxilliary at Gwynfa Residential Unit, was convicted of two offences of rape of a girl patient, who was aged 16 years at the time of the offences and who is identified as P in paragraphs 20.12 and 20.13 of this report. Concurrent sentences of six years' imprisonment were imposed on him.

(3)  On 4 July 1997, in the Crown Court at Chester, Noel Ryan pleaded guilty to 14 sexual offences (three of buggery, one attempted buggery and ten indecent assaults) against ten male residents under the age of 16 years at Clwyd Hall; and he asked for seven other offences of indecent assaults involving seven other boys to be taken into consideration. He was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment[791].

(4)  On 9 September 1998, in the Crown Court at Chester, Mr B pleaded guilty to three offences of rape and six indecent assaults upon B2 and four indecent assaults upon B1[792]. He was sentenced to a total of three years' imprisonment.

(5)   Richard Dafydd Vevar, formerly a care worker employed by the Bryn Alyn Community, was charged in July 1998 with offences of buggery and indecent assault against the girl referred to in paragraph 21.55 of this report. On 23 June 1999 he was acquitted by a jury of the allegations of buggery but they were unable to reach verdicts on the other counts. At a later hearing the Judge entered verdicts of not guilty in respect of these other counts.

(6)   Richard Ernest Leake[793], formerly Principal of Ystrad Hall School at Llangollen, has been charged with offences of indecent assaults on boys alleged to have been committed between 1972 and 1978. He denies all the charges and his trial has now been fixed for 8 November 1999.

(7)  Richard Francis Groome[794], formerly Warden of Tanllwyfan and then successively Head of Care and Principal at Clwyd Hall School, has been committed for trial on charges alleging sexual offences involving former boy residents at the latter school and at both these establishments and at others in Shropshire between 1981 and 1989. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and his trial is likely to take place early in 2000 at Mold.

50.32  It is necessary to mention also certain other recent criminal proceedings that are relevant to our inquiry, namely:

(1)   Roger Owen Griffiths and his former wife, Anthea Beatrice Roberts, the proprietors of Gatewen Hall[795] residential school from 1977 to 1982, when the premises were sold to the Bryn Alyn Community, were convicted in the Crown Court at Chester on 3 and 4 August 1999. Griffiths was sentenced to a total of eight years' imprisonment for offences of buggery (one), attempted buggery (one), indecent assault (one) and cruelty (four) involving four boy residents at the school. Roberts was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for two offences of indecent assault on two other boy residents aged under 16 years.

(2)   Derek Brushett, an SSIW employed by the Welsh Office, is currently suspended from duty whilst he awaits trial on numerous charges of sexual and other offences against boys alleged to have been committed in or about the 1970s, when Brushett was headmaster of Bryn-y-Don School (initially an approved school) in Dinas Powys. During his employment thereafter by the Welsh Office, Brushett took part in a few inspections in North Wales but there is no allegation of misconduct by him in that capacity, as far as we are aware.

Criticisms of police responses outside the main investigations

  50.33  We deal in the next chapter with specific criticisms that have been made of the conduct by the North Wales Police of the three main investigations of alleged abuse in 1986/1988 (Gwynedd), 1990 (Cartrefle) and from 1991 onwards (North Wales generally); and in Chapter 52 we consider the allegation that they failed to investigate adequately an alleged paedophile ring. It is convenient here, however, to deal with more general criticisms, namely, that:

(a)  they failed to respond to and investigate individual specific complaints by children in care who came to them; and

(b)  they were insensitive in their dealings with absconders from children's homes and failed to probe sensibly the reasons for absconsions.

  It is convenient also to deal with the allegation, canvassed by some in the press, that the thoroughness of the investigations generally was suspect because of the links of individuals with freemasonry.

  50.34  In relation to both (a) and (b), it must be said that comparatively few of the complainants alleged that they made a complaint to the police of physical or sexual abuse whilst they were still in care. Of those who said that they did, most claimed to have done so when apprehended by the police as absconders, saying that they had told a police officer that the particular abuse had been the reason for their absconsion.

  50.35  At this distance of time it is impossible for us to reach any confident conclusion about individual complaints of this kind in the absence of any supporting documentary evidence. It is likely, however, that there were a few complaints by children in care direct to the police other than in the course of absconding. We have no persuasive reason for disbelieving, for example, the evidence that a victim of Stephen Norris at Cartrefle went to the police station next door and alleged to an unidentified officer on duty that children were being abused, to be met with the response that the officer could do nothing without evidence[796]. Again, we heard evidence that a boy who was resident with the Bryn Alyn Community at Gatewen Hall reported several assaults by the staff there but the police were dissuaded from investigating the complaints and he was warned about wasting police time[797]. In another case, a social worker's report confirmed that a girl had gone to Prestatyn Police Station to complain of being picked on by Joan Glover but the police did not take any action beyond arranging for the girl's return to South Meadow[798].

  50.36  According to the calculation by Counsel for the North Wales Police, about 50 per cent (134) of the former residents of children's homes and former foster children whose evidence is before us absconded at one time or another; and about 57 of these said that they came into contact with the police (not necessarily the North Wales Police) in the course of, or in connection with, absconding. We heard oral evidence from 49 of this group of 57 but only about ten in all (including three whose evidence was read) criticised the way in which they were dealt with as absconders.

  50.37  Only one of these critics of the police alleged that he complained to them of being sexually abused in care. He was resident at Bersham Hall at the time and claimed to have been alone when he made his complaint at Corwen Police Station. Contemporary records, however, show that he was taken to that police station with two other absconders. That alone is not a sufficient reason for disbelieving him. We accept that he may have made a complaint and that it may have been brushed aside but we cannot be confident that that occurred.

  50.38  Three of the other absconders alleged that they reported physical assaults to police officers who apprehended them but that they were disbelieved. Others complained that they were not asked their reasons for absconding, although they did not volunteer the information: they were questioned, however, about any offences that they might have committed whilst "on the run" and one described being told off for absconding before being returned to the home from which he had escaped.

  50.39  This evidence does not provide a firm basis for severe strictures on the North Wales Police about their response to individual complaints, bearing in mind the general lack of awareness of the risk of abuse in care for a substantial part of the period under review. It is also relevant that the obligation on a judge to warn a jury about the danger of convicting on the uncorroborated evidence of a complainant of sexual offences was not removed until 3 February 1995[799]. The limited complaints that we have heard do, however, underline the importance of both vigilance and sensitivity on the part of police officers when dealing with complaints by children in care, whether or not they are absconders and whether or not they have committed criminal offences or otherwise appear to be troublesome[800].

  50.40  There was an occasion in 1981 or 1982 when John Allen's sexual activities might have come to the attention of the police. Police officers in Durham had become aware that a former resident with the Bryn Alyn Community was receiving substantial cheques from Allen. A police officer at Llay, near Wrexham, was asked to investigate the position and learnt from the Bryn Alyn accountant at that time that money was being paid to former residents. We heard the recollections of four witnesses about this matter but only one of them, Keith Allan Evans[801], claimed to have told the Llay police officer about rumours or banter in relation to residents who received gifts in return for "bending down" for Allen; and Evans himself did not believe what was being said about Allen. The Llay police officer, on the other hand, said that there was no suggestion by the Durham police or by the Bryn Alyn staff of blackmail. The officer said that blackmail was not the subject of investigation and that he was not told of any rumour of sexual abuse by Allen. In these circumstances we cannot be satisfied that anything was said to the North Wales Police at that time to put them on notice of allegations of sexual misconduct by Allen.

The alleged impact of freemasonry

  50.41  Although this question was quite widely discussed in the press before the Tribunal's hearings began very few questions were asked about it during our inquiry and most of them were put by the Chairman of the Tribunal to give appropriate witnesses an opportunity to affirm or deny any connection with freemasonry.

  50.42  The reason why freemasonry soon became a non-issue in the inquiry was that there was no evidence whatsoever that freemasonry had had any impact on any of the investigations with which we have been concerned. We have dealt with this question earlier, in Chapter 9[802], because we understood it to be alleged specifically that Gordon Anglesea's membership of the Masons had led to a "cover up" of the allegations about him or to specially favourable treatment in consideration by the police of the strength of the evidence against him. There was also a suggestion that he had received special favour in being permitted to retire when he did.

  50.43  It is inappropriate to repeat here our conclusions about the case of Gordon Anglesea, which are set out fully in Chapter 9. It is necessary, however, to repeat that:

(a)  at the outset of the Inquiry Counsel for the North Wales Police stated, on the instructions of the Chief Constable, that none of the current or former senior officers from Assistant Chief Constable upwards during the period under review had been a freemason and that the same was true of the relevant Detective Chief Superintendents and Detective Superintendent Ackerley;

(b)  a directive was issued by the Chief Constable in September 1984 warning existing Masons in the North Wales Police to "consider carefully how right it is to continue such membership" in view of the requirement that "openness must be seen by all", and the directive discouraged others from applying to join the Masons for the same reasons[803].

  50.44  When Councillor Malcolm King[804] was asked about the alleged rumours of the involvement of freemasonry in either the alleged abuse or the investigation of it in North Wales, he said that there was speculation (he believed) that Lord Kenyon had asked for promotion for Gordon Anglesea. This was said by Councillor King to have been based on a conversation overheard at a police function; and the speculation was that Lord Kenyon had advocated Anglesea's promotion "for the purpose of covering up the fact that his son had been involved in child abuse activities".

  50.45  We have received no evidence whatsoever in support of this allegation and it appears to have been merely a malicious rumour. In particular, there is no evidence that Lord Kenyon intervened at any time in any way on behalf of Anglesea. Both Lord Kenyon (the fifth Baron) and the son referred to (Thomas) are now dead. We deal in Chapter 52 with allegations about the latter and an alleged intervention by Lord Kenyon on his son's behalf. In relation to freemasonry, the only evidence about Lord Kenyon, who was Provincial Grand Master and a member of the North Wales Police Authority in the 1980s, was given by the Chief Constable at that time, David Owen. Owen's evidence was that, within a month following the publication of the directive referred to in paragraph 50.43(b), he met Lord Kenyon at Wrexham Police Station, at Lord Kenyon's request, when the latter put to him his concern as Provincial Grand Master about the contents of the directive. At this meeting Lord Kenyon argued that the directive was totally misguided and asked that it should be withdrawn; and he mentioned that a police officer (unidentified, but not Anglesea) had been about to take the chair in a North Wales lodge but had declined to do so because of the directive.

  50.46  Owen's evidence was that he told Lord Kenyon that he had no intention of withdrawing the directive. In response, Lord Kenyon argued that the Chief Constable knew nothing at all about freemasonry and suggested that it would be appropriate for him to join a lodge, such as the one at Denbigh, outside the area of his usual working activity; but this invitation was declined.

  50.47  Nefyn Dodd was specifically asked whether he had ever been a Mason, in order that any suggestion of a "cover up" in his case on that ground should be probed. His answer was in the negative and he said that, to his knowledge, the only Mason known to him was Leonard Stritch[805]. The only other person figuring in this inquiry who is known to have been a Mason is John Ilton[806], who was for a time a member of the same lodge at Wrexham (the Berwyn lodge) as Gordon Anglesea. His evidence to the Tribunal was that he knew Anglesea by sight and vaguely remembered him as a member of the same lodge, but that he had never approached Anglesea.

Footnotes:

767   See paras 17.03 to 17.07.

768   See paras 12.11 to 12.17.

769   See paras 10.15 to 10.19.

770   See paras 12.03, 12.29 to 12.35 and 14.05.

771   We must record here that Dyson's evidence was that he first met Cooke in prison in 1980 and that we have not received any evidence that Dyson knew Stephens.

772   See paras 14.32 to 14.40.

773   See footnote 4 to para 50.05.

774   See paras 10.151 and 10.152.

775   See paras 14.20 to 14.27.

776   See para 21.99.

777   See paras 19.08 to 19.15.

778   See paras 17.43 and 17.88 to 17.91.

779   See para 21.100 for one other investigation in 1989 of allegations at Bryn Alyn, of which we have not received direct evidence.

780   See paras 32.18 to 32.21.

781   See paras 36.14 to 36.29.

782   See para 2.14.

783   See paras 42.21 to 42.23.

784   See eg paras 39.44 and 39.56.

785   See paras 15.07 to 15.09.

786   See para 2.07(8) and Chapter 26.

787   See para 39.38.

788   See para 2.24.

789   See para 21.52.

790   See Chapter 25.

791   See paras 23.17 to 23.27.

792   See paras 27.20 to 27.28.

793   See paras 22.07 and 22.15.

794   See paras 18.06, 18.07, 18.21 to 18.26, 18.30, 23.06, 23.07 and 23.30

795   See para 21.05(d).

796   See para 15.09.

797   See paras 21.69 to 21.73.

798   See para 17.32.

799   By section 32 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

800   See eg Appendix 3 at page 19 to "Missing from Care", the report of a working party chaired by Adrianne Jones CBE, published by the Local Government Association in 1997.

801   See para 21.80.

802   See paras 9.24, 9.37 and 9.38.

803   See para 9.24

804   See paras 2.22 and 32.35.

805   See paras 10.85 and 10.94 to 10.99.

806   See paras 7.15, 7.24 and 10.109.