A snippet of evidence - At the request of the Chief Minster

This is perhaps the most important and most distressing blog that I have written to date.

Recent events have accumulated which has left Senator Syvrey and I on one side (the side of the children) and politicians and senior civil servants on the other. They have claimed there is no evidence.

As you know I have called for a public inquiry into the Grand Prix system and Le Chene/Greenfields and I will be submitting a letter to the Chief Minister with the evidence he has requested in the next day or so.

They have a significant amount of evidence already but it is convenient for them to say otherwise.

I will publish that letter in full (minus any libellous bits) on this blog as well as submitting it to the media and all States Members.

Frank Walker and Co have been very busy today. Following the meeting at the Pomme Dor Hotel there was an invitation for the local BBC to go to Greenfields.

No doubt in the next few days there will be a nice piece of footage which attempts to show that Greenfields is all rosy and that the staff love it.

Whilst this was going on I was involved in a very distressing interview over the road from Greenfields at the JEP offices.

This involved two people.

One was a former resident of Greenfields, during the times of the Grand Prix era when Joe Kennedy was manager.

The other was a resident in 1995 when Mario Lundy was manager. Remember the Howard League's view that before the Grand Prix system it has been alleged that things were much worse.

I will not, and cannot, go into detail regarding the content of these interviews but I have had permission from the two interviewees to publish a small snippet of what was disclosed.

The interviewee who was at Greenfields when the Grand Prix was in force, when Joe Kenned was manager discussed the following,

Question "Was the Grand Prix system there when you were there?

Answer "Yes"

Question "What happened?"

Answer "they take you upstairs to a bedroom where you'd be locked in a bedroom for 24hours..."

"If you fall asleep they removed your mattress"

Question "What happened if you didn't behave?

"we were in there [the Pits] for four nights" "if you ran away you got put in the cells for three days".

"There were loads of people in there (the Pits, solitary confinement), there was......was always in there...basically lived there...would run away and get put in the cell for three days".



The interview with the former resident of Le Chene stated the following;

Question "You said earlier on you were in Le Chene, is that correct?"

Answer "Yes" "I first went there in 1994"

"The judge remanded me and my mate back into secure custody at Le Chene...28 days remand"

Question "You said secure remand, what was that?"

Answer "a cell..you were stripped...to boxer shorts...there was a crash mat and there was just three speakers on the roof and then that's it."

Question "What else was in the room, quilt, blanket?"

Answer "No that was it, just you in boxer shorts and a crash mat. The Courts had said, it was a big thing, we had to be kept in secure."

Question "Who was in charge at this time"

Answer "Who was in Charge? It was Mario Lundy."

"There is loads more..."

News Flash - Emergency Meeting called by Chief Minister

The Chief Minister has called an emergency meeting of the States of Jersey 'leadership'. The meeting is taking place today at the Pomme d'Or Hotel at 10.30am.

Is it time for change...? I'm ever optimistic, but is it too much to hope that the truth might be addressed at last?