Report says there was 'sufficient evidence' to prosecute Lord Janner

It remains a simple and regrettable fact that Lord Janner should have been prosecuted 25 years ago.

This report confirms that the reason he was not, was a direct decision made by the Crown Prosecution Service and not by Leicestershire Constabulary...

...As I have previously said, the decision not to arrest him and to search was not mine nor DI Ashby’s but was one directed to us from a senior officer...

...Whilst I did not carry out all the investigations nor complete the file for submission or make any policy decisions, it is clear that the evidence obtained at the time was still sufficient in the DPP’s view.

What it is clear from the report is that there were additional areas that could have further corroborated the allegations.

...I have already spoken with the Lady Justice Goddard’s public inquiry and given preliminary evidence.

I will be more than happy to give further evidence in the future.

I am also supporting the review being carried out by the Independent Police Complaints commission on behalf of the Leicestershire Constabulary and I am a witness to their investigation.

We are aware that the Crown Prosecution Service has today published an independent review conducted by Sir Richard Henriques into its handling of previous police investigations into Lord Janner dating back some 25 years and its decision-making in those matters.

The report focuses not only on the CPS's role in these investigations, carried out in 1991, 2002 and 2007, but on the role played by Leicestershire Police, and concludes that there were failings in all three investigations.

During the course of his review Sir Richard spoke to a number of CPS staff in order to understand their role in those previous investigations into Lord Janner.

We would have welcomed the opportunity to assist Sir Richard in a similar way and are disappointed not to have been asked to do so.

During the most recent (Operation Enamel) investigation by Leicestershire Police into Lord Janner, the quality of which is praised by Sir Richard, we became concerned about aspects of those previous investigations and voluntarily asked the Independent Police Complaints Commission in 2014 to launch its own, independent investigation into the matters. The IPCC's investigation is on-going, and in order not to prejudice its work we feel it would not be appropriate to make comment on the conclusions reached by Sir Richard until the IPCC reports its own findings.