Jersey Abuse Probe: Specialist Search Ends

Associated Press 6 March 2008

[ The "specialist military team" did not stay on Jersey for very long. Did their quick departure have anything to do with the fact that several supposed 'graves' were fakes that had been created for the Bergerac TV show? ]

A specialist military team brought in to help search for bodies at a former Jersey care home where a child's skull was found are set to finish their work.
The team used hi-tech radar equipment to search the foundations and grounds of Haut de la Garenne, the former home at the centre of a major child abuse investigation.

The inquiry, which is already one of the biggest in British history with more than 160 people claiming they were abused in the last 40 years, has grown further with more suspects being accused in the last 24 hours.

Police are expected to reveal how many suspects they have.
In the past week officers said more than 40 people are accused of a catalogue of sex crimes and now it is understood more people have been named by victims.

The results of the work carried out by the military team are also expected.

Victims have claimed they were abused in dark underground "punishment rooms" and search teams have discovered a network of four secret underground chambers.

Forensic officers are carrying out a painstaking search of the first chamber, where they found a bath, shackles and a trap door. They expect to start breaking in to the second "punishment room" next week.

As the police investigation continues the political fall-out from the inquiry looks set to increase with a rally due to take place in support of the victims and against the Government's handling of the case.
Up to 600 people are expected to travel to the Royal Square in St Helier to pay their respects to the children who allegedly suffered at Haut de la Garenne.

Care Home 'Graves' Revealed As Fakes For Bergerac TV Show
Daily Record, 5 March 2008 by Victoria Ward
Dozens of shallow graves found near a Jersey children's home have been revealed as TV fakes.
Radar probes revealed major disturbances in a field behind the Haut de la Garenne home, which is at the centre of a major child abuse probe.
But as police marked the "hot spots" and prepared to excavate, an officer remembered the ground had been dug up for the detective series Bergerac in the 1980s.
He told Jersey's deputy police chief Lenny Harper that dozens of fibreglass gravestones were planted in the soil and a number of 6ft graves dug out.
When Haut de la Garenne shut down in 1986, the Victorian mansion doubled as a police HQ in Bergerac and star John Nettles was often filmed outside it.
A police source said: "The show were going to have a burial scene, so they dug a number of full graves.
"Lenny Harper has insisted the site be dug up just in case, because he is determined the investigation will be complete and thorough."
Police spokesman Baxter Proven said: "We are aware graves were dug on the site. It is something that was drawn to our attention through local knowledge.
"The search teams are aware of that and will take it into consideration when carrying out their work."
Bergerac producer Jonathan Alwyn revealed his BBC crew had filmed on the spot where part of a child's skull was found last month.
The find, under several inches of cement in a corridor, prompted a huge investigation amid fears several bodies could be found.
The bizarre twist came as a six-man team from the Army were drafted in with top-secret military equipment.
A spokesman said: "They will use their specialist radar to help with the excavation.
"The equipment they are using is extremely sensitive so we have asked they are not photographed."