There are 3 excellent articles on the the Children's Commissioner for Scotland Web site all well worth reading.
Does Naming Suspects Help Children?
28th Apr 2008
The McClintock Lecture 2004, organised by SACRO and presented by Kathleen Marshall, Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland
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The Power to Abuse and the Power to Accuse
28th Apr 2008
Delivered to : The Annual Research Collections Lecture hosted by Glasgow Caledonian University and presented by Kathleen Marshall, Scotland’s...
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Allegations against Teachers by Pupils
28th Apr 2008
Children and adults need each other. Children’s rights and adults’ rights do not have to be in conflict. They both fall under the category of...
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Taking the heat out of accusations
In Society last week, the academic Sarah Nelson rejected calls for teachers accused of child abuse to remain anonymous. Here Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People Kathleen Marshall responds.
Sarah Nelson believes that my support for anonymity for teachers accused of hurting a child, until and unless the accusation is proven to be true, is "misguided and can only cause harm to vulnerable children".
We agree that "a fearful, sterile atmosphere between teachers or carers and children has become damaging to both sides", but we disagree on the solution.
Sarah argues that anonymity until conviction is not appropriate because it perpetuates a stereotype of children as malicious liars; that research shows how difficult it is for children to tell about abuse and to be believed; and that it is difficult to justify protecting only one group of people (ie teachers).
Instead, she suggests reaffirming to teachers that it is legitimate to engage in simple physical contact for purposes such as comforting, aiding or praising a child or protecting them or others from danger, and ensuring gentle, skilled interviewing of the child at an early stage to distinguish true from false allegations.
These solutions could be helpful, but I do not think they will be enough to make an impact on this highly charged issue.
I agree it is difficult to justify applying anonymity only to teachers.
We should consider extending it.
I also agree that proposing anonymity for accused teachers, or anyone else, may be seen by some as perpetuating the unfortunate and damaging stereotype Sarah refers to. Such stereotypes should be constantly challenged.
We need a system that encourages and supports children to speak out, while responding in a measured, mature way to them.
Adults who feel enraged by the prospect of false allegations often suggest that children should be punished for making allegations that turn out to be untrue. I would strongly oppose that development as it would inhibit children from speaking up about genuine issues.
The fact that something is not proven in a court of law does not mean it is untrue. Some kinds of abuse are difficult to prove. I suggest instead an approach that takes some of the heat out of the consequences of a false allegation.
The fact these consequences can be so dire for an accused adult is the result of the laws and system created by adults, and adults have the power to change them.
We can, for instance, filter non-conviction information on "enhanced disclosures" before it is passed to a prospective employer so details of unproven allegations are not shown. We can change the law so reports of court proceedings do not give all sorts of details that might not ultimately be proven. We can also change the law to ban publication of the names of the accused until a conviction is secured.
There are complex legal issues around this and I believe it merits analysis and consultation. I have suggested that the Scottish Law Commission undertakes this task. Then everyone can have a say.
Research commissioned by my office has evidenced the deep-rooted fear adults have of contact with children. Simple reassurances won't do when the stakes are so high in terms of public humiliation, loss of reputation and a possible far-reaching impact on future employment prospects.
I want a system that acknowledges all we have learned about how difficult it is for children to tell about abuse. It should also acknowledge the danger of our current overreaction to throwaway remarks by children. This situation, if left unaddressed, will itself undermine the child protection agenda.
Read more at www.sccyp.org.uk
Source: The Herald [Scotland]
The following article By Eamonn O'Neil appeared in the Obvserver on 21st April
This morning in Glasgow city chamber's historic banqueting hall - the place where Nelson Mandela received the freedom of the city in 1993 - the world's first conference examining the post-exoneration treatment of the victims of the UK's miscarriages of justice will take place. It's a unique gathering, featuring academics, victims of wrongful convictions and legal experts, and will run for two days.
There was a time in the UK where the term "miscarriage of justice" provoked outrage and indignation. Recall, for example, Lord Hailsham proclaiming with a splutter that the mere possibility of a miscarriage of justice in the case of the Birmingham Six was "an appalling vista" for English and Welsh justice. Recall the scene when Gerry Conlon fled the court of appeal with his sisters by his side, telling a waiting camera crew, "I'm an innocent man ...". Recall the sad sight of Stefan Kiszko, exonerated of the murder of a little girl - only to die shortly afterwards. Recall the sight of Scotsman Robert Brown live on Channel 4 news, wearing tinted glasses because prison lights had damaged his eyes, released in 2002 after almost 26 years - as much as prisoner 46664, Nelson Mandela, spent on Robben Island - behind bars for a murder he didn't commit.
I was brought up with the notion that "where there's smoke, there's fire". That was normal for a child in the 1970s. Keep your nose clean; respect the law; don't answer back. But that very creed was a disastrous formula for the less fortunate who were caught in legal crosshairs. Most of them were poorly educated; lacking in self-esteem; faced with overwhelming legal resources; and compliant in more ways than one.
Today's conference examines what happens to the men and women who've suffered miscarriages of justice. How wonderful it would be if I could say these individuals will cite tales of redemption, education, rebirth and renewal. Instead, it will be two days of wretched testimonies of being abandoned, marginalised, and wilfully forgotten by the powerful.
This conference is organised by a small but significant charity called the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (Mojo). The Scottish government, who spotted the progress it's making in helping those who've been wrongfully convicted, commendably backs its far-sighted efforts. Globally, this is a unique initiative. Interestingly, it was not founded by a focus group or a centralised body: instead it began in the heart of Paddy Hill, one of the wrongfully convicted Birmingham Six men. Before a penny of public money kicked in, Hill pumped tens of thousands of pounds of his personal compensation money into this project.
This morning, I will invoke the stirring words of the slain American Senator Robert F Kennedy, who was assassinated almost 40 years ago:
"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring, these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
Yet, when I speak, I'll have Paddy Hill as much as Senator Kennedy in mind.
Why? Because, I trust it will stir something deep inside us all - those directly involved in this conference - and those out there in the wider audience.
First, I'm hoping it'll remind us that, in times when people understandably seem more perturbed by house prices, credit-crunches and mayoral contests, someone, somewhere, might recall there was a time when we all rallied to the flag of injustice, a cause outside our immediate self-interest, an issue without reservation, without qualification and without hesitation.
And, second, I want to throw down a gauntlet.
Within a year of Robert Brown's release in 2002 - the victim of the UK's worst miscarriage of justice - Tony Blair personally apologised to Guildford Four's Paul Hill as part of the Northern Irish peace deal. By then, Hill had married into the Kennedy clan and strings had clearly been pulled. Good for Paul Hill and his wife Courtney Kennedy. But, within 24 hrs, Tony Blair had also refused my faxed plea to issue the same apology to Robert Brown - and all the other victims of British miscarriages of justice.
No reason was given.
Does anyone think that his successor Gordon Brown, who's spoken in the last week at Boston's JFK library, decribes the social justice-minded RFK as a hero, and who edited a book styled after Kennedy's Profiles in Courage, will take up the cudgels? I'm not sure.
But I am hopeful - as are those bruised but courageous souls in Glasgow today and tomorrow - because, unlike the bailing-out of banks and lenders, this is one decision that will take nothing - except personal honour.
Voice: the union for education professionals has backed calls by Scotland's Children's Commissioner for anonymity for teachers accused of abuse.
Voice General Secretary Philip Parkin said: "Children need protection, but those who work with them - both teachers and support staff - are entitled to protection too.
"The lives and careers of innocent people have been ruined by false allegations of abuse, even after they have been acquitted of any offence. Being falsely accused and suspended can cause severe personal distress and long-term damage to the accused's career.
"Splashing someone's name across the front page of a newspaper because they have been accused of something but not charged is trial by media. A small paragraph on an inside page weeks later reporting that the charges have been dropped is not acceptable - mud sticks.
"An accusation of abuse should never be ignored, for fear that a child, pupil or student may be at risk, but neither should the accused be obliged to wear the mantle of guilt.
"It is time for teachers and support staff to be given some basic rights and safeguards. Among these should be the right to anonymity unless and until charged with a criminal offence.
"The necessary legislation to effect this should be introduced as soon as possible."
Contact:
Voice Press Office
01332 372 337 or 0794 871 0413,
Senior Professional Officer (Scotland)
Maureen Laing on 0131 220 8241 or 07948 554378
General Secretary
Philip Parkin on 01332 372 337 or 077 259 601 32.
The following report appears by Fiona McLeaod appears in the News Scotsman
Teachers accused of abusing pupils must be given anonymity to protect their reputation, according to Scotland's children's commissioner.
Kathleen Marshall called for all teachers to remain anonymous until they were convicted, in order to protect both them and the children – who could suffer, if adults feared working with them.
"The rights of children and adults are not mutually exclusive," she said.
"Children are losing out because meaningful relationships with adults, including teachers, are undermined by fear and suspicion."
She said encouraging normal, trusting relationships was vital and added: "The current climate of fear harms both children and adults working with children, and it is in everyone's interests that it is tackled."
Research carried out by the commissioner's office showed 48 per cent of adults say fear of being accused of harming young people is the main deterrent to working with them.
It also showed respondents feared helping a young person in danger or distress – with men particularly afraid of accusations of being a paedophile.
More stringent disclosure checks to ensure those who want to work with children pose no danger have deterred many from volunteering. The Girl Guides in Scotland has a waiting list of over 4,000 girls because the historic organisation does not have enough volunteers.
The Scouts and Boys' Brigade have similar problems.
Ronnie Smith, general secretary of the EIS union, said false allegations could destroy a teacher's reputation – even if they were later cleared.
He said: "In order to do the job of a teacher, we need to have a certain standing in the eyes of the pupils and parents and where someone is accused – even if they are cleared – there is still a stigma that sticks."
He said teachers who were falsely accused ended up quitting their jobs or their experience changed the way they dealt with children.
He said: "Every move they make and everything they say is based on a calculation of risk."
Remaining anonymous would not stop accusations being made, he said, but would lessen the damage caused by false allegations.
He added: "Teachers deserve special consideration because part of the very nature of their job is to be in daily contact with children, and to correct bad behaviour which can create resentment.
One Edinburgh primary school teacher, identified only as John, had his career destroyed through false claims made by four 11-year-old girls.
They claimed he looked at them inappropriately while changing for the gym.
He was subsequently cleared but quit after his reputation was ruined and he lost his trust in children.
He said: "Ex-pupils I'd taught would call me a paedophile in the street. It destroyed my life in Edinburgh and I've had to move."
However, the call to protect the names of accused teachers was rejected by the previous Scottish Executive in 2005.
David Eaglesham, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association warned anonymity could encourage more people to make accusations.
He said: "Those in the community and school would still know who an accused person was regardless of any official anonymity, and accusers might feel more inclined to have a go if it is not going to be in the media.
Also see BBC news item (here)
Listen to Children's Commissioner interview
Police investigating an alleged rape in Suffolk have said they are confident the incident did not take place.
An inquiry began after a 24-year-old woman told police she had been attacked in a street in Ipswich, on 25 February, after a night out with friends.
A Suffolk police spokeswoman said: "It can be confirmed that she was not the victim of rape or any other crime."
No further action will be taken against a 22-year-old man arrested on suspicion of rape on 7 March, police said.
Source: BBC/Suffolk
Train companies close doors on men's only carriages, giving free pass to groping scams
Despite growing numbers of men are calling for male-only train carriages to avoid being falsely accused of groping female commuters, the railroad companies are simply waiting for the problem to go away, according to Weekly Playboy (4/21).
Recent disclosure of a spate of incidents where innocent men were accused of molesting female passengers has turned the national spotlight back toward commuter groping, a problem so bad most railroad companies have set up women's only carriages during peak travel times in the mornings and late at night.
The recent arrest of an Osaka couple for trying to set up a middle-aged man by falsely accusing him of fondling a woman train traveler has large numbers of salarymen shaking in their boots at the thought of being blackmailed by crafty commuters looking for a quick buck. This has heightened calls on railroad companies to set up sanctuaries where men can travel in peace, safe in the knowledge that they won't be accused of molestation.
Most railroad companies say they consider the issue a serious one.
"It's true we've received over 20 formal requests for the establishment of men's only carriages since the false accusation arrest (early last month). But actually, we've been receiving requests for theses carriages for a long time now. It's not something that has started recently," a spokesman for the Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau, which runs the city's subway network, tells Weekly Playboy.
But the outlook for men's only carriages seems dim.
"We get a lot of requests for them and take note of these, but we have no plans regarding carriages exclusively for men at this time," a spokesman for the East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) says.
Keio Electric Railway Co., which back in 2000 became Japan's first railroad to introduce women's only carriages, also has no current arrangements in place to correct the gender imbalance on its routes.
"We're aware that there are these demands, but we have no concrete plans for men's only carriages at this stage," a company spokesman says.
Train experts say railroad companies are quite content to sit back and let men travel in fear of being falsely accused of groping.
"I'd say there'll be an increase in women's only carriages before any men's only carriages are created. Railroad companies would rather get commuters to stagger their traveling times to avoid peak hours. I'd say it would be fairly difficult to get men's only carriages to materialize," Atsushi Umehara, one of Japan's foremost railway journalists, tells Weekly Playboy. "Railroad companies also realize Japan's population is declining, and they see that as offering their greatest relief in dealing with over-crowded trains. Baby boomers are already retiring, and the low birthrate means there is nobody popping up to replace them. That means there are going to be fewer people traveling during peak periods. That's why these companies have no intention of setting up carriages just for male commuters."
Masaki Ikegami, author of "Chikan Enzai Saiban Otoko ni Banzai Tsukin Saseruki ka (Groping False Accusation Trials - You Gonna Make Men Commute Doing Banzai Cheers All the Way to Work?)," a book about false molestation claims, says the only way men can feel secure commuting is to look after themselves.
"It's a sad situation that men have to do a banzai cheer (raise both arms skyward) while commuting (to avoid touching anyone else). Male commuters have got to look after themselves by taking such steps as avoiding standing close to carriage doors, staying well away from female commuters and never being directly behind a woman riding a train," Ikegami tells Weekly Playboy. "There are loads of people out there who have been falsely accused of groping female train travelers. I have repeatedly called on train companies to set up carriages just for men so that we can offer relief to all those with worries." (By Ryann Connell)
Source: Mainichi Daily News
The following aticle by Gabby Hinsliff appeared in the Guardian on the 13th April 2008
As the GMC convenes over a child's death, doctors are experiencing a growing sense of persecution
Paediatricians fear that they are facing a backlash because of their work with children, the medical regulator has been warned, as the controversial doctor struck off the register for wrongly accusing a mother of killing her son faces a new hearing over experiments on premature babies.
A spate of cases which have been heard by the General Medical Council have raised fears that doctors working closely with children will find it hard to carry out child protection work. The new case being heard into the work of Professor David Southall centres on the death of Stacey Henshall, who was taking part in trials of a procedure designed to help infants who were having difficulty breathing. Her sister Sofie was also left brain-damaged. Their parents maintain that they did not give proper consent to the children's involvement.
A decision on reopening the case against Southall and two colleagues, to be announced by the GMC this week, risks inflaming a bitter clash between the regulator and paediatricians who argue they are being unfairly persecuted and that high-profile cases are frightening off doctors.
Professionals Against Child Abuse (Paca), a campaigning alliance of mainly paediatricians, has tabled a motion of no confidence in the GMC to be debated this week, citing the previous Southall hearings.
The GMC's chief executive, Finlay Scott, however, blamed paediatricians themselves for whipping up unnecessary fears. A study by the GMC found that those specialising in children's medicine were actually the least likely of five groups to face disciplinary investigations. 'Paediatricians involved in child protection do not attract disproportionate numbers of complaints and, what is more, the GMC has demonstrated that it is capable of handling these complaints in a sensible way,' he said.
Scott said the new complaints against Southall, Dr Martin Samuels and Dr Andrew Spencer was not evidence of a vendetta. The GMC has twice rejected a complaint from Stacey's parents, Carl and Debbie Henshall, and reopened the files only after losing a judicial review sought by the couple. 'We defended our decision but the court said we were wrong,' Scott said. 'I don't think this is an example that exactly supports the hypothesis.'
Southall, an internationally renowned expert, was banned from practising in December, after the GMC ruled he had inappropriately accused Mandy Morris of drugging and hanging her 10-year old son - although he denies this.
He had been previously banned from child protection work after telephoning police to suggest that the husband of Sally Clark - the solicitor wrongly jailed for murdering her children - had killed the babies. Southall did not know the medical history and had only seen Stephen Clark on TV.
The current case dates back to 1991, when the three doctors were overseeing research into a new technique for helping premature babies breathe, known as continuous negative extrathoracic pressure, or CNEP, at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.
The CNEP tanks worked by lowering the air pressure around a baby's chest, a less invasive procedure than traditional ventilation via the windpipe. However, the trial found slightly higher rates of death or brain damage among 122 older babies placed in the tanks, compared to those who were given ventilation.
The technique was stopped at the hospital in 1999. The doctors have argued the death rate variations were not statistically significant and that the babies involved were already desperately ill.
An inquiry by the Department of Health, published in 2000, concluded that while the trials complied with rules in force at the time, these were not sufficient safeguards for the parents and children involved.
A spokesman for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire declined to comment on the Henshall case.
The Paca no-confidence motion cites details of the cases of Southall and Sir Roy Meadows, the expert witness in Sally Clark's trial who wrongly suggested that the odds of two cot deaths in the same family were 73 million to one. The true figure is around 200 to one.
The motion argues that paediatricians are treated more harshly than other specialists and that, as a result of the Southall hearing involving Stephen Clark, doctors 'may therefore be less likely to report child protection concerns'.
However, Scott said that only three out of more than 600 cases since 2004 that led to disciplinary panels involved paediatricians accused over child protection issues: two of those were the Southall and Meadow cases. 'The cases do not concern jobbing paediatricians going about their daily work. They were all undertaken under procedures that are no longer in place,' Scott said.
Paediatricians fear that they are facing a backlash because of their work with children, the medical regulator has been warned, as the controversial doctor struck off the register for wrongly accusing a mother of killing her son faces a new hearing over experiments on premature babies.
A spate of cases which have been heard by the General Medical Council have raised fears that doctors working closely with children will find it hard to carry out child protection work. The new case being heard into the work of Professor David Southall centres on the death of Stacey Henshall, who was taking part in trials of a procedure designed to help infants who were having difficulty breathing. Her sister Sofie was also left brain-damaged. Their parents maintain that they did not give proper consent to the children's involvement.
A decision on reopening the case against Southall and two colleagues, to be announced by the GMC this week, risks inflaming a bitter clash between the regulator and paediatricians who argue they are being unfairly persecuted and that high-profile cases are frightening off doctors.
Professionals Against Child Abuse (Paca), a campaigning alliance of mainly paediatricians, has tabled a motion of no confidence in the GMC to be debated this week, citing the previous Southall hearings.
The GMC's chief executive, Finlay Scott, however, blamed paediatricians themselves for whipping up unnecessary fears. A study by the GMC found that those specialising in children's medicine were actually the least likely of five groups to face disciplinary investigations. 'Paediatricians involved in child protection do not attract disproportionate numbers of complaints and, what is more, the GMC has demonstrated that it is capable of handling these complaints in a sensible way,' he said.
Scott said the new complaints against Southall, Dr Martin Samuels and Dr Andrew Spencer was not evidence of a vendetta. The GMC has twice rejected a complaint from Stacey's parents, Carl and Debbie Henshall, and reopened the files only after losing a judicial review sought by the couple. 'We defended our decision but the court said we were wrong,' Scott said. 'I don't think this is an example that exactly supports the hypothesis.'
Southall, an internationally renowned expert, was banned from practising in December, after the GMC ruled he had inappropriately accused Mandy Morris of drugging and hanging her 10-year old son - although he denies this.
He had been previously banned from child protection work after telephoning police to suggest that the husband of Sally Clark - the solicitor wrongly jailed for murdering her children - had killed the babies. Southall did not know the medical history and had only seen Stephen Clark on TV.
The current case dates back to 1991, when the three doctors were overseeing research into a new technique for helping premature babies breathe, known as continuous negative extrathoracic pressure, or CNEP, at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.
The CNEP tanks worked by lowering the air pressure around a baby's chest, a less invasive procedure than traditional ventilation via the windpipe. However, the trial found slightly higher rates of death or brain damage among 122 older babies placed in the tanks, compared to those who were given ventilation.
The technique was stopped at the hospital in 1999. The doctors have argued the death rate variations were not statistically significant and that the babies involved were already desperately ill.
An inquiry by the Department of Health, published in 2000, concluded that while the trials complied with rules in force at the time, these were not sufficient safeguards for the parents and children involved.
A spokesman for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire declined to comment on the Henshall case.
The Paca no-confidence motion cites details of the cases of Southall and Sir Roy Meadows, the expert witness in Sally Clark's trial who wrongly suggested that the odds of two cot deaths in the same family were 73 million to one. The true figure is around 200 to one.
The motion argues that paediatricians are treated more harshly than other specialists and that, as a result of the Southall hearing involving Stephen Clark, doctors 'may therefore be less likely to report child protection concerns'.
However, Scott said that only three out of more than 600 cases since 2004 that led to disciplinary panels involved paediatricians accused over child protection issues: two of those were the Southall and Meadow cases. 'The cases do not concern jobbing paediatricians going about their daily work. They were all undertaken under procedures that are no longer in place,' Scott said.
Source: Guardian OnLine
There has been a considerable amount of comment in the press and media regarding the claims that children were abused at the Haut de la Garenne Children's home in Jersey.
What ever the facts of the case much of this comment has been whipped up by a media frenzy and by misleading leaks to the press.
Supporters of F.A.C.T will therefore be very interested in Richard Webster's critique of the press response to date which he reviews in the context of similar inquiries elsewhere, and moral panic.
Well worth reading.
The following story appeared in the Vancouver Sun [Canada] on 16th April 2008
Man's rights were violated by Ministry of Children and Family, judge rules.
METRO VANCOUVER - The B.C. Supreme Court has come down heavily on the side of a former child-care worker who was fired from his job because an old, unproved allegation of child sexual abuse was passed on to his employers by the Ministry of Children and Family.
"Justice cannot allow FIPPA [the Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection Act] to be used in a manner that accords rumours and unfounded allegations made to a public body about the character, reputation or behaviour of any individual undeserved legitimacy," said Justice Ian Pitfield in reviewing the case.
Pitfield recommended that the allegations made against Robert Glen Harrison, 49, be expunged from the records.
The case might have repercussions for the way the provincial government deals with privacy issues and the use made by government departments of unverified accusations against an individual.
The issue arose after Harrison was hired in May 2006 as a one-on-one therapist at Burnaby's Access House to work with a troubled 13-year-old boy.
Two weeks later he was fired after ministry resource worker Joan Bischoff disclosed that the ministry had a file on Harrison, and in her opinion he should not be allowed to work with the boy without being supervised.
Harrison, who is now employed as a limousine driver, said the ministry's actions have ruined his chances of ever being employed again in child-care work.
"Who's going to employ me now after what the ministry's done?" he asked.
Since losing his job, Harrison admits to being consumed by the desire to clear his name.
"That's all I want to do," he said. "But I'm also planning to sue the ministry and Bischoff. No one should have been put through this.
"In 1996, there was a report made against me by someone who is mentally ill and the report was never investigated by the ministry because they didn't believe there was anything to it - although when I found out, I asked them to do an investigation."
Harrison said he isn't mad at Access House and understands why he was fired.
"You can't hire someone who's got a record of child abuse against them. I'm a child-care advocate; I fully understand why they fired me. I would do the same.
"My position is that they should not have heard about that record in the first place. I never knew until then there was a ministry file. If the ministry had a problem with me, they should have confronted me and investigated the allegation and said. 'We won't allow you to work with children until we get to the bottom of it.' And that's fine, it would be between me and them. But now the cat's out of the bag," he said.
At the time of the allegation against him, Harrison was working with his former wife running a licensed family child care facility in Sechelt.
There was no investigation of the report and the ministry's file says 'No case made,' said Harrison, who has since seen the file.
Later, the couple would be approved as foster parents for two young girls after undergoing a rigorous background check by ministry officials, said Harrison. The ministry also allowed him to be licensed to run an after-school daycare program in Sechelt, which he ran for four years.
"You can see I never had any problems with the ministry until this," he said.
But in 2005, after his marriage broke down, Harrison moved to Vancouver to get work. And it was then that the old file surfaced and Bischoff made her opinions known.
Harrison filed a complaint to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner that his rights had been violated by Bischoff and the ministry, but after three reviews his complaint was dismissed when the commissioner found Bischoff acted in good faith when she disclosed personal information, "including her professional opinion about you to Access House without your consent."
Harrison sought a judicial review of the commissioner's findings and Pitfield found that there was nothing in Bischoff's explanation to suggest "she took any step, let alone any reasonable step, to confirm the reliability of the information in the file."
Pitfield found that in communicating this information to Harrison's employer, Bischoff had breached the FIPPA, since a "public body must make every reasonable effort to ensure that personal information is accurate and complete."
Pitfield then took aim at the commissioner's handling of the issue.
"The consequences of an incorrect decision may severely and inappropriately affect a complainant's career, as in this case. In light of such adverse consequences, the Commissioner's decision warrants little deference," said Pitfield who ordered the decision quashed.
Pitfield said the information in Harrison's assessment file should be expunged and he asked the commissioner to consider doing that.
In his final comments, Pitfield said he could not overlook the remarks a ministry worker made to Harrison in 1996 after the allegations surfaced.
"I assured Robert that his daycare will be unaffected, that an investigation had not ever been undertaken and that I have considerable empathy for the situation that had occurred," Pitfield quoted the ministry worker as saying.
"The future did not unfold in the manner anticipated," Pitfield said
Source: Vancouver Sun
A mother who claimed she was the victim of a brutal rape, sparking a manhunt involving up to 40 police officers, has been jailed after admitting she made up the allegations.
Emma Louise Goodwin, 25, was sentenced to eight months in prison after a court heard the claim was a cry for help when she feared her relationship with her boyfriend might be over.
Bradford Crown Court heard that Goodwin, who has a seven-year-old daughter, contacted her boyfriend on September 1 last year to say she had been dragged onto wasteland in Slant Gate, Linthwaite, Huddersfield after getting off the bus on her way home from work.
Goodwin, of School Houses, Salendine Nook, Huddersfield, had argued with her boyfriend that morning and the pair had exchanged text messages throughout the day which led her to believe the relationship was over, the court heard.
She claimed she had been violently raped and was persuaded by her boyfriend to report the incident to police.
A hunt for her alleged attacker was then launched, which saw police carrying out extensive house-to-house inquiries and reconstructing her bus journey to jog the memory of potential witnesses.
Goodwin provided an e-fit of the suspect, leading to the arrest of an innocent man who was held in custody overnight and released on bail.
It was nine days before Goodwin admitted that the attack had never taken place.
Psychiatric reports showed she had a history of depression and had suffered a series of traumatic experiences since the age of nine.
In mitigation, solicitor Jayne Beckett said: "There have been enormous events in her past which have clearly affected her mentally and emotionally, and indeed to some extent explain what has happened."
Sentencing Goodwin, who pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice, Judge James Barry gave her credit for her early guilty pleas and for having the courage to retract her false statements.
"I am quite sure your remorse is genuine and I am quite sure your presence in court is making you and your family suffer considerably.
"Having the read the (psychiatric) report, at the age of just 25 you have had in many ways a dreadful life."
But he added: "Sometimes the duty of the court is very painful and I have to balance the sympathy everyone must feel for you...with the damage to the public this sort of offence can do.
"Public resources were being used to carry out house-to-house searches, very senior officers were involved in the investigation, and I hate to contemplate the cost to the public and the other crimes which were not being investigated while this false claim was being pursued.
"Everyone must know that this sort of sabotage of the justice system, the squandering of public resources and endangering the liberty of an innocent man results in imprisonment.
Source: Sally Cope,
Yorkshire Post
Impact of false accusations on care workers is great
Being caught in the tangled web of false allegations is a nightmare that many struggle to recover from.
Of all the bogey men that haunt teachers’ nightmares, none is more dreadful than that of the false, malicious allegation.
F.A.C.T. (Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers) was initially formed to support staff who had been falsely accused or wrongly convicted of child abuse. It campaigns for reform in the criminal justice system to prevent miscarriages of justice, and for improvements in investigative practices to remove the presumption of guilt.
Those who abuse children should face the severest punishment. However it is known that many claims are exaggerated or entirely false.
Action should be taken against those who make false allegations and against those whose flawed investigations result in innocent people being wrongly imprisoned.
There are a number of similarities between what is happening in a former care home in Jersey and what happened in North Wales in the early 1990s.
The media painted staff as guilty. Press speculation in Jersey is similar, this is before any factual evidence has been found.
When speculation is portrayed as fact, the accused are presumed guilty even before police investigations are complete. No one can have a fair trial when potential jurors have read sensational headlines.
It is impossible to defend oneself against historic allegations if records have been lost, key witnesses are untraceable and acceptable methods of discipline used decades ago are now judged by today’s standards.
In North Wales the number of people claiming to have been abused rose dramatically once the police appealed for victims to come forward. There is clear evidence that allegations are linked to the prospect of compensation.
Those known as Victim Groups have warned the police and Government agencies that the system is being used by individuals making false claims.
It would appear that the same pattern is emerging in Jersey where the possibility of innocent explanations is ignored. Little consideration has been given to the fact that items recovered at Haut de la Garenne might be associated with the German occupation or the filming of some episodes of Bergerac.
It is now difficult to recruit male teachers and recent studies have shown that men are no longer willing to volunteer for community or sports activities with adolescents while local authorities have difficulty in recruiting foster parents.
FACT is aware of false claims where outrageous accusations have been made by ex-pupils who claimed to have been launched like projectiles over goal posts, sexually assaulted with a crow bar (but needing no medical treatment), of a boy being murdered on a beach and buried in the sand (no police investigation followed), or the case of a lad accosted in a public toilet 10 years before it was built. Staff members have been accused of abuse despite never having had contact with the accuser.
A failure to question such statements creates conditions in which false allegations of abuse can flourish. Professionals have a responsibility to carry out a thorough investigation and be open to the fact that some claims may be false.
In 2002 the Home Affairs Select Committee set up an inquiry to look into allegations of abuse in children's homes. Evidence was gathered from across the UK including North Wales. They concluded that a new genre of miscarriages of justice had arisen from the over enthusiastic pursuit of allegations relating to children's homes.
In 2005 a distinguished academic and social historian, Richard Webster published a book “The Secret of Bryn Estyn” where he examined much of the evidence presented to the Waterhouse Inquiry regarding the allegations made in respect of homes across North Wales.
Having taken 10 years to examine the evidence in detail, Webster concluded that the Waterhouse Inquiry was a travesty of justice which broke every guideline from the opening speech by counsel.
Statutory guidelines and recommendations to protect the accused were disregarded and barristers who wished to make legal observations were told to sit down.
Following the inquiry eight of the barristers made representation regarding the manner in which the inquiry had been conducted. Furthermore Webster was able to demonstrate unequivocally the allegations made against many individuals were untrue.
Today's society needs to be vigilant, to protect children and, where necessary, improve services – but it must also be fully aware that false allegations of child abuse have a devastating effect on the individuals concerned and on their families.
Allegations blight families and ruin children's lives, they demoralise staff and limit recruitment, they waste valuable time and resources and cost millions of pounds.
They undermine the integrity of the police and the investigative process and bring the justice system and child protection into disrepute. More importantly they fail to protect children and make it much more likely that the guilty remain free.
Bryn Estyn
THE Waterhouse Report in February 2000 investigated allegations of child abuse at North Wales children’s homes.
It concluded there had been widescale abuse with 150 former residents of homes including Bryn Alyn and Bryn Estyn, in Wrexham, coming forward claiming to have been victims.
A police inquiry had led to 10 convictions with abusers imprisoned for offences committed at homes throughout North Wales over decades.
Despite the tribunal’s shocking conclusions there were claims some or many of those accused were victims of false allegations. Police methods, including “trawling” for evidence, came in for criticism.
Source: Daily Post 8th April 2008
The following article by Fraser Nelson appeared in the Spectator on April 2008
We hear phrase "market failure" often enough - but (as Michael Prowse once said) government failure is far more common. The most egregious example is education – and David Cameron says in his press conference today with Michael Gove. Here are a few facts they highlight today in their document (read it here):
1) Some 140,000 pupils were suspended from secondary schools for violence or persistent disruption in 2005/06. Many end up in the cells - almost 100,000 under-18s are given custodial sentences.
2) Suspensions for physical assault (in primary schools) is about twelve times higher in deprived areas than in the least-deprived ones. The scourge of school violence is focused on the poorest neighbourhoods.
3) Rather than police this, teachers are themselves investigated - as the targets of false allegations. Some 59% of head teachers say that false allegations have been made against them or their staff within the last three years.
Anyone who knows a teacher (who works in a normal or deprived area) will have heard similar stories. Police turn up to schools in twos: one to enter the building and the other to guard the car. And the disruptive kids know that their best form of getting teachers off their back is to lodge a false complaint against them. It sends the system into hyperdrive, and the teacher – not the bully – is hounded.
Gove today outlines new laws and powers which give teachers more power to deal with the problem. He’d end the right to appeal against expulsion, reverse Balls’ daft rule forcing schools to take a disruptive pupil for each one they expel, and offer teachers more protection against false claims. All good stuff, but I am sceptical about central government's ability to deal with this very effectively. Good schools will use such powers, the bad ones will not. The LEAs are the real power in education. What’s needed is a revolution in approach to discipline in schools – ie, a culture shift. And that can take years to achieve.
The Tory education plan has two planks. This is the first: how the party would seek to shake up existing schools. The second plank – supply-side reform along the Swedish system where a new breed of small, independent schools open in the state sector with state funds – is the policy that has the power to change education in England forever. It just needs a small number for a tipping point to be created, where existing state-run schools know they must shape up, or lose pupils (and money). Once they are responding to the priorities of British parents, no Whitehall edicts will be needed.
Until then, a Tory government must obviously use edicts (and empowerment measures, as today's are) as best they can. But the dismal state of affairs outlined in the Tory document is another chilling reminder of just how urgently change is needed...
Source: Spectator: 7th April 2008
A science teacher who was accused of punching an unruly pupil told of his relief yesterday after being cleared of wrongdoing at the end of a two-year ordeal.
Shakil Akhter, 42, was sacked after the headmistress believed the 12-year-old boy, who had a history of causing trouble, over her own member of staff.
A tribunal heard how the special needs pupil had accused Mr Akhter, a father of four, of punching him on the arm as children ran amok during a lesson in December 2005.
But it emerged that the boy had been suspended five times in four terms for bullying, spitting in a classmate's hair and starting a fire at the Birmingham International School and Community College.
After the General Teaching Council threw out the allegation at a hearing this week, Mr Akhter said: "It's hard to think that they chose to believe this boy over me.
"I always said I didn't touch him and today I'm very relieved. The last two years for me have been a nightmare because I took on a lot of debt to train as a teacher, but now I can try and rebuild my life.
"This should never have dragged on for two years. The school could have reached the same conclusion so much quicker. But the headteacher didn't even bother to hear my side of the story or take a statement."
The tribunal heard that police and social services did not pursue the allegation into the alleged assault, but Mr Akhter was suspended and later sacked less than six months after he had started at the school.
The GTC ruled there was insufficient evidence that the teacher had thrown a punch and pointed out that a teaching assistant in the classroom had not seen him do so.
His solicitor, Tony Pearce, said the teacher could not take the local education authority - Birmingham City Council - to an employment tribunal for wrongful dismissal because he had not been employed for the minimum 18 months required to begin proceedings.
Mr Pearce said: "We have explored all the avenues for grievance and none is available. But what this hearing has done is to prove Mr Akhter's innocence beyond any doubt."
Headmistress Ruth Robinson, who has since left the school, told the hearing she believed Dr Akhter had a propensity towards violence but admitted she had not taken a statement from him about the alleged assault.
She said she was aware of the boy's behavioural problems but believed his version of events nevertheless.
"The pupil seemed to remember the attack very clearly and he had been affected by it," she said.
The tribunal heard Mr Akhter, from Coventry, had admitted being cautioned by West Midlands Police in 2003 for common assault on his wife Farzana, 38.
But this had been discussed with Mrs Robinson before he was appointed to the job.
The Akhters told the Daily Mail the caution had been accepted as a result of a misunderstanding, the police being called when a friend overheard them arguing and dialled 999.
Mr Akhter, who is originally from Bangladesh, had been a professional forester and a university lecturer in the subject. He has a PhD in forestry from the University of Wales, Bangor.
He then retrained as a secondary school science teacher and qualified in 2004.
He has been working as a supply teacher since February 2007 and is looking for a permanent position.
The GTC threw out two allegations of unacceptable professional misconduct relating to the alleged punch and a second claim that he had thrown a pencil case at a pupil.
Peter Butler, who chaired the panel, said Mr Akhter had been a "credible witness" and there was "no evidence that he had a propensity towards violence."
Mrs Akhter, a care worker, said: "The last two years have been very difficult. At times it has caused resentment between us as money has been so short. But I always knew Shakil was innocent."
A Birmingham City Council spokesman said the authority accepted the outcome of the hearing but could not comment further.
Source: Daily Mail 5th April Andy Dolan
With ID fraud on the rise, the assumption is you'll lose money which can be claimed back. But Simon Bunce lost his job, and his father cut off contact, when he was arrested after an ID fraudster used his credit card details on a child porn website.
Simon Bunce used to be a keen internet shopper, delighted to escape the hordes and have goods delivered to his door. Wary of fly-by-night operators, he bought only from big name retailers with secure websites.
But then, four years ago, he was astonished to find himself embroiled in Operation Ore, the UK's largest ever police hunt against internet paedophiles. He was arrested on suspicion of possession of indecent images of children, downloading indecent images of children and incitement to distribute indecent images of children.
Hampshire Police took away his computer and data storage devices including flash drives, CDs and floppy disks, as well as examining the computer and storage devices that he used at work.
The effect was devastating. When his employers became aware of the reason he had been arrested, he was abruptly dismissed from his £120,000 a year job, and close members of his family disowned him.
"I made the mistake of telling my father, and he cut me off," Mr Bunce says. "He then told all my siblings and they also cut us off."
Suddenly deprived of his income, Mr Bunce had to consider selling the family home. But his wife, Kim, stuck by him, and supported his mission to clear his name.
Mr Bunce knew he was innocent - he had never downloaded indecent images, and so he knew that the police would not find any evidence on the computers or storage devices they had taken away.
But the police's computer technicians take several months to examine these, and Mr Bunce could not afford to wait to repair the damage done to his reputation. "I knew there'd been a fundamental mistake made and so I had to investigate it."
Identity fraud occurs when personal information is used by someone else to obtain credit, goods or other services fraudulently. Recent surveys suggest that as many as one in four Britons have been affected by it. In 2007 more than 185,000 cases of identity theft were identified by Cifas, the UK's fraud prevention service, an increase of almost 8% on 2006.
Operation Ore targeted suspected paedophiles believed to have been downloading indecent images of children, those whose credit card details had been used to buy pornography via an American portal called Landslide - the gateway site and central credit card handler for hundreds of websites. In many cases, suspects had had their card details stolen
Hundreds of successful prosecutions ensued, with extensive media coverage given to high profile suspects, including actor Chris Langham of The Thick of It.
As Landslide was based in the United States and under investigation there, Mr Bunce was able to use the US Freedom of Information Act to obtain a complete copy of all of the relevant material, including databases, access logs and credit card information, together with detailed information of the webmasters, which allowed him to find out how his credit card details had been used.
Each computer has a unique internet protocol number, or IP address, which identifies the specific computer and its geographic whereabouts whenever it is used to access the internet.
Mr Bunce discovered that the computer used to enter his credit card details was in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the date and time that his credit card details were entered onto the Landslide website was at a time when he could prove that he was using the same card in a restaurant in south London.
"I can't be in two places at once, so somehow my data had got to the man in Indonesia."
He was also able to discover that his credit card details had been obtained from a popular online shopping site, but he doesn't know how these came to be in the hands of a criminal.
The man responsible for using his credit card details hid behind the online name "Miranda" - a webmaster who hosted and produced pornographic websites and received a commission from Landslide for subscriptions to his website which were paid by credit card. "Miranda" had used Mr Bunce's credit card details - without his knowledge - to take out a subscription to one of his websites.
In September 2004, the police told Mr Bunce they would not proceed with any action against him. They had not found indecent material, and accepted that it wasn't him who had entered his credit card details on the Landslide website.
It took another six months before he got another job, earning a quarter of the salary he'd earned before his arrest.
Mr Bunce has also reconciled with his family, having explained to them how he came to be implicated and then cleared. Are bygones bygones? "I've forgiven them [my family] - there's no point in bearing a grudge."
Four years on, he is bringing a High Court action against the shopping website for allowing his personal details to be compromised. So no more internet shopping? "No, no, no. Once bitten, twice shy," says Mr Bunce, who now sells encryption services.
"I wouldn't say that I live in the cash economy now, but I'd rather go to the bank to withdraw money to buy petrol, as you hear of card details being harvested at garages. I'm paranoid about data security. I shred everything, I never use credit cards anymore.
"Being arrested and accused of what is probably one of the worst crimes known to man, losing my job, having my reputation run through the mud, it's a living nightmare."
Source: BBC
Women should have to sign a contract before sex to combat false rape allegations if proposed new laws are passed in South Australia, an MP says.
(more)
A teacher accused of raping a 16-year-old girl will not face charges.
The 23-year-old man who teaches at Farlingaye High School in Woodbridge was arrested after an alleged incident in July in Ufford last year.
A spokesperson for Suffolk police said: “Following a thorough investigation by Suffolk police, the CPS deemed there was insufficient evidence to continue.
“No further action will follow.”
The teacher had been suspended from working at the time. A spokesman from Suffolk County Council said the agencies involved would be discussing the next steps in terms of his employment.
Source: Evening Star 24
A former care assistant accused of raping a teenager with learning difficulties has been cleared of all charges by a jury.
The alleged victim, who was 18 at the time, claimed that Craig Brown, 47, entered his room, held him down and sexually assaulted him.
Brown, of Second Avenue, Sudbury, pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape and three alternative offences of sexual assault.
The jury returned a verdict of not guilty on all six.
The offences were alleged to have taken place when Brown was employed as a night-time carer at the Barleycombe Residential Home, in Melford Road, Sudbury, in the 1990s.
Better Care?
Posted by News Editor
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The following letter by Trevor Jones recently appeared in the Guardian
Better Care.
If the best that the secretary of state for children, Ed Balls, can come up with to improve the appalling outcomes of children in care is to ensure that their passports are up to date when they go abroad on school trips, then I am afraid he has missed an opportunity to make a difference (Daring to be normal, March 26).
We recently advised in a case where a young girl in care was refused permission by social services to attend a much anticipated cultural visit with her schoolmates because it required an overnight stay in a hotel. While other parents had no concerns, the council as a corporate parent went on to further stigmatise the child by ruling that Criminal Records Bureau checks on all the hotel staff could not be made in time - an action that was more to do with protecting the council than promoting the best interests of the child.
Trevor Jones,
National Coordinator, Parents Against Injustice
Source: The Guardian 2nd April 2008
The following article by Tom Chivers appeared in the Daily Telegraph on 1st April 2008.
A woman who falsely accused a soldier of rape has been described as "wicked" by the judge who sentenced her to a year in jail.
Amanda Lang, 21, had consensual sex with Lance Corporal Philip Trowell after drinking with him at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. The act took place in Lang's bedroom which she shared with her pilot boyfriend.
The court heard that after sex Lang started to cry, saying she felt guilty. Once L/Cpl Trowell had left, she complained to neighbours that she had been raped.
Lang sobbed as Judge Julian Hall, at Oxford Crown Court, sentenced her to one year in prison and told her: "What you did was wicked.
"I think most men would feel, if they were accused of rape, that they would tear their hair out.
"For a few days this man's life was turned upside down. You persisted with your story for 15 months so all the time he thought he was going to have to give evidence to prove you were lying.
"You caused an enormous amount of work and waste of time. The most serious aspect is that you have done womankind no good at all.
"Every time a woman makes a false allegation of rape you let down the women that make true allegations and cause suspicion that another person is making it up.
"That is the evil of what you did - it undermines the whole process. This is a case where a message has to be sent out to everybody that false allegations of rape are insidious to a degree."
Amjad Malik, prosecuting, said that L/Cpl Trowell's detailed description of Lang's bedroom had been key to disproving her claim that he had dragged her in to some bushes after leaving the bar.
Mr Malik said: "What he gave was an accurate description of the room and contents and was even able to describe the staining on the bed. "It was an account he could only have given if he had spent some time in that room."
The court heard that Lang had stuck to her story for some months, claiming that she was terrified of L/Cpl Trowell and that he was a dangerous man who might strike again.
However, his detailed account enabled officers to uncover inconsistencies in Lang's account. A lack of grass-stains and mud on Lang's person also undermined her story, as did forensic samples on her bed.
In a victim impact statement read out by Mr Malik L/Cpl Trowell told of the "daunting" experience, the frustration of having to prove his innocence and the "stigma" he suffered among his colleagues in the Armed Forces of having had a rape allegation made against him.
James Reilly, defending Lang, said she was immature and had a troubled past and had suffered depression. He said the rape allegation came as a result of a "snowball effect" and the defendant realised she was wrong.
"DON'T waste our time" - that's the message from police as a crackdown on people who falsely report crimes continues.
The warning comes as two people, who made allegations that later turned out to be untrue, were given £80 fines during February.
A 26-year-old man from Bruce Crescent, Hartlepool, was fined after claiming a television set had been stolen in a burglary - only for police to find it in an upstairs bedroom.
Also last month, a 19-year-old woman from Hurworth Street, Hartlepool, falsely reported she had been assaulted by an ex-partner.
Detective Inspector Keith Groves of Hartlepool Police said: "Inquiries revealed the TV was actually upstairs in the house and he was fined £80 for wasting police time.
"We will continue to scrutinise each and every crime reported to us and people making false allegations will be dealt with appropriately."
Crime in Hartlepool has dropped to manageable levels where every incident reported is fully investigated, flagging up things that might have gone unnoticed previously.
Police have the power to hand out the fixed penalty fines for wasting police time without having to go through the court system.
Other false crimes police have punished in recent months include reports of a stolen car, mobile phone thefts and burglaries.
Police say false reports pull officers away from investigating real crimes. Motives behind false allegations are said to include revenge and financial gain by cashing in on insurance claims.
Det Insp Groves added: "In the cold light of day when they are faced with a police officer they admit it."But by then we have put a lot of resources into investigating allegations and we have to deal with them appropriately.
Source: Hartlepool Today
Teachers to blacklist serial false claimers
Schools should compile a list of children who make false allegations of abuse or assault against teachers so that they can identify serial offenders and refer them to police, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers heard at its annual conference.
Parents and pupils were going straight to the police with their claims, and the first teachers would hear about it was when they were suspended, potentially wrecking professionals’ life and reputation. Delegates in Torquay backed a motion calling for councils to establish a register to record all instances of unfounded allegations, with a view to prosecuting “those of the relevant age”.
Source: The Times 20th March 2008 (Alexandra Frean writes)
Hansared Extract 17 Mar 2008 : Column 64
Baroness Walmsley:
Amendments Nos. 16 and 35 are about a duty to continue making fee payments to foster carers about whom allegations are being investigated, until such time as the matter has been settled. Since we debated this matter in Committee, I have heard that the Government timescales for the resolution of allegations set out in their Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance are routinely being missed. The emotional strain from the considerable length of time it takes to resolve some of these investigations has huge impact on some foster carers, which, when combined with the withdrawal of their income, can force them out of the valuable work for which they were trained.
The amendment would protect foster carers from financial hardship, put pressure on local authorities to speed up the investigations and enable more foster carers to stay in the service once their names have, one hopes, been cleared.
I have had a letter from a support group called FACT—Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers—which points out that a lot of the allegations are not made by the children and not while the child is with the carer. They are made by parents or other interested adults after the child has left care. This affects the unconnected children currently with that foster carer, since they have to be put elsewhere during the investigation. Many of these allegations are false.
They come from a very chaotic population who use them to get back at society as a whole, yet it is the unfortunate accused individuals who suffer. While it is vital for the protection of children that all such allegations are properly investigated—I emphasise that—something must be done to speed things up to avoid penalising the innocent.
When doctors, police officers and teachers are accused of unprofessional behaviour, they are suspended on full pay. Foster carers, who are paid very little in the first place, are suspended without pay, which is tantamount to finding them guilty before any conclusion has been reached. In this country you are innocent until proved guilty. It is a principle of justice on which we pride ourselves. Let us ensure that foster carers are also treated as innocent until something other is proved. I beg to move.