Media Report for F.A.C.T. Autumn Conference

Report delivered at the F.A.C.T. Autumn Conference in Birmingham on 28th September 2019

Before I deliver my report on recent media activities that relate directly to F.A.C.T., I’d like to preface it with a few observations about current trends of reporting false allegations in the mainstream national and regional media. I think there can be no doubt that times – and attitudes – are changing. That stated, we shouldn’t ignore the counter-attacks being launched by vocal anti-sexual violence campaigners, who seem determined to resist recent positive developments, such as greater scrutiny of complainants’ electronic communications and devices before charging decisions are made by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

There is finally a greater readiness on the part of journalists, at least from certain national print titles and television channels, to tackle the controversial issue of malicious false sexual accusations and the devastating impact these can, and do, have on innocent victims and their families. I'll come to BBC 2's Victoria Derbyshire Show in a short while. I would highlight the Daily and Sunday Mail titles in particular, owing to their investigative work on exploding the so-called ‘VIP paedophiles' myth – including the motives of those who have made some palpably preposterous claims.

Jailed troll: Sabine McNeill

In part, at least, this increased readiness to confront liars, fraudsters and hoaxers has undoubtedly arisen in the aftermath of the Carl Beech (‘Nick’) scandal, following the disastrous Operations Midland and Conifer, but also in the wake of the conviction and jailing for nine years in January of the notorious ‘Hampstead Satanic’ troll, Sabine McNeill.

Her case should be of particular concern to members of F.A.C.T., given that her innocent victims included local professional people – teachers and clergy – whose lives have been turned upside down by the vicious lies spread online by McNeill and her coterie of followers. It is high time that the criminal justice system caught up with these false accusers and, at long last, it seems that the police and CPS have acted to end this vile pantomine. McNeill herself recently lost her appeal against sentence and it is also gratifying to see that members of her gang are now also being brought to justice.

Let’s hope that this will be just the start of a much tougher response to the peddlers of lies and misery, although we all know, if I may borrow a phrase from Peter Saunders' lexicon, false accusers being brought to justice are still, here's his phrase, 'vanishingly rare'. More on Mr. Saunders in a few moments.

Convicted liar: Carl Beech

Of course, the highlight of this year so far must be the trial and sentencing of serial sexual abuse fantasist and compensation fraudster Carl Beech, whose cruel, patently outrageous lies have done a lot to highlight and strengthen the work we do here at F.A.C.T.. I attended a significant part of Beech’s trial at Newcastle Crown Court, including the summing-up by both the prosecution and the defence barristers, as well as the judge’s instructions to the jury. I also went back up to Newcastle for the sentencing.

During these days in court I took my place in the press box and live tweeted the proceedings in order to capture the highlights for a much wider audience. Apart from a reporter from Sky TV, Jordan Milne, who attended from time to time, I think I was the only person who was reporting an accurate account of proceedings, as former Exaro journalist Mark Watts, also present, seemed to have misread much of what was being said in court, judging by what he tweeted. I subsequently wrote several articles about the wider ramifications of the Beech case for Spiked Online, as well as doing a number of national radio interviews, including Radio 2, 5 and LBC. I thought the most powerful of all these interviews was the evening of the Beech sentencing, on the Stephen Nolan Show on Radio 5, on which I shared a platform with Daniel Janner, Q.C.

I believe that the extensive national media coverage of the Beech case has alerted the general public to the devastating impact that malicious false allegations, particularly of a sexual nature, have on the victims. For too long the mantras of ‘no smoke without fire’ and ‘you WILL be believed’ held sway. Most of the mainstream media was simply too cowed – cowardly – to present an alternative view of the way in which false allegations have become weaponised – either for personal revenge or as part of child custody cases – or else monetised in the form of a quest for undeserved compensation.

I have just completed my second novel Swinefest, the story of a fictitious teacher targeted by a trio of lying opportunists, and the 120.000 word manuscript is with a publishing agent. I await progress and it will be interesting to see if a publishing house is brave enough to support it.

Last month I was invited to be a guest as a panellist on the Jeremy Vine TV show on Channel 5, filmed at the London ITN studios. I fully expected to be discussing the topical issue of malicious false allegations. Unfortunately, just before broadcast, the topic was changed to a discussion Brexit-related. Thank you to those F.A.C.T. members who attended the recording, sitting in the audience, having travelled from such places as Birmingham and Ipswich: much appreciated.

Serial liar: Jemma Beale

There are few things that the average British citizen likes less than seeing compensation fraudsters getting their greedy hands on public money. Just look at the popular outrage over the myriad cheats and imposters who have been brought to justice after having made claims in the aftermath of the Grenfell disaster. Judges are coming down hard on these vile individuals and, in the same way, those who make false sexual allegations with financial gain in mind – such as serial rape liar Jemma Beale – must surely, in a supposedly just, fair society, face the consequences of their criminal actions.

Part of F.A.C.T.’s media outreach should be to highlight these cases, and others which might have been reported only in the local or regional press. I continue to do this with studiousness and dedication on my twitter feed @bbcsimonwarr. Contrary to the oft-quoted assertion that false sexual allegations are ‘vanishingly rare’, as propounded by Peter Saunders, the erstwhile chairperson of NAPAC, we need to demonstrate that this is simply not true. In contrast, what is rare, are actual prosecutions of the liars, fraudsters and hoaxers who make false claims.

Peter Saunders

On Friday 28th of June, the Victoria Derbyshire Show on BBC 2, afforded myself, Ros Burnett (on film) and Sister Frances (in the studio) a sizeable tranche on their programme to make our case about false allegations. Also in the studio with Sister Frances was Peter Saunders, who made efforts to stymie our point of view at every opportunity and, of course, now we know why. He has been for many years, as the saying goes, 'economical with the truth' about his personal experiences when it comes to this topic. While pleading vociferously on the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2, when I was on with him earlier that week, he followed this up on the Derbyshire Show by aggressively putting forward the argument that campaigners like us are over-zealous and we should give the police a break as they go about their difficult job of investigating sexual complaints.

We now know, thanks to David Rose at the Mail on Sunday, all along Peter Saunders was concealing the fact that he himself was arrested in 2008 for the alleged rape of a woman, (who, disturbingly, had been abused in childhood), in the public toilets of a restaurant. His arrest was not, at the time, publicised. No wonder he's been supporting the police's standpoint during the intervening years. Many of us in this room were not as lucky as Mr. Saunders. The press/media destroyed my reputation within 24 hours of my arrest. Mr. Saunders claimed from the start he was the target of a false allegation, which makes his subsequent stance on the topic all the more bewildering.

DPP Max Hill QC

Mr. Saunders is (was?) part of a vocal lobby that seeks to minimise both the scale of false sexual allegations and the damage caused to innocent victims. Indeed, there is a vigorous backlash against what is being achieved in terms of greater scrutiny of evidence by the CPS under its new Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill QC.

Over the past few months there have been regular opinion pieces and some tendentious news articles that aim to turn back the clock in respect of analysis of complainants’ mobile phones. These dangerous arguments must be countered with facts and with calm, reasoned responses. We here at F.A.C.T. have an important role to play in this.

As an organisation, we must be prepared to be criticised for our advocacy for the falsely accused and wrongly convicted. Greater media exposure, especially in the national print titles and on television, will inevitably make F.A.C.T. a target for those who wish to see prosecutions and convictions increase for purely ideological reasons, rather than for any genuine concern for justice. Changing public opinion towards false allegations is an achievable goal and I believe that 2019 will come to be seen as a pivotal year in F.A.C.T.’s outreach via the media.

As always on these occasions, I'd like to honour our dedicated Secretary, Brian, who certainly inspires me to work tirelessly on behalf of this superb organisation. Brian, we salute you.

Thank you.