My Petition to Parliament

These are the reasons why I have been impelled to start a petition (read and sign here) asking for all those who have patently made false allegations of abuse to be brought to justice.

On the 18th of December 2012 my life was ripped apart. On that day I lost my career, my home, a community where I had lived for thirty years, my reputation and my peace of mind.

Early in the morning my home was raided by the police and I was subsequently treated by them for nigh on two years as if I were a criminal. Ultimately, a jury took a matter of minutes to reject unanimously the allegations made against me, something the police had refused even to contemplate for 672 days, even though they had not one shred of evidence to support the preposterous claims. The fact is they were duped by some compensation chasing liar and when they realised they had been told a pack of lies, they were powerless to punish him because, as they had encouraged and supported him throughout, this partiality had now compromised their own position.

My accuser has been able to continue his previous life with impunity and anonymity despite the fact he lied and lied again to the police, lies which could have resulted in a prison sentence for me. He also perjured himself in a court of law, which should be considered a very serious crime, although the agents of the State do not seem to think so.

I contend that what that liar did to me was unadulterated abuse and potentially far more damaging than the false claims he laid at my door that I had inappropriately checked to see he was dry after showers. When the lies were seen for what they were, he still walked away scot-free. Had he thought up a more plausible and more intelligent story, he would then have been able to claim more compensation money to add to the thousands he had already been awarded for claims made against another teacher at the same school.

This campaign is about bringing to justice people like him and has NOTHING to do with discouraging genuine victims of abuse coming forward. This campaign is not to suggest that if a person alleges abuse and the defendant is subsequently acquitted then that complainant is deemed to have lied and is accordingly investigated. Everyone knows that a not guilty verdict after a court trial does not make the accuser a liar; it means there was insufficient evidence to prove the claim or claims to be true.

This campaign focuses upon those who have OBVIOUSLY made false claims.

I suggest a jury returning immediately (i.e. less than an hour) with a not guilty decision would suggest a total lack of evidence and could well intimate a false allegation/allegations. This should certainly be enough to warrant an inquiry.

It has been alleged that no one makes false allegations of abuse, whether historical or recent. Well, I can confirm from first-hand experience that they most certainly do!

The reasons are varied but, patently, a vast amount of money, running into tens of thousands of pounds, more money than these liars would ever likely get their hands on, is a good reason to do so. Particularly as there is absolutely no chance of being called to account if their lies are exposed.

Many false accusers make vast claims either against the individual, if that person is wealthy, or from the company where their supposed abuser worked (school/church insurance etc) or from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). This involves sums of hundreds of thousands of pounds. And what is even more shocking is the fact that, if an allegation is later shown to be fictitious, the claimant is allowed to keep the compensation money. There is no mechanism in place to reclaim monies wrongly claimed from private individuals or from the taxpayer via the CICA.

But money isn't the only issue.

There are those sad individuals living unremarkable lives who, by making an allegation, particularly against someone of standing in the community, can thrust themselves into the spotlight. For the first time in their life they are being listened to; the police are at their beck and call; the press want interviews (my accuser forewent his anonymity after his allegations against a previous teacher were believed). In some cases, false complainants appear to become addicted to lying. Surely the police and the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) should maintain detailed databases of proven or suspected false complainants.

These false allegations are a waste of our already overstretched police resources and of taxpayers money and those who lie about having been abused put doubt into the minds of the general public about even genuine complainants, which is an appalling situation.

False allegations do not destroy the lives of only the accused - his or her family members have also to suffer in their own communities. Having the same surname as an alleged abuser can be very damaging.

Added to this, those vile, untutored internet trolls rarely wait for a guilty verdict before spitting their poison. After my arrest I was repeatedly encouraged to kill myself. The media also take great delight in publishing details of accusations - the more repulsive they are, the more copies they sell, the more people watch/listen to their programme.

Such is the damage of even being accused of child sex crimes, that person will have his or her name inextricably linked to the allegations for the rest of his/her life. Centuries ago in this country criminals would be branded on the forehead. Nowadays, search engines do the same job, the only difference being, now we are in 'more enlightened' times, you don't even need to be guilty of the alleged crime. Even if you are not charged or you are found not guilty, your name will be linked with child sex abuse for evermore. The reputations of those who are falsely accused are irreparably damaged, while the liar walks away scot-free.

Innocent victims of false allegations can find themselves held in prison on remand before trial or can even find themselves wrongfully convicted, as alleged sex crimes against children carry a particular stigma and, because of this, juries are naturally reluctant to acquit anyone who is unable to prove his or her innocence. Prejudice alone will suffice, proof is no longer required. This is the exact opposite of how the British justice system should operate. These victims, those who have been falsely accused, rarely, if ever, receive any compensation for their appalling ordeal.

I have made the point in other articles I have written that in cases of alleged sex abuse, the police start from a standpoint that the accused is guilty and then ignore any evidence to the contrary. They fail to interview key witnesses or make even cursory investigations if they think what they will find will not help their own case that the defendant is guilty. On the other hand, they use every avenue at their disposal to trawl for further allegations, particularly via social media. In my case they used a wealthy businessman, ostensibly fascinated by the whole tawdry topic, to advertise for fresh complainants. Is it any wonder that such foul practices encourage false allegations?

Because we are appalled by the thought that someone would abuse a child, there is much emotion attached to the topic and, thus, it is imperative that we treat any allegations of just such a crime in an intelligent, balanced, fair, cautious manner. If it seems, therefore, after a thorough investigation, as though someone has made false allegations, then that person MUST be called to account and his or her target publicly vindicated.

These are the reasons it is important you sign my petition.

Thank you.

University Education: a Costly Mistake?

We are now at that time of year when 'A' level students are starting to become apprehensive about the publication of this year's public examination results. For many school leavers there will be thoughts about whether they will have achieved the required grades to secure the course they have applied for at their chosen university. But with the prospect of massive debts at the end of that course and the value of gaining a degree having been diminished by their sheer ubiquity, it is becoming more and more questionable whether embarking on a course of university study is really worth the candle.

It would seem logical that those school pupils who are not innate academics should rather move as soon as possible into the world of vocational training and work, building a career there rather than saddle themselves (and their parents) with an enormous bill while pursuing a course in a subject that a future employer neither needs, nor wants, thereby sinking into both debt and the despondency of chasing gainful employment while being academically over-qualified.

Back in the 1970s - when I left school - universities were regarded as institutions of high learning, the preserve of those with marked academic aptitude. For those who were not academically inclined, there were plenty of alternative paths to follow.

In those days many youngsters chose training courses - as an apprentice, for example - learning to become a skilled tradesman (oh, for more of these!). It was Tony Blair, coming to power in 1997, who advocated that as many school leavers as possible, whether academically inclined or not, should regard university as their automatic next step. I always found this to be paradoxical given the fact Blair spent most of his time in office stuffing diversity down our throats.

Many school leavers got it into their heads that vocational training to become a plumber or electrician was in some way socially inferior; that being a tradesman was tantamount to belonging to a lower social class. The message seemed to be if you don't go to university, you have somehow failed and it was in some way shameful.

The fact that more and more school leavers were hell-bent on following an academic course they had absolutely no interest in, or aptitude for, didn't seem to matter. It was of no surprise, consequently, that the university course drop-out rate rose sharply, as many students soon realised they were spending their time in a state of abject boredom, studying a course which had very limited appeal to any future employer. This situation has now been exacerbated by the fact the courses have become particularly expensive.

Blair's plan was rooted in crude social engineering and we have witnessed during the past 20 years the creation of a plethora of new courses with so little depth and even less academic significance. As a consequence, our universities have over-expanded. We now have a situation in which there are more and more courses with fewer and fewer lectures to attend and less and less work to complete.

The result of all this is that university degrees no longer have the rarity value that once made them a reliable career launch pad. It would be naive to think that employers do not separate a degree awarded by a top university from a pointless qualification from some Mickey Mouse institution.

Have you ever come across anything so preposterous as encouraging youngsters to follow courses in which they have neither interest in or aptitude for? We desperately need more and better vocational training and apprenticeships. In this age of huge student debts we must warn all those who are intending to take up a place at university (and their parents) that, unless they think through all their options, it could prove to be a very expensive mistake indeed.

Forever Tarnished

In view of what happened to me a few years ago, I know I shouldn't be shocked when reading news stories of a fantasist making outrageous allegations of historical sexual abuse straight from his or her own warped imagination. Nevertheless, such a story has presented itself recently and I am shocked to the core that such appalling claims could have been believed by agents of the State.

I defy any sane person not to feel acute sympathy for outstandingly successful and highly respected geography teacher, Kato Harris, for having been the innocent target of just such a fantasist who claimed she had been repeatedly raped by him in a school classroom (with a window onto the outside corridor) during lunch breaks. The parents of this complainant did everything they could to support their daughter, quite naturally. They employed a psychotherapist and hypnotist and even flew her to New York on a weekly basis to visit a therapist. After all, 'their daughter had been brutally and outrageously abused by a professional in a position of trust'.

However, anyone who works or has ever worked in a school, with its busy routines, would think it inconceivable that a member of staff could carry out an act of sexual intercourse in a public classroom during school hours. Even if this highly unlikely event were to take place without anyone noticing, are we then supposed to believe that a pupil could endure having been raped in a public place by a teacher she hardly knew and then return at 2 pm for afternoon maths, and for this to have happened on repeated occasions? If rape in such circumstances could ever occur, then the perpetrator should not only spend the rest of his or her life in custody, but also he or she would need to be criminally insane to think the victim would not tell the first person she saw. Or at least tell SOMEONE they trusted that day.

How on earth could anybody in authority with an I.Q. above the day's temperature not take all the mitigating factors of these allegations into account before deciding to ruin the career of an outstanding teacher by charging him and exposing him to the inevitable media glare? Even though the jury returned an immediate and unanimous verdict of not guilty, the stain on Mr. Kato's character will never be erased and - as anyone who has been the target of ludicrous, false historical allegations will tell you - the online references to the whole tawdry affair will be inextricably and irrevocably entwined with the accused's name for the rest of his or her life (and subsequently) because the search engines refuse to remove allegations, even if they have been shown to be lies.

Those who upload such reportage take the view that a trial took place, we are only reporting the facts, so live with it. How heartless, how cruel. Thus, anyone in modern society will have his or her life linked with a heinous crime in perpetuity if some lying opportunist or fantasist alleges abuse, which is exactly what happened to Mr. Kato (who despite being acquitted now faces a legal bill for his defence in excess of £195,000), and which also happened to me.

Despite the fact I proved the allegations proffered against me were lies, I will be forever tarnished. I have repeatedly attempted to have references to my own charging and trial in 2014 erased but there would be more chance of the England football team winning the next World Cup. I am unlikely to secure new work from anyone who didn't know me prior to the ordeal because of these unfortunate search engine references. Employers will naturally always lean on the side of caution, particularly where alleged child abuse is concerned, regardless of the fact of an acquittal by a jury that has heard all the evidence.

I wish Mr. Harris the very best as he tries to rebuild his life, but if he thinks the lies laid at his door by an hysterical fantasist will have no future bearing on his life, he is in for disappointment.