THE police officers now investigating allegations of historical child abuse in the Island have made what they describe as a final appeal for witnesses to come forward.

Quite clearly, anyone still in possession of as yet undisclosed information that could be of relevance to the inquiry must co-operate – adding their voices to those of the many people who have already made complaints or offered evidence.

Moreover, the assurances of senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Mick Gradwell that he and his team can be trusted must be accepted. No one has any grounds to believe that the inquiry is now proceeding with anything less than a sense of urgency, the full commitment of those involved, or determination to discover the truth and bring the guilty to justice.

If, however, suspicion was still lurking among those reluctant to come forward, they should now have been reassured by the presence of representatives of two organisations who shared the platform when Mr Gradwell made his latest statement. Neither the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children nor the Jersey Care Leavers Association would have lent their names to the appeal if they had had any doubts at all about its sincerity.

Events which unfolded last month, when it was made abundantly clear that the most lurid speculation about what might have happened at Haut de la Garenne was essentially just that – speculation – changed the scene dramatically and sensationally. It immediately became apparent that a bizarre mixture of excessive zeal, the dominance of a public relations agenda, misinterpretation of evidence and unwillingness to contradict the wild and irresponsible fantasies of the national and international press had painted a gruesome picture that had no foundation in fact.

All this also led to the reputation of this Island being dragged through the mud quite unnecessarily and produced a background of hysteria that will not have made Mr Gradwell’s efforts to pick up the reins of the
inquiry any easier.

He and his officers will no doubt be able to make use of some of the intelligence already gathered in what remains a disturbing and very serious investigation. But in one sense they have had to go back to square one, introducing a sense of proportion into a case that, thanks to an initially flawed investigative strategy, was transformed from a criminal inquiry into a media feeding frenzy.