By Maria Ahmed
The new man heading up Jersey's child abuse investigation has said he believes there are still people with information who have not come forward. Michael Gradwell, who led the investigation into the deaths of the Chinese cocklepickers at Morecombe Bay, has pledged to get to the truth. But if a recent row between the Guernsey Press - the paper of the neighbouring Channel island - and Jersey's chief minister is anything to go by, Gradwell has his work cut out.
The row was sparked by an editorial comment in the Guernsey Press, which called the current situation in Jersey "intolerable" and claimed prosecution and police had no confidence in each other.
The comment came off the back of a leaked memo from the former head of the Jersey child abuse investigation Lenny Harper which said victims had no faith in the system. The Guernsey Press commented: "The wonder is that the States of Jersey are so relaxed about the situation - unless they, too, have no confidence in their police service."
In response, Jersey's chief minister Frank Walker, who became infamous for his appearance on Newsnight earlier this year (posted on YouTube) attacked the paper. In a letter to the Guernsey Press, he called for an apology and said the comments misrepresented the truth.
But, as we have come to expect from the Jersey saga, this was by no means the end of the story. Lenny Harper waded into the row, with a damning letter in response to Walker's.
He claimed the minister and his assistant responsible for child welfare in Jersey "spent all of their time sniping at the enquiry from the sidelines and engaging in petty insults to officers involved".
The final twist - for now at least - came from the Guernsey Press editor Richard Digard, who concluded: "If, as Jersey's chief minister suggests, an apology is required, perhaps it should, to paraphrase Mr Harper, be extended to the 160 individuals who came forward to assist the historic abuse investigation, many of whom are now wondering why they bothered to relive the horror and trauma in their past."
While the international press has given Jersey an unwelcome spotlight for many months now, such a war of words close to home cannot be good news for Frank Walker and his fellow politicians. But it will hopefully add momentum to Gradwell's desire to get to the truth.
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