
Victorian-era piece of coconut from forensic dig
Daylife/AP Photo
Jersey’s most senior police officer has been suspended as detectives concluded that no children had been murdered in the former care home at the centre of a $6.2 million investigation into child abuse.
Graham Power, Jersey’s chief of police, oversaw the historic abuse inquiry into the Haut de la Garenne children’s home. In February police announced that they had found the “potential remains of a child” buried under the Victorian building and about $2.5 million was spent on excavations.
But yesterday the new officer directly in charge of the case said there had never been compelling evidence to justify the excavation, and much of what was found there did not suggest murder, contrary to initial police reports…
Of the 170 bone fragments found at the site, scientific analysis has proved that only three could be human; two of those might date back as far as 1470, and the other to between 1650 and 1950, said Gradwell…
“There are no credible allegations of murder, there are no suspects for murder and no specific time period for murder,” said Gradwell, who took over the case in September after the retirement of Lenny Harper, the first investigating officer and Power’s deputy.
There is a report coming which is reputed to document cases of abuse. No murders.
Oh yeah, there was a “skull fragment” which turned out to be a piece of coconut.
To my knowledge, British forensics is on a par with most industrial nations. So, how did an essentially political flap overrule scientific enquiry?