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| Sir Cyril Smith police files sought by Crown Prosecution Service | Sir Cyril Smith police files sought by Crown Prosecution Service |
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| The Crown Prosecution Service is scouring its archives for police files dating back more than 40 years which are said to show how the director of public prosecutions decided there was no public interest in pursuing child abuse allegations against Sir Cyril Smith, the late Liberal Democrat MP for Rochdale. | The Crown Prosecution Service is scouring its archives for police files dating back more than 40 years which are said to show how the director of public prosecutions decided there was no public interest in pursuing child abuse allegations against Sir Cyril Smith, the late Liberal Democrat MP for Rochdale. |
| The move comes amid fresh claims about the MP's behaviour with children in Rochdale, and after a former special branch officer with Lancashire police said he saw the file in the early 1970s before it was taken away on the instruction of an MI5 officer. Tony Robinson said the dossier was "thick full of statements from young boys alleging abuse", but the file was taken by the secret service around the time Smith could have become a minister in a coalition government planned in 1974. | The move comes amid fresh claims about the MP's behaviour with children in Rochdale, and after a former special branch officer with Lancashire police said he saw the file in the early 1970s before it was taken away on the instruction of an MI5 officer. Tony Robinson said the dossier was "thick full of statements from young boys alleging abuse", but the file was taken by the secret service around the time Smith could have become a minister in a coalition government planned in 1974. |
| "We are trying to find the file," said a spokesman for the CPS on Wednesday. "We are currently doing what we can to double check available records." "Written across the top of it were the words 'No further action. Not in the public interest. DPP'," Robinson told the Daily Telegraph. | "We are trying to find the file," said a spokesman for the CPS on Wednesday. "We are currently doing what we can to double check available records." "Written across the top of it were the words 'No further action. Not in the public interest. DPP'," Robinson told the Daily Telegraph. |
| Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk is collating claims from the public and retired police officers received over the past 24 hours about Smith's case after he said in the Commons: "Young boys were humiliated, terrified and reduced to quivering wrecks by a 29st bully imposing himself on them." | Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk is collating claims from the public and retired police officers received over the past 24 hours about Smith's case after he said in the Commons: "Young boys were humiliated, terrified and reduced to quivering wrecks by a 29st bully imposing himself on them." |
| He told MPs the abuse centred on the Cambridge House hostel in Rochdale where Smith, who died in 2010, was given "a disciplinarian role". | He told MPs the abuse centred on the Cambridge House hostel in Rochdale where Smith, who died in 2010, was given "a disciplinarian role". |
| A blue plaque on the front of the town hall honouring Smith has been taken down after the renewed allegations. The council said removing the plaque, which was unveiled last year by the former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, was a "neutral act" to prevent vandalism. | A blue plaque on the front of the town hall honouring Smith has been taken down after the renewed allegations. The council said removing the plaque, which was unveiled last year by the former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, was a "neutral act" to prevent vandalism. |
| "This is not a judgment on either Sir Cyril Smith or anyone else," said Colin Lambert, leader of Rochdale council. "We discussed this at a meeting last night and had decided to leave it up, but we received information that it could be damaged overnight and took it down because this would be a danger to the town hall." | "This is not a judgment on either Sir Cyril Smith or anyone else," said Colin Lambert, leader of Rochdale council. "We discussed this at a meeting last night and had decided to leave it up, but we received information that it could be damaged overnight and took it down because this would be a danger to the town hall." |
| Smith's brother, Norman Smith, has rejected the claims as "nonsense". "It's been proved on more than one occasion that there's no case," he said. "Lancashire police investigated a few years ago and said there was nothing to prove." | Smith's brother, Norman Smith, has rejected the claims as "nonsense". "It's been proved on more than one occasion that there's no case," he said. "Lancashire police investigated a few years ago and said there was nothing to prove." |
| Lancashire police has encouraged "anyone who believes they have been a victim of sexual abuse by Mr Smith, or who has any information about possible abuse committed by him, to come forward and report those concerns to Lancashire constabulary." | Lancashire police has encouraged "anyone who believes they have been a victim of sexual abuse by Mr Smith, or who has any information about possible abuse committed by him, to come forward and report those concerns to Lancashire constabulary." |
| Barry Fitton, 66, has accused Smith of slapping and stroking his naked buttocks and fondling him at the hostel when he was 15. "I turned up and was asked to go into this room and they said you have to have a medical examination," he said. "I thought it would be a doctor, but it was Cyril. He told me to take my pants down and he started to fondle me. I thought it was odd and not right, but as far as I was concerned, Cyril was completely powerful." | Barry Fitton, 66, has accused Smith of slapping and stroking his naked buttocks and fondling him at the hostel when he was 15. "I turned up and was asked to go into this room and they said you have to have a medical examination," he said. "I thought it would be a doctor, but it was Cyril. He told me to take my pants down and he started to fondle me. I thought it was odd and not right, but as far as I was concerned, Cyril was completely powerful." |
| Lancashire police said no records are held on the investigation into Smith in the late 1960s, adding that it could not be ascertained whether a file was passed to the director of public prosecutions. | Lancashire police said no records are held on the investigation into Smith in the late 1960s, adding that it could not be ascertained whether a file was passed to the director of public prosecutions. |
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