The transcript for Wednesday’s hearing is now published. Witnesses questioned were Andrew Purkis, Wayne Murdock, and Carwyn Hughes. Statements from Lady Alice Renton and Ian Beer were also read out.
There is a list of 35 documents, and the links to all of them are here. More details later.
Media reports:
What seems to be emerging from the IICSA and beyond is an astonishing factual account of chaos, cover-up, callousness and incompetence within the dark corners of the higher echelons of the Church of England. Maybe it is time for the “purple circle”, as described by Rev Graham Sawyer, to collectively ‘do the honourable thing’, follow the example of the Bishops of Chile, and offer their resignations en bloc? May 20 2018 – Resignation of Bishops … in Chile “The bishops’ move came after Francis said the Chilean church hierarchy was collectively responsible for “grave defects” in handling sexual abuse cases… Read more »
Watching yesterday and today, I am struck by the integrity of Mr Murdock from Gloucesteshire Police and Mr McGill from the CPS. But there is still a sense in the evidence they have given that the question of what impact prosecuting Peter Ball in 1992 would have had on the Church was certainly entertained by some people in both police and CPS and elsewhere (The extraordinary phone call from the Lord Chief Justice to Murdock, the concern in the CPS guidance sent to the DPP about the traumatising effect of a prosecution on not only the victims but also the… Read more »
Jeremy, if you read the transcript (25 July 2018, page 76 line 20 to page 77 line 23), you will see that although another police officer told Det Insp Wayne Murdock (as he then was) that the Lord Chief Justice was on the ‘phone, the call was not from the LCJ (then Lord Taylor of Gosforth) but from Sir Anthony Lloyd, then a Lord Justice of Appeal and now Lord Lloyd of Berwick – a retired Law Lord, who is scheduled to give evidence to the Inquiry tomorrow, 27 July 2018.