West Midlands Police Officers Cleared of Wrongdoing in Evil Catholic Priest Case
By Jonny Greatrex
POLICE have finally revealed details of their probe into detectives accused of collusion with the Catholic Church during a paedophile priest case. Officers who dealt with the hunt for, and trial of, Father James Robinson have been cleared of misconduct by West Midlands Police's Professional Standards Department. Robinson was jailed for 21 years in October 2010 for subjecting six boys to decades of horrific abuse. The evil priest – who worked at parishes across the West Midlands – fled to America in 1985 after a victim went to the police. The paedophile was living in California in 2009 when he was extradited back to the UK to stand trial. His victims have repeatedly claimed Robinson was protected by West Midlands Police detectives in the 1980s, saying that they helped him to flee the country. They also claimed witness statements were destroyed and illicit information passed to the Archdiocese of Birmingham. Now WMP has revealed that a series of internal investigations into officers' conduct found that there was no wrongdoing. They also revealed that police investigations were carried out into the Catholic Church's dealings with Robinson following the initial complaint against him, which gave no grounds to prosecute. Deputy Chief Constable Dave Thompson, said: "Allegations against officers who investigated the first allegations against Richard James Robinson were reviewed by our Professional Standards Department. "There was no evidence to support the allegations of misconduct. "These allegations were also considered as part of the later criminal investigation and subsequent trial. "Again, there was no evidence to support the allegations of misconduct." Mr Thompson said that the investigation also found that no evidence had been destroyed, or inappropriately shared with the Catholic church. He added that the initial evidence against Robinson given to officers in the 1980s did not give them adequate grounds to charge him at that stage. "When the original allegation against Father Robinson was investigated, a number of potential witnesses were spoken to. "This included individuals within the Catholic Church," he said. "This forms part of the safeguarding consideration and could lead to statements from alleged victims being shared with employers. "The investigation was carried out, the evidence reviewed and it was decided that there was insufficient evidence for a prosecution. "The original statements from that investigation were not destroyed, but were used in the court case which ultimately led to the conviction of Richard James Robinson." The police also revealed allegations that members of the Archdiocese of Birmingham aided Robinson were also rejected. Mr Thompson added: "As part of the criminal investigation which led to the conviction of Richard James Robinson, the allegations against individuals within the Catholic Church, as well as their responsibility as his employer, were investigated and considered. Following this investigation, a report was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service who, after careful consideration, concluded that there was to be no further action taken." Twisted Robinson abused six boys between 1959 and 1983. One of his first victims was Geoff Smith, now 61, who lived in Walsall, West Midlands, in the 1960s. He broke his silence after seeing reports that Robinson had been extradited from the US to finally face the child sex charges against him. After meeting other victims during the trial Geoff, who now lives in Ireland, has campaigned for cops to release details about their investigations. He said: "I have been asking them questions about this for two years and it has taken until now for them to respond. "Robinson's victims have a right to know this information, if there was wrongdoing we need to know. "And if, as it has turned out, their investigations say there was no wrongdoing, we needed to know that as well."
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