Hall Of Fame
Hall Of Fame
The club promised an 'independent' enquiry in 2016 and so why didn't they do it?Originally Posted by out0lunch
That looks pretty bad unless you can think of a reason why a police investigation would be inferior to an independent one or are they in fact the same thing but in one regard perhaps better because the police have powers to investigate and interrogate and even arrest people that the other one can't? However, the difference could be that most independent enquiries have a prominent lawyer or QC leading them which be very costly anyway but the findings tend to be made public to give everyone confidence all the issues have been looked at and so is there any reason why the police investigations and their final report if that is what convinced the club that no further action is needed, is also made public?
If the club just say its been investigated by the police and that's the end of the matter, then its likely the pressure on them will just increase to have one. I did think they were having one as they said so and so once again, why did they not explain to the public and especially the victims and their families why they changed their minds? This club really does need to up its game in this regard. It's not as though they have been warned dozens of times they really do need to communicate far far better and not act like they are in a 100 feet underground bunker!
Hall Of Fame
I find myself agreeing with you, Mike, which must be for the second time since I started using this site!!!
As you rightly say, the Police may well have cleared the club of legal wrongdoing (twice) but that only goes so far. It’s all about public perception now and the Alex could give lessons on how not to go about that. Personally I would rather they brought someone in to look at current practices as that is more relevant to today’s standards in safeguarding young people than that which pertained 30 years ago.
However much we might think we are becoming the scapegoat club in this whole sordid affair, the fact remains we are one of the clubs at the centre of it and employed a *****phile for several years. Whatever it takes to at least try to clear our name must be done; let’s not forget that some of our former kids say they were known as the ***** boys and I for one find that appalling and something that we should do whatever it takes to make sure is never repeated.
Hall Of Fame
A purely hypothetical question but let's say the club had done an independent investigation which showed the club didn't know anything about this, then would people say it was a whitewash and the police should be called in ?
Hall Of Fame
Same questions though mate..
Why say they were going to have an 'independent' investigation and then don't have one and worse, don't explain why they changed their mind to call in the police instead? Cynics may think that was to save cash. I couldn't possibly comment. But everyone needed to know what the scope of the investigation was, who was dealing with it, one copper or 50 or which police force and what remit they had and then for the club to publish the findings. How can the victims or the parents past, present and future have confidence in the club if they don't know anything other than the club saying its all been dealt with. Didn't they say that before?
The whole reason for an 'independent' enquiry is so all this can be put in the public domain and investigated thoroughly.
The club needs to come out and answer these questions and not just hope it goes away on its own..It won't.
Hall Of Fame
Regardless of whether a separate investigation would have been a good thing, we can't say they did npot explain why they changed their minds - it's basically what the first half of statement 2 on 2 March was about: https://www.crewealex.net/news/2018/...rry-bennell-2/
Hall Of Fame
it would be better if a genuinely independent inquiry was commissioned by the Club. Yes, it is possible that the conclusions would be weighted against the Club, but it would surely be better that it accepted mea culpa than trying to circle the wagons tighter and maintain it had no knowledge of what Bennell was up to. Pleading ignorance is laughable. There must be one or more grown ups who had at least an inkling of what Bennell was like. Did no parent ever speak up? How does the allegation of **** at Dario's house fit into the picture? The latter may be untrue or a separate incident unrelated to Bennell's crimes. Just dismissing Hamilton's claims by saying we do not recall him raising them is unsatisfactory. The Club has a responsibility to be fully transparent about what happened and who knew.
Hall Of Fame
Falefaninpeace outed as a troll, then MikeSB takes over.......
Hall Of Fame
Jesus, some of yo just keep embarrassing yourself with this topic. What does ‘outed as a troll’ even mean? Caught having an opinion? For saying you should have an independent inquiry? Do you know what the word troll actually means? Who ‘outed’ me anyway?
I suppose you must thing that the media, ex professionals, legal professionals, politicians, the victims themselves are also trolls too for wanting an I depended inquiry? Why be so afraid of it?
Hall Of Fame
OK VFIP. You know that that person's comment wasn't representative of most outlooks on here! However, because there is increasing pressure, something has to give. Despite the likelihood that the board is following legal advice when it tries to keep its head down, there is clearly coming a time when they will have to 'do' something.
Personally, I would, publicly, invite the victims to receive an apology. This would not be an admission of 'guilt'.
Whatever they do, I can guarantee that the media, Guardian & Mail in particular, will NOT report it favourably, if at all, and further, they will not then take on the big clubs. In fact, they will continue to be cheerleaders for 'big money' while at the same time totally ignoring the bread and butter of the game.
Because of the above, I would rather not spend much more time discussing this topic. There are powers in control of the topic and the reason I get angry is my feeling of powerlessness in terms of not being able to affect the 'life' of the story.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote