Lord Janner of Braunstone QC
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The Right Honourable The Lord Janner of Braunstone QC |
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Janner in 2009
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| Member of the House of Lords | |
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In office 25 October 1997 – 19 December 2015 |
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Member of Parliament for Leicester West |
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In office 28 February 1974 – 1 May 1997 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency recreated Barnett Janner (1950) |
| Succeeded by | Patricia Hewitt |
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Member of Parliament for Leicester North West |
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In office 18 June 1970 – 28 February 1974 |
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| Preceded by | Barnett Janner |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Greville Ewan Janner 11 July 1928 Cardiff, Wales |
| Died | 19 December 2015 (aged 87) London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party |
Labour (suspended April 2015) |
| Spouse(s) | Myra Sheink (m. 1955–1996) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | St Paul's School, London |
| Alma mater |
Trinity Hall, Cambridge Harvard Law School |
| Profession | Barrister |
| Religion | Reform Judaism |
Greville Ewan Janner, Baron Janner of Braunstone, QC (11 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was a British politician, barrister and writer who was alleged to have abused vulnerable children—he died before court proceedings could formally establish the facts. He became a Leicester Labour MP in the 1970 general election as a last-minute candidate, succeeding his father. He was an MP until 1997, and then elevated to the House of Lords. Never a frontbencher, Janner was particularly known for his work on Select Committees; he chaired the Select Committee on Employment for a time. He was associated with a number of Jewish organisations including the Board of Deputies of British Jews, of which he was chairman from 1978 to 1984, and was later prominent in the field of education about the Holocaust.
Allegations that he had sexually abused children first emerged publicly in 1991, but Janner denied them and no action was taken. The accusations re-emerged shortly before Janner's death, and although the Crown Prosecution Service considered that there was enough evidence to merit prosecution, they decided that it would not be in the public interest as Janner had been diagnosed as suffering from dementia. This decision was overturned on review, although Janner was ruled unfit to plead. At the time of his death a trial of the facts had been scheduled for 11 April 2016, but was shelved following his death; six complainants intended to sue his estate. In a statement issued after the CPS decision in April 2015, his family said that Janner was innocent.
Janner was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) parents, the son of Barnett Janner and Elsie Sybil, née Cohen. Janner and Ruth, his sister (later Lady Morris of Kenwood), were evacuated to Canada at the age of 11, because their parents anticipated a Nazi invasion of Britain. While in Canada, living with family friends, he attended Bishop's College School, Lennoxville, Quebec. Janner returned to Britain in 1942 and attended St Paul's School, London.
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