Police chief suspended after £4.5m 'murder' investigation finds...nobody was murdered

Deputy Andrew Lewis, the home affairs minister, also confirmed the force’s chief officer, Graham Power, had been suspended.

He said: “It is evident that we didn’t receive all the information about the historic abuse inquiry that we should have received, and that some aspects of this critically important police investigation have not been conducted properly.”

During a press conference, he admitted he had deep regrets over the investigation.

He added: “While we welcome the conclusion of the police that there was no evidence of any murders having taken place, we need to understand, and will establish, why this was not made apparent earlier on in the investigation.

“This matter has raised questions as to the role of the chief police officer. I have invoked the disciplinary code in respect of the officer and an investigation will be undertaken.”

He added: “We ask questions and we were given answers - we are now questioning these answers.”

The States of Jersey statement was made after police chiefs, recently installed as heads of the investigation, said no-one had been murdered at former children’s home Haut de la Garenne and previously released evidence had been inaccurate.

Mr Power “strenuously” denied any wrongdoing and said he will rigorously contest any allegations.

Deputy Chief Officer David Warcup said there was no evidence that any children had been murdered or bodies destroyed at the former home.

He expressed “much regret” at “misleading” information released by his predecessor, Lenny Harper.

A spokesman for the Jersey Care Leavers’ Association said: “We are relieved that there is no evidence of children having been murdered at Haut de la Garenne.

“This finding opens the way for a proper accounting of the abuse that many people suffered in the child care system in Jersey over decades.”

Will McMahon, chairman of the UK Care Leavers’ Association, said: “What is required as soon as possible is a full and independent inquiry into the child abuse scandal that has taken place on the island.

“Only then, and only after reparation being made to the victims, will Jersey be able to look to the future.”

Chief Minister Frank Walker also told the press conference he was concerned about the damage the scandal had done to the island’s reputation.

Mr Walker estimated the cost of the investigation stood at £4.5 million, adding that £1.5 million had been spent solely on digging at the site.

He added: “I am disappointed to learn that the investigation has not been undertaken in the manner in which it should have been.

“It would appear there have been certain sums of money that did not need to have been spent.”

In their first briefing since taking charge of the investigation, Mr Warcup and Detective Superintendent Michael Gradwell discredited a string of key pieces of evidence.

The shackles and restraints were described as rusty pieces of metal while a blood-stained bath, it was disclosed, had not been used since the 1920s.

There was also “nothing suspicious” about bones, teeth, pits and cellars at the former children’s home.

Mr Warcup said: “There is no suggestion there has been murder or any bodies destroyed.

“It is very unfortunate and I have much regret that information has been given by police that was not strictly accurate.”

Mr Gradwell went on to say the belief that forensic teams had uncovered secret underground torture chambers was “wrong” and they were “just cellars”.

And he said bones discovered dated “from 1470 to 1670”.

Regarding milk teeth belonging to up to 65 children found at the site, he said: “It is difficult to understand why no adult teeth have been found if this was a suspicious find.”

But he shied away from apportioning blame to Mr Harper, adding: “I am not judge, juror or executioner - I am not looking to apportion blame.”

Mr Harper, who retired in August and is now living in Ayrshire, Scotland, defended himself for raising fears children were murdered.

He told BBC News: “My first reaction is of great disappointment at the blatant misrepresentation of things that I am supposed to have said, by David Warcup. I really don’t understand that.

“He says that we were claiming there was a murder... I always said all along that we had no evidence of homicide.

“We were treating the scene as a homicide scene, but there was no evidence of homicide and I would have thought Mr

Warcup would have understood the difference between the two.”

He said officers never labelled the cellars as torture chambers.

“The victims were telling us that they were lowered down into these rooms, which we made clear in our media statements used to be the ground floor of that building.”

Mr Harper said Mr Warcup’s comments came at “an opportune time” for the Jersey government, as a report into the island’s care system by the Howard League for Penal Reform was due to be released on Friday.

Senator Stuart Syvret, a former minister for health and social services, said officers were trying to “rubbish” Mr Harper’s work by denying any children were murdered.

He said the press conference was being held “to attempt to smear and rubbish the work of Lenny Harper and thus attempt to justify the dismissal and abandoning of certain aspects of the Haut de la Garenne investigation, including the possibility of child deaths having occurred there, and certain of the more serious abuse claims”.

The investigation also included a search of a Second World War bunker near to the home where victims claim they were taken.

So far three people have been charged and are awaiting trial on the island.

The abuse investigation was launched in 2006 but scandal surrounding the home, which was a youth hostel in recent years, emerged in February.

Mr Walker, who said he had previously been shown around the site with his wife, added: “I feel very let down by the revelations about the inappropriate handling of the investigation.”

Mr Walker ordered a full independent inquiry several months ago - but said he was only notified of the officers’ findings last night.