Oliver Saxby QC and Kieran Brand begin Operation Reno defence

October 12, 2015

Oliver Saxby QC and Kieran Brand have begun their defence of James Carragher, the catholic De La Salle Brother charged with sexually abusing 15 young boys in his care at the St Williams Children’s Home near Market Weighton in Yorkshire in the 1970s and 1980s.

The trial at Leeds Crown Court is expected to last 8-10 weeks. Carragher has already faced two major police operations relating to his time at St Williams – the first in the early 1990s and the second in 2004. Both resulted in convictions and sentences of imprisonment. This third police operation involves 15 further complainants, each of whom will give evidence during the course of the trial and be cross-examined on his behalf.

The preparation of Mr Carragher’s defence has involved the painstaking analysis of each of the two previous police investigations (the case papers – used and unused – run to upwards of 50,000 pages) and the creation for each of the current complainants of timelines showing the extent of their engagement in the previous police operations and prosecutions.

Counsel for the Crown, Richard Wright QC, will open the case to the jury on Monday 12th October.

Please see links below for news coverage of this case:

BBC News

BBC News

CPS News