The Wardman Wire

Operation Ore was a major police operation in Britain which became known to the public in 2002 targetting thousands of alleged users of child pornography websites. In the words of Wikipedia , the statistics were:

7,250 suspects identified, 4,283 homes searched, 3,744 arrests, 1,848 charged, 1,451 convictions, 493 cautioned, 879 investigations underway, 140 children removed from suspected dangerous situations (although the definition of what constitutes such, has varied and remains vague) and an estimated 39 suicides

These came from records of 26,462 transactions with 7,272 individuals. The comparative prosecution figures for the USA were 100 individuals prosecuted from records of 35,000 transactions.

These figures alone should be enough to ask serious questions of the British operation, but we have had years of senior policemen stolidly defending their investigation, and Child Protection “experts” using the “facts” of Operation Ore as a key plank in their arguments for stronger and stronger measures.

There have been significant doubts raised about the viability of the evidence presented, and the technical competence of the police who handled the data, and serious questions over their interpretation of that data. And now solicitor Chris Saltrese is launching a challenge to the convictions in the Appeal Court .

As recently as September 2008, the head of CEOP, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, Jim Gamble, gave a long interview on the BBC News 24 Hardtalk Programme playing a completely straight bat against criticisms of Operation Ore, or refusing to confront serious points. (Photo: CEOP).

Along the way, a climate has evolved in the UK where innocent people taking photographs in public are quite likely to be accused of being “perverts” (as happened to Gary Crutchley who was photographing his own children), or members of the public are likely to call the police because “someone is taking pictures of children” (as happened to Dave Gorman the comedian ).

The response of the police in the Dave Gorman case was to harrass the innocent photographer, rather than educate the complaining members of the public out of their paranoia.

It even made it into the latest version of Torchwood, when (from memory – I’m still looking for the clip) a mother called Ianto Jones a “pervert” when he knelt down to help a child.

This is a good Guardian Podcast which gives the background to the Chris Saltrese appeal.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Climate of Paedomania

Reporting of Operation Ore has had a very significant role in creating this hysterical climate in Britain, where it has become routine for any stranger to be accused of being a “pervert” for highly dangerous activities such as, for example, taking photographs in public.

Here is one example from the Houses of Parliament in October 2005 by Margaret Moran the MP for Luton , one of the more gung-ho MPs on this subject:

Operation Ore, the massive police investigation into child internet pornography, identified over 7,000 people in the UK, including judges, doctors and teachers, who used their credit cards to download images of children being abused or even killed for their gratification. Police believe that that is the tip of the iceberg. Those who download such images say that they have committed no crime, but every single vile picture that includes babies and children being raped and tortured has destroyed an innocent life. Through the internet, criminal gangs are making money out of this misery. That has gone unchallenged for too long and the time has come to right this wrong.

The statement – presented as fact by Margaret Moran MP as fact in the House of Commons – was simply not true, and could not be regarded as true even at the time it was made.

Even in police terms, 7,000+ people had *not* downloaded images, which was why they had to rely on “conspiracy” charges, half of the people Margaret Moran declares to be guilty were not even arrested, and perhaps three-quarters have been neither convicted nor cautioned.

In fact, the first major article asking serious questions of Operation Ore had been published by Duncan Campbell in the Magazine PC Pro more than 3 months previously.

Why was a group of MPs attempting to pass a “Control of Internet Access (Child Pornography)” bill not aware of developments in the field from months earlier that cast serious doubt on a key plank of their case?

My View

As implied by my title, I think that Operation Ore may include a massive miscarriage of justice, and I hope the arguments are properly addressed in the Appeal Court. I think that it may go down in history as a case study in incompetent policing, public witch-hunts and the diversion of resources away from the real problem.

Wrapping Up

There’s a lot more to say about the culture of paedomania which now seems to exist in this country – not least the role of Rebecca Wade, Vigilantes, the Internet Watch Foundation, campaigners for “Sarah’s Law”, the framework of law created in this country, and the entire “Safeguarding” bureaucracy which has been built at a cost of hundreds of millions, but that will wait for another time.

Further reading:

1. Telegraph: Has Operation Ore left a scar on British justice?
2. Wikipedia: Operation Ore .