Lib Dems accused of denying Smith victims justice

Lawyers demanded yesterday that the Lib Dems hand over any files it has on Cyril Smith, the late MP accused of a catalogue of sexual abuse of boys.

A lawyer for the alleged victims of Smith, the Lib Dem MP for Rochdale who died in 2010, said the party had failed to hand over its files and that the alleged paedophile’s victims were being “denied justice”.

In November 2012 Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk called for a "full investigation" into allegations that Cyril Smith, the town's former MP, indecently assaulted boys in care - twelve men accused Smith of abusing them at a hostel and a school in the 1960s.

Mr Danczuk said claims against the late MP had "circulated for years" and also called for an inquiry into the role of MI5 in a potential "cover-up" of alleged abuse.

Greater Manchester Police assumed overall command of an investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse by Smith and in late November 2012, GMP publicly acknowledged that young boys were victims of physical and sexual abuse committed by Smith.

In December 2012 the Crown Prosecution Service said a search of historical files has found allegations of obscene publications and bribery relating to Smith. A spokesman said two police referrals had been found in a search of the Director of Public Prosecutions' files.

This month (February 2013), Social worker Lyndon Price said he raised the issue with the chief constable of Rochdale in 1965.

Mr Price, director of social services in Rochdale from 1971 to 84, said that Chief Constable Patrick Ross later told him no action would be taken.