Freemason tried to pressure police chief

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Louise Thomas

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The late Lord Kenyon, a provincial grandmaster of Freemasons, tried to pressure the Chief Constable of North Wales into abandoning a crackdown on officers being members of the Order.

Lord Kenyon telephoned the Chief Constable at a time when an unnamed policeman was due to take a senior position in a masonic lodge, the North Wales child abuse tribunal heard yesterday.

A former police officer and Mason, who has been accused of abuse by a number of witnesses and who has spent two days giving evidence to the tribunal, denied that he was the officer referred to. The ex- policeman also denied that he had forgotten 15 visits to a children's home.

Timothy King QC, counsel for a number of alleged victims of abuse, asked the ex-policeman if he had been aware of the standing order which "frowned" on serving officers being Freemasons. He also asked him if he knew about "negotiations behind the scenes between the grandmaster and the Chief Constable?"

He replied: "I was aware that the provincial grandmaster visited the Chief Constable at a police station, but what was discussed I have no idea."

The hearing continues.

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