Six men sue Lord Janner over historic child sex abuse allegations

Six alleged victims of Lord Greville Janner are suing the former Labour peer over claims he sexually abused them as children.

The 87-year-old, of Springfield Avenue, Muswell Hill, appeared in court last week over 22 charges of historic child sex abuse and now faces the civil compensation claims from six middle-aged men, some of whom feature in the criminal case.

Solicitors are legally obliged to lodge proceedings as soon as possible unless a defendant agrees to freeze the case.

But Janner’s lawyers have refused the request, prompting specialist abuse lawyer Liz Dux to launch proceedings.

Ms Dux, of Slater and Gordon, said: “Protective court proceedings have had to be commenced in the High Court in order to protect our clients’ interests due to the time limits that apply.

“We had requested that those representing Janner grant an extension of time until after the outcome of the criminal proceedings were known but that request was denied.

“We have, therefore, been forced to take this action to protect our clients’ interests. We are applying that the High Court now stay the civil proceedings until the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.”

Janner’s home in West Heath Road, Hampstead, was raided by police investigating the allegations in 2013.

His family strongly denies the claims.