Allegations of Child Abuse
In June 1999 Jones was formally questioned by police over alleged sexual abuse at St George's School in Formby, Merseyside, a home for children with educational and behavioural problems, where he had been employed as a care worker from 1986 to 1990. After voluntarily attending the police station, he was arrested then questioned, before being released on bail without charge.
He was subsequently charged on 27 September with nine offences against young boys of indecent assault and child cruelty. He denied all the allegations and stated he was "confident that innocence will be established in due course". He appeared before Merseyside Magistrates Court on 2 November 1999 where he formally pleaded not guilty to all charges and was granted bail.
The case reached Liverpool Crown Court in December 2000, by which time Jones had parted company with Southampton. He stood trial on an eventual 21 charges, which was swiftly reduced to 14 after two other alleged victims pulled out of proceedings on the eve of the trial. After a further alleged victim declined to appear or refused to give evidence, the Judge directed the jury during the fourth day of proceedings to return a formal not guilty verdict on four charges relating to the absent party. After decreeing a retrial would not be "just" on the remaining charges, the Judge recorded not guilty verdicts on the remaining 10 charges. Jones left cleared of all allegations and was told by the Judge: "No wrongdoing whatsoever on your part has been established".
One of the key "victims" was later found to have fabricated their claim of abuse in Jones' and other cases brought from Operation Care – the police investigation into child abuse – in order to win compensation. Jones himself later spoke bitterly of the handling of the case and claimed it was the cause of his father's death, who had died shortly after the allegations became public.
Jones speaks in more detail about the case in his autobiography, "No Smoke, No Fire" published in June 2009.
Read more about this topic: Dave Jones (footballer Born 1956)
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