Baker, posted again as should be NOTABLE

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6738081/GCHQ-spy-chief-quit-helped-paedophile-Catholic-priest-avoid-jail.html

One of Britain’s top spy chiefs quit after it emerged that he helped a paedophile Catholic priest avoid jail, The Mail on Sunday can reveal

Prime Minister Theresa May was last night accused of a cover-up over the scandal as she knew of GCHQ director Robert Hannigan’s connection to the child sex offender when he stood down in 2017.

At the time, Mr Hannigan had cited ‘family reasons’, with this crucial link kept secret.

The high-flying civil servant, who was lauded for his role in striking peace in Northern Ireland, stunned Whitehall with his exit after just two years in charge of GCHQ.

This newspaper has learned he stepped down after the National Crime Agency discovered that he helped a close family friend avoid a custodial sentence for possessing 174 child pornography images.

After Mr Hannigan provided a character reference for Father Edmund Higgins at his 2013 trial, the priest’s eight-month sentence was suspended. The judge said Higgins had ‘struggled with his sexuality’. But Higgins went on to reoffend, and during an NCA probe his links to Mr Hannigan were discovered and No 10 was alerted.

The powerful mandarin gave the reference ‘in good faith’ a year before his appointment as director of the 5,000-strong Government Communications Headquarters, the notoriously secretive eavesdropping agency.

With the Prime Minister’s blessing, he was allowed to resign on January 23, 2017, citing family commitments. Anonymous briefings were given to the media that he would be caring for sick relatives. That same year, Mrs May said: ‘The sunlight of transparency acts… as an important check and balance, and helps ensure the highest standards of public life among senior Government representatives.’ 1/2

>>5357038

Cont 2/2

Cont. NOTABLE

Mr Johnson replied: ‘You have led the renewal of some of our most important national security capabilities. I wish you the very best for your future career.’

Last night, Scottish National Party MP Pete Wishart said the ‘shocking episode reeked of a cover-up’, adding: ‘The Prime Minister is immersed in this up to her eyes.

‘No 10 must give a full account of what they knew, when they knew and why they have failed to do so before. The Prime Minister must come to the Commons tomorrow and explain the Government’s role in this appalling episode.’ Government insiders said in Mr Hannigan’s defence the truth was not revealed because the investigation into Higgins was still active. Higgins’s home was raided by the NCA the following January.

However, the truth remained classified long after Higgins was charged. He was jailed for 31 months in June 2018 in a case the NCA described as ‘horrendous’.

They had caught Higgins boasting online of his sexual interest in babies and he later confessed to possessing and making child abuse images. He visited chatrooms when child sex abuse was being shown, and in May 2016 he hosted a chatroom where nine videos were played showing horrific child abuse, with one victim thought to be just three months old. When his house was raided, the NCA found more than 800 illegal images, 201 of which were in the most severe category. Even while he was on bail he returned to the depraved online forums to reoffend.

After his conviction, senior NCA officer Martin Ludlow said: ‘Every time these horrendous images are shared that child is victimised… [Higgins] has shown no remorse. He went out of his way to encourage others to view and share images.’

Mr Hannigan has since gone on to a lucrative career in the private sector. He said last night: ‘Mr Higgins had been a close family friend for 20 years. After he pleaded guilty to child sexual imagery offences in 2013, we submitted a character reference on our knowledge of him to the court in good faith.

‘His subsequent criminal actions appalled us and have shown that our judgment was completely wrong. When I later became director of GCHQ, all the correct steps were taken in relation to my involvement in this case and this was verified by Government lawyers. This is a personal family matter. We will not be making further comment

NOTABLE

>>5357064

Yeah , just posted this too anon. Definitely NOTABLE

due to FISA