A FORMER top Lancashire detective has dismissed accusations that he ‘leaked’ a report about the Jersey child abuse investigation to the media.

During a recent session in the States of Jersey - the equivalent to the UK’s Houses of Parliament - ex Det Supt Mick Gradwell was accused by a senator of being responsible for passing on information critical of the investigation to English newspapers.

Mr Gradwell was seconded to the Channel island in 2008 to pick up the pieces of the so-called ‘house of horrors’ Haut de la Garenne children’s home probe.

Jersey Police, led by Deputy Chief Officer Lenny Harper, thought they had discovered human remains, when tests later showed the ‘skull’ was a coconut shell.

Following the conclusion of the investigation, Mr Gradwell retired and was outspoken in his criticism of the way it had been run.

But in a response to a question from Deputy Trevor Pitman on who leaked a BDO interim report, Home Affairs Minister Ian Le Marquand said: “The most likely person who did this was the former senior investigating officer who took on the historical abuse inquiry and who left in August 2009 with a very noisy, if I may put it that way, publicity in relation to his criticisms of his predecessors.

“The result of the inquiry which was conducted by myself in 2009 very clearly pointed in his direction.”

But today, Mr Gradwell hit back.

He said: “There’s no mystery about what I’ve said.

"I thought it was a shambles with no financial management.

“I don’t regard that as a leak, though having worked there I’m not surprised at this.

“I’m on record as quoting information from the report.

"I released it when asked the questions on TV, online and in the papers.

“I didn’t leak a report. After I left I said my version of what happened including a mass overspend, a poorly-managed fiasco where the lead detective made unnecessary trips and took his notes with him.”