Child rapist jailed despite support of retired high court judge Lady Butler-Sloss
A man convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl has been jailed for seven years, in a case in which the retired high court judge Elizabeth Butler-Sloss told the jury she was astonished at the allegations against the man.
Lady Butler-Sloss, a former president of the high court’s family division and now a working peer, was called to give evidence by Philip Chard’s defence team.
She knew Chard because his mother cleaned at her country house in Devon.
She told the court that she had tried “numerous cases over 34 years, mostly dealing with sexual or physical abuse” and thought Chard “a much less probable offender than many I have come across”.
The peer came in for criticism after Butler-Sloss gave character evidence supportive of Chard at another trial eight years ago when he was accused of assaulting a man while working as a nightclub bouncer. Chard was also convicted for that offence, but on that occasion avoided being sent to prison.
Last month a jury at Exeter crown court was told that Chard, 44, crept into a bedroom where his 13-year-old victim was sleeping and put his hand inside her pyjamas, and later returned and forced her to have sex. The victim said her mind went blank and she remembered feeling angry, shocked, frightened and confused.
Chard, of Lympstone, Devon, was found guilty of rape and one count of sexual activity with a child. He was cleared of four other counts of sexual activity with a child.
On Monday the judge Erik Salomonsen jailed Chard for seven years for the rape and one year concurrently for the sexual activity charge.
He told Chard that “he could not resist a very attractive 13-year-old girl” and “became increasingly attracted to her”. The judge did not refer to Butler-Sloss during the sentencing but said Chard was a man “who has merits”.
At his 2007 trial, Chard was accused of causing grievous bodily harm to a man called Daniel Potter while working as a doorman at a club in Exmouth. Potter suffered a fractured jaw, sustained cuts to his chin, lip and tongue and had to have two teeth surgically removed after Chard threw him out of the club for falling asleep on a sofa.
In court then, Butler-Sloss described Chard in warm terms. “He is a sensible, calm and very pleasant young man. He is quiet and extraordinarily helpful to me,” she told the court. “I have considerable respect for his common sense. I admire the way he looks after his mother.”
The jury found Chard guilty and he was ordered to pay his victim compensation and do 200 hours of unpaid community work.
Potter and his family have expressed anger that Butler-Sloss had again backed him in court. Potter said: “She is someone who is very high up. It seems like she has tried to help him twice.”
Asked after Chard was found guilty of rape why she had testified in the recent case when she must have known that he had a conviction for violence, Butler-Sloss said: “On the first occasion I gave evidence of character. I did not give evidence of character in the latest trial.”
Rather, she said, she had given evidence of a factual nature, and she insisted she did not give testimony about his “general character”.
On Monday she said: “At the moment I gave evidence in support of Philip Chard he was accused and not convicted and I had not heard the evidence and spoke from my knowledge of him at an earlier time. I mainly gave factual evidence about the days on which his mother worked for me.”
There is no suggestion that Butler-Sloss has broken any rules.
Butler-Sloss was appointed by the government to chair the child sex abuse inquiry but she stood down after it was claimed that there was a conflict of interest because her brother, the late Sir Michael Havers, was attorney general during the 1980s – one of the periods that is to be examined by the panel.
August 2015
Lympstone child rapist found guilty despite Butler-Sloss support
A Lympstone man has been convicted of raping a schoolgirl despite calling evidence from the woman who was originally chosen to lead the government’s child abuse inquiry.
Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss went into the witness box in support of her cleaner’s 44-year-old son Phillip Chard, who has now been convicted of child rape.
The retired President of the Family Division of the High Court said she was astonished by the allegations and thought it improbable that Chard was a sex offender.
Lady Butler-Sloss, who lives in East Devon, was chosen by Home Secretary Theresa May to head the public inquiry into allegations that historic child abuse by VIPs had been covered up.
She was chosen because of her experience leading the Cleveland abuse inquiry but forced to step down when it emerged that her brother Michael Havers had been attorney general at the time of some of the allegations.
The task was eventually passed onto Dame Lowell Goddard, QC, a judge from New Zealand.
Former doorman Chard was remanded in custody at Exeter Crown Court after being found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting the 13-year-old girl when she was staying overnight in his home.
The girl told Chard touched her under her nightclothes, went away for a short time, and then returned and raped her. She said she was left in such pain she had trouble walking the next day.
Chard, of Dawlish Park Terrace, Lympstone, denied all charges but was found guilty of rape and one count of sexual activity with a child.
He was cleared of four offences of sexual activity with a child which related to the alleged groping of the same girl on earlier occasions.
Judge Erik Salomonsen adjourned the case for sentence next month and told Chard a jail sentence is inevitable. He thanked the jury for their care in dealing with such a sensitive case.
During a week long trial the girl told the jury how Chard crept into her bedroom when she was staying overnight at his home and put his hand inside her pyjamas before returning a few minutes later for sex.
She said her mind went blank and she remembers feeling angry, shocked, frightened and generally confused.
Chard denied that anything sexual happened that night or on any other occasion. He said on the night of the rape he watched Match of the Day on television and went to bed.
Lady Butler-Sloss was called as a character witness. She said he knew Chard because he often took his mother to her home to work and sometimes stayed there for a couple of hours.
She said:”I was President of the Family Division and tried numerous cases over 34 years, mostly dealing with sexual or physical abuse. I have considerable experience although I retired in 2005.
“I had no concerns about Mr Chard. I was astonished by these allegations. I think he is a much less probable offender than many I have come across.”
August 2015
Butler-Sloss testifies in child abuse case
A retired High Court Judge has given evidence on behalf of a man who is on trial for raping a 13-year-old girl.
Baroness Butler-Sloss told Exeter Crown Court she had 34 years experience of dealing with child abuse cases.
She gave character evidence on behalf of Philip Chard, 44, on trial for rape and sexual abuse of the girl.
The baroness was appointed in July 2014 to lead an inquiry into allegations of historical child abuse but stood down before the inquiry started.
Lady Butler-Sloss, who is a working peer in the House of Lords, said Mr Chard’s mother, Valerie, had been her cleaning lady at her home in East Devon for 20 years.
She said she knew Chard because he often took his mother to her home to work and sometimes stayed there for a couple of hours.
She said: “I had no concerns about Mr Chard. I was astonished by these allegations. I think he is a much less probable offender than many I have come across.”
Former doorman Chard, of Dawlish Park Terrace, Lympstone, denies rape and five counts of sexual activity with a child.
The girl has told Exeter Crown Court how Chard crept into her bedroom when she was staying overnight at his home.
Chard told the jury nothing sexual happened during the night or on a number of previous occasions.
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