Geffen acquitted

A Walsall-based solicitor who played an instrumental role in securing the freedom of the Birmingham Six has spoken of his relief after he was cleared last week of paedophile charges.

Ivan Geffen, aged 82, was originally charged with 11 counts of indecent assault relating to eight girls, alleged to have taken place between 1977 and 1998.

He was cleared of eight of these charges at Leicester Crown Court last July, and the judge dismissed the remaining three after the jury failed to reach a verdict on them.

His retrial on the three counts ended last week, after the Crown Prosecution Service formally offered no evidence.

Mr Geffen acted on the appeals of two of the Birmingham Six, Gerry Hunter and Richard McIlkenny.

Their convictions were overturned in 1991.

Speaking after his acquittal, Mr Geffen said he had lost 'thousands of pounds worth of working time' since the allegations were made, but thanked staff and clients of his former firm - now closed - for standing by him.

Mr Geffen also praised his solicitors, Kingsley Napley, for their tireless work.

'As a legal aid practitioner myself, I know how tempting and easy it can be to settle for doing a run-of-the-mill job, especially when there are hundreds of pages of documents to digest,' he said.

'Everything has been done to achieve today's result.'

Paula Rohan