From Mr Simon Caldwell Sir, Mr Wilfred Wong has gone on the record as saying that "at least hundreds and maybe thousands" of members of British Satanic cults are guilty of the sexual abuse and murder of people during rituals dedicated to the worship of Satan, and that these people must be brought to justice (March 15).
He makes his claims in spite of a two-year government inquiry which examined 84 cases said to involve organised Satanic ritual abuse and which found no evidence to show it formed part of any of them.
Given that no new evidence has been produced to date to either contradict the findings of the 1994 inquiry or to persuade the Government to change its mind, it is a surprise that Mr Wong takes such exception to the publication of views contrary to his own (March 29) and resorts to blaming the messenger by way of a reply.
I consider my article of March 15 to be fair, accurate and impartial, rather than unbalanced and flawed by "hearsay", as Mr Wong says it is. In fact, it must be asked precisely what his argument is based upon. What evidence does he have to justify the thousands of convictions he seeks, other than dubious oral testimonies extracted from a small number of troubled individuals by so-called experts whose methods are themselves often suspect? And if he is in possession of such evidence, why hasn't he produced it earlier, and indeed, made it available to the police?
The Rochdale, Nottingham and the Orkneys abuse fiascos should have taught us that moral panics of this kind cause far more real harm than they ever expose. Yet we are told the day will come when "survivors" of organised Satanic ritual abuse will gain recognition.
If so, experience suggests we must also be prepared for miscarriages of justice on a vast scale as men and women are jailed for crimes never committed, and when "hundreds, and maybe thousands" of innocent parents are separated in dawn raids from their children, who are then placed into care, where they remain for years. Now that would be a clear-cut case of organised child abuse, if ever it came to pass.
Yours faithfully SIMON CALDWELL London EC1