Brian Eley

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Nick Ivell
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by Nick Ivell » Fri Jul 15, 2022 5:52 pm

I'm not holding my breath that we'll get any answers.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by JustinHorton » Sat Jul 16, 2022 6:52 am

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Fri Jul 15, 2022 5:20 pm
I congratulate Justin on his letter to ECF. I doubt record-keeping was good in those days, and even if it were, there has probably been a bonfire since.

Chairman - "Any Other Business?"
X - "We've had another ten complaints about Eley"
Secretary - "Should I minute that?"
All - "NOOOO!!!"
I am imagining that documentation may extend beyond minute-taking, though of course the point about the bonfire had occurred to me. Though of course if documents relating to Eley had been destroyed (and as yet we have no reason to assume that is so) you'd want to know why, I think.

Additionally - and I tried to make this point above a couple of times - if it were the case, or seemed to be the case, that formal records of complaints (and any subsequent actions) were never kept, that would have been improper in itself.

But all this is speculation, which at this point I should prefer to keep to a minimum.
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MJMcCready
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by MJMcCready » Mon Jul 18, 2022 9:35 am

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Sat Jun 18, 2022 9:47 am
Thanks for the link to the article, Justin. Maybe now that he has died, newspapers might be more willing to investigate or report (I am referring here to the author's comment: "It is a story newspapers and mags will not touch."). One thing that might make it difficult is whether some of those handling it (or rather not handling it) at the time are still alive (I am referring here to "[they talked to] two important figures in British chess in 1986.They were listened to, but Eley was allowed to continue coaching on the junior chess scene." (Er, that is a strange definition of "listened to".)

(What is a "Candidate Grandmaster", by the way?)

By the way, if anyone official from the ECF is reading this, the best way for organisations to handle historic allegations like this (even ones that are 'common knowledge' in some chess circles) is to tackle it head on, not to ignore it or hope it will go away. There is a strong moral case for this (which is justification enough), but also a public relations one. If it does develop into something akin to some of the stories that have been making headlines in recent years in multiple sports, the ECF need to be proactive in handling it (i.e. commissioning an independent review, one that hopefully would be able to highlight how current safeguarding standards are in place and followed), not reacting to events.
I certainly hope you are right there.

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MJMcCready
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by MJMcCready » Mon Jul 18, 2022 10:10 am

Roger Lancaster wrote:
Sat Jun 18, 2022 12:54 pm
I'II preface my comments by saying that anyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proved guilty, although absconding while on bail doesn't increase the public's perception of one's innocence. Having got that out of the way, Fiona Pitt-Kethley's piece conflates different issues, nameIy (a) BCF handling of the Eley affair (b) failure to apprehend Eley despite a widely-held view that he was IikeIy to be found in Amsterdam and (c) wider issues which aren't specific to Eley such as sexism in English chess. Each of these is worth a discussion in its own right. What I find particularly odd about the Eley case is that, while on bail, he was able to sell his possessions - which included a house and a chess-related business - and (despite, presumably, being relieved of his passport by the police) flee the country. A house sale normally takes some time and there's a limited number of potential buyers for chess-related businesses so to accomplish all this relatively quickly and without assistance would have been some feat! Anyone able to throw any light on this?
But at least one of his victims goes on this site, to my knowledge there were 7 in total. I shan't name names but there are active chess players who can testify and probably would have -hence the reason he ran like the clappers. One of whom visits this site and its grossly unfair to name victims so I shall say no more. This was around the time he had a book stall in Amersham, and for all I know, some time after also.

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MJMcCready
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by MJMcCready » Mon Jul 18, 2022 10:16 am

JustinHorton wrote:
Wed Jul 13, 2022 12:19 pm
I have sent the following email to Julian Clissold.
Dear Julian

Sorry to bother you, but there is a course of action I would like the ECF to consider taking.

As you are no doubt aware, Brian Eley, the 1972 British champion, died recently. You will also be aware that a considerable number of allegations were made against him regarding offences against younger people and that he fled the country thirty years ago as a result and did not return. As he was never obliged to face a court to answer those charges, his death left his accusers, and perhaps English chess generally, in a very unsatisfactory situation, especially as some of the accusers had complained about him to the then BCF some years prior to his flight.

What I want to propose is that the ECF carry out a review of their actions in relation to Eley and that they invite submissions to that review from any interested parties. Such a review would presumably involve, among other things, an examination of any reports, letters, or other documents relating to Eley held by the ECF, as well as any actions taken by the organisation at the time.

I appreciate that the ECF's resources are limited and that these events took place a long time ago, but of course Eley's death meant that issues were left outstanding: people who were affected by his alleged actions have had no opportunity to see the matter resolved. Moreover, because a number of people have said that complaints to the BCF were seemingly not acted on, this is an apparent stain on the organisation's reputation which needs to be addressed and the truth established - both because the individuals involved are entitled to know what was and was not done and because the ECF's members are entitled to see it do the right thing.

I hope you will give this proposal serious consideration. If you are not the right person to whom it should be addressed, please accept my apologies and pass it to the correct party. It may in any event be shown to anybody you may see fit. (I should perhaps add that I was not myself personally involved or affected in any way.)

Yours sincerely

Justin Horton
Forgive me for throwing in my two bits worth but if we rewind 40-50 years there were known victims, one of whom goes on this site from time to time. I assumed that since there were known cases at the time, it has always been the case that at least some of the children whom suffered from Eley's intentions were known but just never spoke about it. I'm sorry but I am not going to name names here, I just assumed at least some of them were always known since one of them asked for help when pushed on the matter by a noted GM, and when Eley held his book store in Amersham (around 84), those local to him were at the very least aware but more likely in the know. It wasn't just gossip I can assure you. I don't see what's contestable but once again I AM NOT naming names. Shouldn't those affected by his behaviour be spoken to? I can respond to personal messages on this matter if necessary but would need permission to be granted first.

Regarding the quotation forwarded by Mr. Horton,

Moreover, because a number of people have said that complaints to the BCF were seemingly not acted on, this is an apparent stain on the organisation's reputation which needs to be addressed and the truth established - both because the individuals involved are entitled to know what was and was not done and because the ECF's members are entitled to see it do the right thing.

It seems to bypass one of the normative aspects of chess. Chess is a two-player game and so you have a playing partner when you play. And chess players do talk to their opponent as well as others. Issues do and did surface a long time ago but admittedly nothing (much) was done. The points referred to have been known by some for a very long time and yes they should have been addressed a long time ago.

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MJMcCready
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by MJMcCready » Mon Jul 18, 2022 7:05 pm

JustinHorton wrote:
Sat Jun 18, 2022 6:51 pm
Something that just occurred to me (as Roger Lancaster observed earlier, there are a lot of aspects to this business, so I imagine we might be jumping about from one to another a lot) is the question of whether the then BCF undertook any review of its own failings after Eley was collared. My understanding is that they had known of allegations against him since 1980 and the police weren't involved until 1991. So I wondered whether any kind of formal review took place.
No formal review, they just looked the other way. Similar to Jimmy Saville, there were on-going allegations but he was held in high regards and so nothing was done.

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MJMcCready
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by MJMcCready » Mon Jul 18, 2022 7:09 pm

Nick Ivell wrote:
Sun Jun 19, 2022 5:44 pm
Agreed, not everyone can teach.

I just expected to be given more concrete advice than to drink coffee during games.
Most can't. Some of us have been lumbered with teacher training for some time now and chess players are not known to be effective teachers as they generally have little or no training and do not realize that communicating knowledge is not as simple as it may seem. Commentators usually aren't much better either.

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MJMcCready
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by MJMcCready » Mon Jul 18, 2022 7:11 pm

Ernie Lazenby wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 4:28 pm
People forget that Brian Eley was subject of a report on BBC1's crime watch as being wanted by interpol. The situation deemed so serious as to warrant that. Several years after he jumped bail I got information that he was living in Amsterdam and I contacted crime stoppers who said they would pass the information on. I repeated that several years later when another source confirmed he was quite easily to be found in Amsterdam. I have always found it troubling that he was never apprehended and brought back to the UK to answer the allegations against him. I rather suspect we will never find out why that never happened.
The man is dead but that ought not stop a final examination of the allegations and see what lessons could or have been learned.
As a retired Policeman I have always taken the view that if he had nothing to hide why did he get onto his toes (sorry, a police expression) and do a runner. A massive indication of guilt.
Yes agreed. Some of his victims were open about it at the time and are known within the British Chess circuit. Perhaps they will start talking now? One of them even uses this site but I can't say his name, sorry.

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MJMcCready
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by MJMcCready » Mon Jul 18, 2022 7:15 pm

Roger Lancaster wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:39 pm
A thought has just crossed my mind which maybe someone can dispel. Is it possible that the reason Eley was able to reside fairly openly in Amsterdam simply because extradition was impossible through whatever the UK authorities were about to throw at him not being criminaI offences in the Netherlands? I claim no particular expertise in this area but 'dual criminality' often seems to be required for extradition to apply.
There was a bigger problem. Those who fell pray to him would not go to the police about it but went to the BCF instead, this caused them to remain unable to press charges hence the reason they wanted to question him. It was known within certain circles what was going on but it didn't go beyond them. That was the main problem.

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MJMcCready
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by MJMcCready » Mon Jul 18, 2022 7:21 pm

JustinHorton wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:39 pm
Keith Arkell wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:30 pm
On the matter of Eley we pretty much all heard the rumours
See this is what bothers me, and what is generally bothersome about occurrences of this nature. It's clear from a number of contributions on this forum that Eley's activities were widely known about and widely discussed, many years before the police were ever involved. It is clear that these discussions reached, and must have reached, the ears of senior people within the then BCF and the chess community in general. So what steps were taken in all that time to deal with the problem? And after Eley fled, what steps did the BCF take to review its own actions (if any) and failures, with a view to making a recurrence less likely? Has it ever undertaken such a review?
Rumours is not a word I would have chose. In the late 80s it was a general malaise of disbelief/embarrassment/and a hope the problem would stop by itself or just go away, they went making any self-conscious decisions. It was only when the whole thing became vociferous that the mood changed but by then it was far too late.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by JustinHorton » Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:17 am

JustinHorton wrote:
Wed Jul 13, 2022 12:19 pm
I have sent the following email to Julian Clissold.
Dear Julian

Sorry to bother you, but there is a course of action I would like the ECF to consider taking.

As you are no doubt aware, Brian Eley, the 1972 British champion, died recently. You will also be aware that a considerable number of allegations were made against him regarding offences against younger people and that he fled the country thirty years ago as a result and did not return. As he was never obliged to face a court to answer those charges, his death left his accusers, and perhaps English chess generally, in a very unsatisfactory situation, especially as some of the accusers had complained about him to the then BCF some years prior to his flight.

What I want to propose is that the ECF carry out a review of their actions in relation to Eley and that they invite submissions to that review from any interested parties. Such a review would presumably involve, among other things, an examination of any reports, letters, or other documents relating to Eley held by the ECF, as well as any actions taken by the organisation at the time.

I appreciate that the ECF's resources are limited and that these events took place a long time ago, but of course Eley's death meant that issues were left outstanding: people who were affected by his alleged actions have had no opportunity to see the matter resolved. Moreover, because a number of people have said that complaints to the BCF were seemingly not acted on, this is an apparent stain on the organisation's reputation which needs to be addressed and the truth established - both because the individuals involved are entitled to know what was and was not done and because the ECF's members are entitled to see it do the right thing.

I hope you will give this proposal serious consideration. If you are not the right person to whom it should be addressed, please accept my apologies and pass it to the correct party. It may in any event be shown to anybody you may see fit. (I should perhaps add that I was not myself personally involved or affected in any way.)

Yours sincerely

Justin Horton
I am afraid this proposal was rejected. (I don't want to quote from the reply without permission.)

After a week's consideration I wrote again:
Dear Julian

Thanks for this and apologies for the delay in replying. As you'll be aware there are a number of people who may consider themselves victims of Eley's alleged conduct and I wondered - since this leaves their situation somewhat unresolved - whether the ECF has any plans to invite them to contact you with any queries or statements they may have to make, or whether the ECF itself has considered making a public statement on the matter.

Thanks again

Justin
This was also rejected.
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:21 am

I am not surprised. Up until your communication, I suppose they could say it was a long time ago and nothing to do with the current ECF.

It is up to those who complained (and are still alive) what to do now.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by JustinHorton » Mon Aug 01, 2022 9:02 am

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:21 am
I am not surprised. Up until your communication, I suppose they could say it was a long time ago and nothing to do with the current ECF.
There is no such thing, in the context of historic abuse, as "the current ECF".
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by Roger de Coverly » Mon Aug 01, 2022 12:09 pm

JustinHorton wrote:
Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:17 am
This was also rejected.
Perhaps you should try the Yorkshire Chess Association and other Yorkshire based organisations. These are the bodies that appointed or elected the man to various posts for a decade or longer after the BCF wanted nothing to do with him.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Brian Eley

Post by JustinHorton » Mon Aug 01, 2022 12:35 pm

Well it might be an idea if somebody else had a try
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com