EX-UK politician Greville Janner dies before sex abuse trial

LONDON (AP) - Former British politician Greville Janner has died at 87, days after a court ruled him unfit because of ill health to stand trial for alleged child sexual abuse.

Janner's family said he died Saturday at his home. He was a longtime Labour Party lawmaker and a founder of the Holocaust Educational Trust who has been accused of offenses against boys several decades ago.

His death was disappointing to his alleged victims, since it means they won't be heard in court, one lawyer said.

Prosecutors attracted criticism earlier this year when they said they would not charge Janner, even though there was enough evidence to prosecute, because he had advanced Alzheimer's.

The Crown Prosecution Service later reversed the decision and said a judge and jury would conduct a "trial of the facts," which considers the evidence against the accused but does not issue a verdict or pass sentence.

Earlier this month a High Court judge formally ruled that Janner's "deteriorating and irreversible" dementia meant he could not stand trial in person.

The trial of the facts had been due to start without Janner present in April, but prosecutors said Janner's death meant it would not be held.

Janner was a Labour Party lawmaker from 1970 to 1997, later serving in the House of Lords. He was accused of 22 offenses in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, most involving boys in children's homes in his central England constituency.

His family denied all the allegations.

Liz Dux, the lawyer for six of Janner's alleged victims, said his death was "devastating news for my clients."

"They have waited so long to see this case come before the courts, to be denied justice at the final hurdle is deeply frustrating," she said. "All they have ever wanted is to give their evidence in court and have these very serious allegations tested and to be believed."