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I've seen this post a few times on social media: https://www.facebook.com/608847352/posts/10155395745027353/

It claims Melanie Shaw made accusations about members of the Tory party and has been tried and held in secret.

Is there any truth to this?

Tom Bowen
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    Any specific accusations? Or just "accusations"? (I'm at work and can't view the linked post, it might be a good idea to embed the relevant parts into the body of your question.) – F1Krazy Jun 12 '18 at 08:56
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    @F1Krazy The issue seems very vague. No reliable sources seem to mention her at all. The linked facebook post has 2 likes and 2 shares. It claims that she "alleges that politicians, including Tory cabinet ministers, were amongst the clients of a child abuse brother". It seems that she was charged with arson and later unlawful imprisonment of a paramedic (see eg [here](https://www.britishconstitutiongroup.com/article/why-we-must-never-forget-melanie-shaw) (not a reliable source, and they doubt the accuracy of those charges)). – tim Jun 12 '18 at 10:22
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    obviously, its so secret that no one other than random facebook posters know about it... –  Jun 12 '18 at 11:19
  • There are more related claims, [Google](https://www.google.com/search?q=melanie+shaw) –  Jun 12 '18 at 12:52
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    So far, I found an article that seems reputable enough that says a woman named Melanie Shaw was incarcerated in 2015 and people protested that she be released (the article doesn’t go into any details though). https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/crime/protesters-demand-melanie-shaw-freed-from-hmp-peterborough-1-6347912 – Laurel Jun 12 '18 at 13:15
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    Actually not that secret. Melanie Shaw was tried and convicted of arson in a Nottinghamshire court in 2014, and given a non-custodial sentence based on the judge's opinion that she was mentally ill. – DJClayworth Jun 12 '18 at 13:19
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    Put on hold while we establish what the claim is. – Oddthinking Jun 12 '18 at 14:00
  • The claim is that she has been tried for no known crime and imprisoned in secret after making accusations of Tory cabinet ministers being involved in child abuse. – Tom Bowen Jun 12 '18 at 14:21
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    I think there is good question somewhere here, but looking around, the claims seem rather unclear. (I just watched an interview with her after her second stint in jail, and she wasn't terribly clear about her own claims, and wasn't able to answer questions clearly.) There seem to be several claims: (1) That she - and others - were sexually abused as children while under care at Beechwood's Children's Home. That seems to be under the remit of a long-running [inquiry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Inquiry_into_Child_Sexual_Abuse), so unlikely to be answerable here. – Oddthinking Jun 12 '18 at 14:25
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    (2) That she blew the whistle on the people who abused her. (3) That she was arrested. (Which time? Based on the interview, she has been in jail and released at least twice. Was she jailed again?) – Oddthinking Jun 12 '18 at 14:27
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    (3) That the arrest is in some way related to the whistle-blowing (and not just 'post hoc ergo propter hoc'). Her accounts of her second arrest appear to be related to the false imprisonment of an ambulance officer - but I am not at all sure of that. – Oddthinking Jun 12 '18 at 14:29
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    (4) That her charges were in a "secret court" and were "unknown". Does that mean *she* and her legal team doesn't know, or that the reporters were unable to find the information? – Oddthinking Jun 12 '18 at 14:30
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    (5) That she is still incarcerated. – Oddthinking Jun 12 '18 at 14:31
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    I saw somewhere she was charged with arson for burning a "Blue Lives Matter" flag at a protest. – Oddthinking Jun 12 '18 at 14:33
  • @Oddthinking: [apparently](https://www.britishconstitutiongroup.com/article/why-we-must-never-forget-melanie-shaw) "unlawful imprisonment of a paramedic", although I don't know which time. – Fizz Jun 12 '18 at 22:25
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    Also, regarding her 2014 conviction, there wasn't that much secrecy because I found https://breaking-news.ca/paedophile-ring-whistleblower-melanie-shaw-sentenced-without-evidence/ although the articles about this topic tend to be in low-quality (and very opinionated) venues. – Fizz Jun 12 '18 at 22:34

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