Daniel ShenSmith, otherwise known on his Youtube channel as “the Blackbelt Barrister”, reports recently on his concerns about the growing lack of transparency and accountability in the British legal system. He states that the Ministry of Justice ordered the deletion of a major digital archive providing the public and journalists with access to court data. This archive includes transcripts of thousands of court cases. Such an order has intensified fears that justice is being dissipated into a system that serves the Establishment. He says this action by the Ministry of Justice is “coincidentally” occurring at a time when other serious institutional failures, including those documented in grooming gang scandals in Rotherham, Telford, and Rochdale are currently being scrutinised. Therefore limiting access to records risks preventing those involved in these scandals from being held to account. Practically, that means not just the men involved in grooming and raping young girls, but allegedly multiple police officers and even members of the judiciary who actually turned a blind eye and even protected these criminals.
Alongside this, Mr ShenSmith discusses a broader frustration of a mainstream media “blackout” of coverage of these scandals. Barely a handful of politicians such as Rupert Lowe have called for renewed investigations and fuller transparency, arguing that victims (i.e. young girls barely in their teenage years) deserve the right to see those responsible for the crimes and coverups be held fully accountable. Media organisations deny the existence of any coordinated “blackout,” pointing to extensive past reporting and legal constraints. Nevertheless, when reporting appears sporadic or where it quickly fades from prominence, suspicion grows among sections of the public. Rightly so.
This is how the Establishment works. Instead of overt censorship, it operates through information management control. When access to court records is restricted, even deleted from all records entirely, when transcripts are prohibitively expensive, when coverage is selective or episodic, and when speech laws are framed around subjective standards such as “offence” or “anxiety,” the cumulative effect is severe. The population is not necessarily told what to think; rather, it is limited in what it is able to see, verify, and question. We are denied access to the whole truth. We are given fragments and morsels, not knowing what the true, full picture is. This is propaganda by omission and one of the core reasons we have launched Citizen BBC Verify – to hold media outlets like the BBC accountable to delivering the whole truth to the public.
Authoritative bodies operating under the Establishment will argue these measures are about protecting individuals from harm, managing legal risk, and maintaining social cohesion. Yet it is clear that when information becomes harder to obtain and public debate feels constrained, citizens are left increasingly dependent on institutional gatekeepers to interpret reality for them. Over time, this can foster passivity, self-censorship, and disengagement. Exactly what the Establishment wants.
Ask yourself, why would the UK Ministry of Justice order an entire set of records to be deleted? And why now at this time when the enquiries into the grooming and rape gangs are coming to the fore? Why has Rupert Lowe’s reputation been so attacked in a multitude of ways? Why is he one of the very few MPs voicing his opinion and demanding justice?
When it comes to the media, how do you know you are getting the whole picture? How do you know if you’re not? How can you verify this? What options do you have?
Our options as citizens are in truth, extremely limited as things stand. We are too dependent and reliant on major organisations totally out of our control. We know this first hand at Lighthouse, having been brutally smeared by the BBC with the intent to destroy us.
A healthy democracy depends not only on elections but on informed citizens with meaningful access to information. Transparency, affordable public records, consistent investigative journalism, and clear legal standards are safeguards against both abuse and distrust. Where access narrows and ambiguity widens, confidence inevitably erodes. Sustained, evidence-based scrutiny rather than restriction or speculation remains essential if public trust is to be maintained.
If we just sit back and accept “the way things are” then they will never change at a systemic level. It will be the same deceptive tactics with new actors dressed up in new guises.
As an active step that you can take now to protect yourself and participate in democracy. Please sign this petition that Mr ShenSmith has launched requesting that all court transcripts are provided free of charge to the public. This is his Youtube channel.
You can also follow Rupert Lowe MP on X here.
If you are tired of the mass deception and want to learn more about developing yourself as an independent journalist, leave a comment or sign up here. If you’re already a citizen journalist and have issues you want to let the public know about, please comment or get in touch with us directly.
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It is damming that the judiciary is trying to get rid of many jury trials and now is trying to destroy records.
This does not bode well for justice in this country and it is placing too much power in the hands of too few.
Awesome work by Daniel ShenSmith, thank you for sharing about what he’s doing and also the petition – signed!
I’m almost lost for words. I would have said in the past I can’t believe this, it’s so absurd and devastating, but with everything coming out into the public, it’s actually what I ought to expect. Again, thank you to Mr ShenSmith for your work exposing these realities that the public would not know otherwise. And again, this proves even more urgent need for Citizen Intervention and the work of educating the public on their rights and freedoms when it comes to gaining true justice.
God bless and be with the young girls, now young women who need to know they are protected and cared for. Thank you Rupert Lowe for the work you’re doing for them. I’m aghast at the state of our country at the moment and what is unfolding.
Thank you, Daniel ShenSmith, for uncovering these wrongdoings and for the petition to hold those accountable who allow these heinous wrongdoings and abuse to happen. We ought to protect the vulnerable and at the moment this is not happening in crucial and countless cases.
I really appreciate that people like Mr Daniel ShenSmith and Rupert Lowe shine light into these dark places.
There are upwards of 70,000 judgements made each year in the courts. It is crucial the courts keep records especially when the consequences of bad decisions can have such a devastating impact on the lives of citizens. As the Secret Barrister (not be confused with Mr Daniel ShenSmith) say’s – until one is involved in the judicial process in this country, you do not appreciate the gaps in processes. The cost of transcripts is incredible. The only organisations that can afford them regularly will be the big media organisation, not the man on the street.
I appreciate the work that’s being done here by Daniel ShenSmith, Rupert Lowe and the team at Citizen Intervention Global for highlighting this. It’s disgusting what’s being exposed in the justice system with masses of critical data being erased whilst citizens are being priced out of pursuing justice.
I’ve signed the petition and great to see it’s already passed the threshold of 100,000 signatures required for it to be debated. However, that’s just the first hurdle. Will this be swept aside or taken seriously? Time will tell…
We the public, have been naively indoctrinated into an infantilised level of trust when it comes to our government institutions and especially our legal system. We have been lulled over many decades into believing that while there are rogue and corrupt people in many areas of life and business in society, we can trust our institutions to generally uphold the moral and ethical high ground, with integrity and good conscience. We have not wanted to face and consider the fact that our very governing institutions themselves are potentially themselves far more corrupt and up to no good at our expense as that leaves us in a very precarious position! But when one starts to see there is an establishment class, mainly behind the scenes, pulling strings in all these areas at the highest levels, then these situations start to make more sense. If this were actions by some corporate or business, or famous person, deleting crucial files right at the time of a very serious and sensitive investigation there would be loud cried of foul play.
Thank God for the more honourable and upstanding individuals who refuse to let the establishment get away with things like this and sound the alarm for everyone else. No doubt there are many greatly vexed by Mr Lowe and others like him for throwing a stick in the spokes of any sinister and nefarious schemes they are up to. All I believe one ought to do is ask, what would a government and establishment be doing that was absolutely committed to the truth and dealing with criminality and wrongdoing wherever it stands, especially within its own ranks. They certainly would not be stalling and evading inquiries for decades and then calling for the deletion of crucial files once an investigation has had to be conceded to. The fact they do such things just displays the levels of arrogance and bare faced dodginess at best, if not downright evil at worst, that needs to be weeded out of the establishment.
Hmmm… they rely on people’s ignorance and scare them into paying when they don’t need to. It’s disgusting behaviour.
But Black Belt Barrister is a star. He’s fighting for the greater good and equipping ordinary people with knowledge so they’re not bullied into compliance. That’s powerful.
This is exactly why citizen intervention matters. Most people don’t have the legal know-how, and institutions often bank on that. When someone breaks things down clearly and calmly, it levels the field. Knowledge removes fear.
The key now is this: don’t just feel outrage — build competence. Learn the principles. Share accurate information responsibly. Help others without fuelling panic. That’s how you turn frustration into strength.
What on earth justifies the deletion of a major digital archive?! How can there be justification for the deletion of thousands of case transcripts?
When issues of justice and child protection are involved, the public has a right to know why decisions are made and whether systemic incentives are protecting institutions at the expense of victims. I’ve signed the petition!
God bless Daniel ShenSmith for helping the British public understand what’s going on under their noses.