Greville Janner's alleged victims may claim £2.5m in damages

From the Leicester Mercury:

Six men who say they were sexually abused by former Leicester MP Greville Janner are expected to submit a claim for up to £2.5 million in damages. 

Lawyers acting for the men, who claim the 87-year-old committed the offences against them decades ago, indicated the scale of their potential damages claim at the High Court in London on Tuesday. 

Details of the claim are to be formally served on Lord Janner's legal team, which must happen before the end of November. 

Lord Janner, who was MP for Leicester West for 27 years from 1970, is accused of 15 counts of indecent assault and seven counts of other sexual offences against a total of nine complainants.

The report also reminds us of the current state of play in the Crown prosecution of Lord Janner:

A judge ruled in September that Lord Janner would be put on trial next year for alleged historical child sexual abuse. 

That hearing is scheduled to take place on Monday, February 22. 

The peer is said to suffer from severe dementia and the early symptoms of Parkinson's disease. 

A hearing to assess whether he is fit to stand trial is due to take place on Monday, December 7. 

If that hearing decides he is unfit to stand trial, a court might conduct a "trial of the facts". 

That would mean a jury would hear evidence from alleged victims and decide whether he committed the abuse, although there would be no finding of guilt or a conviction. 

In total, the peer faces 22 allegations of sexual offences against nine boys and men between 1963 and 1988. 

He has not entered pleas to any of the allegations.