Lord Janner has appeared in court for the first time over historical child sex abuse charges.
The 87-year-old, who has dementia, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court for less than a minute.
Lord Janner faces 22 charges spanning the 1960s to the 1980s and was told his case would be sent to crown court.
His
attendance comes after the judge warned he faced arrest if he did not
appear following repeated efforts by his lawyers to avoid him turning
up.
The appearance, during which Lord Janner confirmed his name,
was brief, with the charges read out after he left and the full hearing
taking less than 12 minutes.
He is accused of 15 counts of
indecent assault and seven counts of a separate sexual offence, against a
total of nine complainants.
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw
At 14:01 a large brown door to the left of the magistrates' bench in courtroom one edged open.
A female usher appeared, followed by two other women and then a frail looking man gingerly walked in.
"Oohh," he said. "Isn't it wonderful?"
An
extraordinary legal wrangle, which had involved four court hearings
spanning eight days, was over: Lord Greville Janner was finally in
court.
The appearance before magistrates of someone accused of a crime is a requirement of the law.
Lord Janner's lawyers had resisted it on the grounds of his severe dementia.
Although
he was able to confirm his name during the 59 seconds he spent in the
courtroom, he looked bewildered and waved, an inappropriate gesture for
such a setting, before he was led out. Lord
Janner, of Muswell Hill, north London, was released on unconditional
bail, with the next hearing to be held at Southwark Crown Court on 1
September.
BBC home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds said it was
likely Lord Janner's lawyers would argue at crown court that he was not
fit to plead.
The peer earlier arrived at court in a silver Toyota that was forced to stop as photographers surrounded it.
Lord Janner's arrival at court
Lord Janner arrives back at home after the hearing
He had initially failed to attend Friday's hearing, despite a High Court ruling that he must attend.
His
lawyer, Paul Ozin, had said a live video link from the peer's home
would be "least likely" to cause him to suffer, or failing that a live
link from the court building or a police station.
But deputy
chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot refused the request, saying: "Even if I
have to have him arrested I am going to resolve this matter today."
She
said live links were only permitted for giving evidence from police
stations when someone was in custody - which Lord Janner is not.
Who is Lord Janner?
Greville Janner was born in Cardiff in 1928
Served in the Army and studied at Cambridge before becoming a barrister and then QC
Labour MP for Leicester North West and then Leicester West from 1970 until retiring in 1997, when he was made a life peer
Served as president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews
Diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2009
Suspended from the Labour Party but will remain a member of the House of Lords until his death or until he retires
Described by his family as a man of "great integrity" and "entirely innocent of any wrongdoing"
On Thursday, Lord Janner's legal team lost a High Court bid to prevent him having to attend the hearing.
Mr
Ozin argued Lord Janner had "virtually no language left at all" and was
likely to have a "catastrophic reaction" if he attended court.
But
the judges said the public interest outweighed any personal distress he
might experience, and any distress would be "of short duration".
Labour suspension
Earlier
this year, Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders decided not
to bring charges against Lord Janner because of his ill health - but
this decision was overturned after an appeal by the alleged victims.
If a crown court judge decides the former Labour MP for Leicester is fit to plead, a full trial may take place.
If
not, there will be a trial of the facts, where a jury will decide only
if he committed the physical acts of abuse, with no finding of guilt and
no conviction.
Greville Janner was made Lord Janner of Braunstone
in 1997. He remains a life peer, but has been on leave of absence since
2014. He was suspended from the Labour Party in April.
His family have strongly denied claims he used his power as an MP to abuse young boys over the course of three decades.
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