Lord Janner declares 'oooh, this is wonderful' at first court appearance over paedophile allegations

Lord Janner has appeared in court for the first time to face a series of child sex abuse allegations dating back to the 1960s.

The Labour peer finally made his appearance after several appeals by his lawyers, who argued it would be "barbaric, inhumane and uncivilised" to force the 87 year old to attend appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court as he is suffering from dementia.

After he originally failed to appear at the court for his scheduled morning appearance, defence barrister Paul Ozin said he would attempt to "facilitate" his appearance, possibly via video link.

Janner faced arrest if he did not attend the court appearance after a High Court rejected Janner's application to not attend due to his ill health and ruled forcing him to is not unlawful.

After being driven to the court, a dishevelled Janner's appearance in front of a judge lasted less than one minute. He spoke only to confirm his name and was reported to have said "ooh this is wonderful" as he entered the gallery.

According to Telegraph.co.uk, the hearing lasted just 59 seconds and then his daughter helped him from the the court, telling him: "Come on dad, let's go and have a nice ice-cream."

He is next scheduled to appear at Southwark Crown Court on 1 September. Janner is accused of committing 22 child sex offences between 1969 and 1988. His family has always denied the allegations against him.

Due to his ill health, it is unlikely that Janner would be deemed fit to enter a plea and therefore will probably face a trial of the facts, where a jury can determine if he committed the accusations against him, but cannot pass a verdict of guilty, nor will he be convicted.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) overturned its original decision to drop criminal proceedings against the former MP for Leicester West because of his "severe" dementia in June.