Abuse in childhood is most evident in the internal life of the adult. Many of us went into the care system simply to be cared for only to find ourselves stuck in a kafkaesque nightmare at Wood End. In future blogs I’ll be talking much more about this.
I was imprisoned in Wood End Assessment Centre in Wigan in 1984. Injustice relies heavily on silence and fear. I’ve done it my way. In 1985 I speak of it in The Leig
h Reporter in 1995 I featured Wood End in a BBC documentary about my life called Internal Flight. It is the only video evidence of the place available. I featured Wood End in 2013 at the Houses of Parliament in its first ever TED talk Child of The State . I featured Wood End in a Sony Award nominated BBC Radio 4 Documentary of the same name Child of The State in 2010. I featured Wood End in my play “Something Dark” which toured the world. Something dark was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and ABC Australia. I featured Wood End in a series of blog posts. I mention wood end in various articles written for The Guardian.
In 2013 it featured in The House Of Lords (with reference to my Ted Talk). Over the past few days I’ve contacted some of the men – the ones who came through to my blog – victims of the regime at Wood End and interviewed them.
There are many who’ve contacted me via email. I urge them to contact me again. The police are now investigating Wood End. They say it was a “brutal regime”.
November 14 2016 addition: Please read the comments on this blog.
This is shocking to read.
I cant help wondering how you managed to hold onto the essence of you….the fierce, creative and inspiring energy.
The victims of the regime are (latterly) fortunate to have an eloquent defender such as you.
I pray, earnestly, that truth and justice will prevail.
hi. i was put in there in 1969 i was 13 it was a awful place.
I was in Woodend in 1979 just before I was transferred to Bryn Alyn in Wrexham North Wales. The abuse from staff there was being made to finish all meals and keys in the back of the head if you didn’t and that’s for starters.
Much respect to you Lemn, truly!
Child abuse is the most vile part of human existance . The mark it leaves is never truly understood.Whistle blowers are true heroes and should be treated as such.Social Care is still failing because something is going terribly wrong with the training.We need to weed out the cold and incompetent!
My sons were put in care in March 2015, after their dad took his own life in January 2015.
My sister lied about my mental health and used her symptoms as mine, just so she could get my grieving sons living with her.
The lies wigan council care teams said about me is shocking and unforgivable in the 21st century.
That alone should be seen as emotional abuse of vulnerable families, caught up within the care system.
The creative writing and misleading information from care teams should be investigated as falsifying evidence for the secret family, kangaroo court.
How this is allowed to happen is horrendous and unforgivable.
Children, especially babies, are being used in an adoption agency that is nothing more than illegally run because vulnerable women are being used as baby making machines and no one questions it.
I’ve still not had my concerns listened to and still not got to stage 2 because of the mystery mental health illness they invented for court.
The social workers from wigan council have been moved on and are untraceable because they were from agencies.
My assessments came back as I do not suffer from any mental health issues and I’m being blamed for that outcome because wigan can’t explain where they got their misleading information from.
After receiving my paperwork, it’s obvious that the care teams use in their perspective to cover their lies for family court.
I was nearly sectioned at Easter, after starting a keep fit club run by wigan council and for not taking medication for an illness I do not suffer from.
The way I’ve been mistreated and wrongly diagnosed for family court should be the reason why these secret courts are opened up and a jury bringing in.
Until care teams are investigated for falsifying evidence and made accountable for what happens in the care system, things will never change.
They have blood on their hands and get away with it because no one wants to hear about children in care.
One day it will all come to light and be seen as cruelty to children and somehow children will be stopped from being used in a failing care system that is outdated and dangerous.
The system is creating broken adults in the future and no one is listening.
I hope I can explain the situation to my sons when they are 18 and they can start complaints of their own.
One day the care system will be seen as the abusive and failing cruel system it is.
They do rely on voices not being heard and children’s wishes not being listened to.
One day they will pick on the wrong person and everything will come to light.
We need cameras in care home and it showing on TV, as documentaries.
The system has got to change and we must stand up for this to happen.
Thanks for the email lemn I really believe that wat you are doing for victims and survivors of this horrific abuse is helping me and others to come to terms with what has happened to them as a child and being able to talk about it is a big step for many I have been talking to the police over last 5 or six days and will b making arrangements to talk to them about what happend to me at woodend
He can talk to me Lemn. I’ve already given my statements to Devon and Cornwall police who interviewed me to help with the greater Manchester police investigation into this place. There were evil people there, ex police and ex probation staff who had ended up in the child care system. That was a grim place, specially for us kids who had done nothing wrong. When I was there it was defacto a remand home recently renamed to assessment centre.
I was there before you, when the remand an care kids were kept together, for a 12 year old kid who had never been in trouble it was just like you say, a Kafka-esque nightmare, with beatings thrown in.
What sort of pervert gets their kicks beating children.
Yea, the cover ups are ongoing, in about 2000 or 20001 I was told they had lost all my records, previous complaints to the police were ignored. I can’t go into detail because of the police investigation ongoing, but I have given them detailed statements from my time in that place.
I hope other people continue to come forward, for most of us it is too late, we are what we are because of that place, but we have to stop this happening to the children of today and tomorrow.
Truth will out. It’s all we had.
I want to report Wigan Care teams for lying about my mental health, after my partner took his own life in January 2015
I have care records that state I do suffer from any mental illness and was not depressed after Simon died but Wigan Social Services advised my bitter sister on how to try to get me sectioned and get my sons living with her in Scotland.
My sister has no children and had to be trained up with parental skills, so Wigan encouraged my 30 year old daughter to put my sons aged 8 & 12 into care for 6 months, whilst my sister learnt basic parental skills.
That is emotional abuse of a woman grieving and in shock after a suicide and wigan would not allow me any counselling to prove how well I can cope with life.
I have tried to meet with my mp, andy burnham but was threatened by his social worker staff. Karen aspinall, to keep quiet or she would ring the police and lie I was aggressive.
I have been to see James Winterbottom from Wigan’s Services and hope to take my complaints to the next stage.
The reason why I am so concerned is because my sons have never done anything wrong and should never have been through the care system and Wigan council should not be allowed to lie and get away with it.
keep up the good work.
the truth will always come out!
I have asked Wigan Council for all my records from my time at Woodend, from 1979 to 1980. they claim they have gone missing and after extensive searches, there is nothing more they can do.
The last reply i got after bombarding them with complaints and letters, was to seek legal advice and they could no longer communicate with me.
It’s one great big cover up.
Find David Greenwood of Swistalskis Law Firm
My husband was in care from the age of 10. Woodend was a care home he was placed in on two occasions. He has the physical scars which were the result of the malicious and very violent beatings. He also ran away from Woodend, jumping directly through the glass window of the dorm and leaving a chunk of his skin on the broken window pane. He was caught 9 hours later in an old mill. He was taken by the police to the hospital for stitches to his damaged hand then he was returned to Woodend. Only terror could make a child jump through a glass pane to escape the brutality. He was in care all of his childhood and did become one of the many who did end up in prison. The emotional pain is still buried deep within and will never be erased. He has first hand experience of the cruelty administered by the staff in the homes and has never forgotten their faces or names. On a positive note he has made a life for himself and has found happiness. He is now works as a falconer and the care and love he bestows on his birds and dogs is beautiful to see and experience, particularly when you know how much pain he carries within his soul. He will not talk to the police or any of the authorities as he does not seek to open his wounds but he does share the horror of his past with me and ageed to me sharing this with you as he has read your blogs, poems and writings and can relate to all of them.
” Eight men quizzed by police probing claims of abuse at care home after calls for investigation by Lemn Sissay
06:57, 24 NOV 2015 UPDATED 07:44, 24 NOV 2015
BY PAUL GALLAGHER
Detectives spoke to men who are all believed to have worked as carers at the Wood End Assessment Centre in Atherton, near Wigan, between the 1970s and 1990s.
Eight men have been questioned by police investigating claims of abuse at a children’s care home attended by the poet Lemn Sissay.
The men spoken to by detectives are all believed to have worked as carers at the Wood End Assessment Centre in Atherton, near Wigan, between the 1970s and 1990s.
They were not arrested but interviewed under caution over claims of abuse made by former residents. Most of the complaints are of physical assaults but there are also some claims of sexual abuse.
Detectives have now passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service for prosecutors to decide if any charges should be brought relating to the investigation.
Mr Sissay, 48, who was elected Chancellor of the University of Manchester earlier this year, was a teenager in the care system when he spent nearly a year at Wood End in 1984.
He has publicly denounced the regime and conditions at the centre and led calls for an investigation via articles on his blog and social media accounts.
Ten years ago he made a BBC TV documentary in which he discussed his experience at Wood End and he has written extensively about his time at the centre.
In 2012 he wrote: “I was marched in and out of corridors, watched 24 hours a day, locked in a dormitory by night and threatened that if I were ever to lose it there was a padded cell.”
Mr Sissay has not made a formal statement to police and detectives are not investigating any allegations that he personally suffered abuse at the centre.
However, it is understood some of the complainants have come forward after publicity surrounding Mr Sissay’s account of how boys were treated at the centre.
Wood End was opened in 1969 as a remand home for young boys and was taken over by Wigan Council in 1974 when it was also used to house boys in care.
It was closed down in 1990 and police have previously investigated allegations of violence and beatings but no arrests were made.
Earlier this year, Greater Manchester Police launched Operation Milan to look into the latest allegations and began interviewing former carers and staff.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “GMP is currently in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service over a number of files relating to this investigation.
“The files relate to multiple victims and multiple allegations, of offences including physical assault and some allegations of a sexual nature.”
Has anything else ever happened, or is it still ongoing?
Bolton paper http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/11751189.Five_suspects_identified_in_hunt_for_abusers_at_remand_centre/
Ongoing – or has stalled with the CPS ? , nobody really knows
Having spoken to the police regarding incidents witnessed , I suspect they don’t like this blog .
Playing Devil’s Advocate – they could say certain rogue Woodend staff are being tried by media ? – don’t shoot the messenger !
The way my sons and I were mistreated by wigan care teams, after their dad committed suicide in jan 2015 would horrify most decent people.
We need to get it noticed, the kind of emotional abuse that goes on and how the care teams are being trained to mistreat vulnerable families caught up within the care system.
How can people not see that vulnerable women are being used as baby making machines in the 21st century?
My mental health was lied about by care teams and my gp.
No one wants to listen and the social workers are untraceable because they work from agencies.
The carers were cruel to my sons and lied about them to social workers.
We hadn’t done anything wrong but was emotionally abused after a sudden suicide.
My sons school even lied about me but never reported me to social services!
Surely that’s neglect by the school!
They didn’t even offer my son a school place and my homeschooling was used against me as neglect.
That’s laughable because wigan council allow home schooling to happen.
The whole system is messed up.
I hope we all get some answers soon and one day, these care teams get made accountable for their actions.
They are creating broken adults and no one cares.
Keep up the good work.
The truth will always come out one day.
Nasty people one or two of them stamping on our heads .Pity only one or two who was at fault for the shear horror they dished out to children.Ceratinly would think that they “Could” of hit one or two to hard and made it look like a accident .We was like ten pin bowling with that heavy medicine ball .I got knocked over a few times by the Wankers .Always did wonder if one or two got it to hard “Possibly” who never made it.My time there would wish it on no kid at all .names slowly coming back to me 45 years ago this year .Sp anybody who reads this would be intrested in guys from 71 who was there esp the guy who done a runner with me from the dorm we was in .1000% percent sure he was not there next day for dinner in that huge canteen or ever saw again .We sat and watched kids trying to smash the dining hall window with the chairs we used .So many getting dragged out to the gym .Yes we was effing scared for our lives .
i was there for 7 month in 1975 medicine balls n the twisted game the big mr fatty used to throw at you he burst a lads kidney i heard a year later. i ran away from him while gardening with wellies on hid in a back garden toilet over the railway line for 2 hours. got chased across the bowling green and absolutly battered in a back garden the owner came out screaming to leave me alone. i was marched back to woodend full of blood and taken right to mr fatty { i know his name } and he wipped my back and legs with the thorny branches we had cut off the fences earlier i thought i was going to die that day. social services brought my mentaly ill mum to visit me 1 week later and i shown them my back they said i had done it when i ran away. i told the social worker {name i know } i wold take her to the house that the woman had screamed and threatened to phone the police if they didnt stop beating me and she said dont worry i will start an investigation. i didnt see her again for 2 month when i was being allocated to another kids home. previous to this my first week me and another young lad both dived out of the window through the glass window i put a blanket and pillow over my head and landed on a triangular washing line the young lad cut his leg and i sort of carried him all over atherton both trying to make our way home as we were too young we just followed street signs for manchester. about 2 hours later we saw the police car and ran into some garages at the back of some houses and hid in an empty garage the police found us both and took us to a police station locked us in a room for hours during this time they took the other lad to the hospital i think ( are you that boy whoever is reading this) when they took us back i was put into a room with no windows cant remember if it was padded but something tells me it was. when the staff and manager came on duty in the morning i was taken for a bath etc and slapped and punched in the stomache by the seamstress and the gym teacher (who used to jump up and see how close he could get his head to the door top in the gym i know his name.) took me to the manager but something i will never forget about that t..t was in between doors that they lock and count and open he kneed me in the balls so hard i had some kind of a fit as i could not stop crying and could not stand and i could see the panick on his face i just could not stop sobbing never forgot that and think of it always. i was then taken for the cane off the manager. i could go on forever but i know there names and when i grew up i found out one of the nice carers was my school friends uncle he lived in the house outside the canteen window. i could never forget woodend it scarred me too too much i was too young and too alone as if i wasnt going through enough with my mother being in a mental institute.
Mr Mills?
hi its eddie the kid who was not seen in canteen i never ate meat it was thick fat stew dont forget you dont leave anything on your plate i was force fed fat was sick and force fed my sick spat it out was taken to the quiet room beaten so bad i was put in the shower naked to wash blood off two of them came in naked with pumps where i was beaten again mum was told due to my bad fall down the concreat stairs it would be a while before any visiting could take place i had to wait in a little tv room by reception whatching scooby do and getting first aid of the secretary before i could eat but it was only soup with bread in it mum never got chance to visit if this is the lad who ran away told me he was not caught he said it was hills and more hills gave up spent night in barn and gave himself up next day reamember lads trying to get some one to kill themselfs that thay would have to let us all go free due to the affect it would have on us all
The former children’s home in Atherton housed hundreds of young boys and police say they are looking into more than 40 complaints of abuse.
Wood End Assessment Centre was opened by Lancashire County Council in 1969. It was managed by Wigan MBC as a remand centre for juvenile offenders from 1974 until the centre closed in 1994.
Both Wigan MBC and Lancashire County Council have said that they will cooperate with the police investigation which is operating under the name Operation Milan.
As well as investigating complaints of abuse at Wood End Assessment Centre, Operation Milan is also looking into other child sex abuse cases such as allegations against former MP Cyril Smith.
If you or anyone you know has suffered abuse at Wood End Assessment Centre then please contact Operation Milan at this stage.
Hywel Thomas is a Personal Injury Associate Solicitor at Slater and Gordon Lawyers in Manchester.
Slater and Gordon Lawyers have a specialist team of Abuse Lawyers who understand the difficulties in speaking out faced by those who suffer abuse and have many years of experience dealing with abuse cases. For a free consultation call us 24/7 on freephone 0800 916 9046 or contact us online. Any communication will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.
Slater and Gordon Lawyers have 1,450 staff and offices in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Bristol, Derby, Halifax, Merseyside, Cardiff, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Wakefield and meeting rooms in Bramhall, Cheshire and in Hull, Yorkshire.
We all need a voice don’t let them get away with it I was a victim of woodends cruel regime , I have posted this because we need justice done , the pain of abuse don’t go away I was 1 of there victims I have posted this not slater and Gordon but you will find it on there website Regards Ricky
Does anyone know the name of the Irish male red head member of staff at wood end.This person abused many peoples human rights and I am pursuing this person and Mr Mills for the violent behaviour inflicted on myself and others. (Dan wood end Circa 1976)
Yes I remember him but not by name. You should contact the lawyer David Greenwood. he works for swistalskis in Leeds –
Thanks
Heres to a good life and health.
Dan.
i was their 1970 or71 remember you had to eat all on your plate i did not eat meet it was mash and stew i asked for bit of gravey he dumped thik fat on my plate i would nt eat it the lads wher told to leave the dinning room then they began to force feed mee i was sick then they began to force feed mee the sick i spat it out then i was taken to the quiet room wher i was severly beeten they sed they sent my mum a letter saying due to the bad fall i had down the stairs it would be 3 to 4 weeks befor a visit every day after that had to wait till all had left befor i could eat had to wait in small tv room would get called in just before scoobi doo finished remember bed making if he could not bounce coin of bed you would haf to make everybodies bed remember red button to go to toilits where you wher on a leed tell you more but bad
Saw this in my email spam folder – this is the second or third horror story re the dining room that I’ve read
Too much of a broadly / vaguely similar ring to them to be within the realms of coincidence .
What a horrible bunch of sadistic , bullying control freaks !
The bit about ‘ falling down the stairs ‘ smacks of ex police , it’s the oldest one in the book along with ‘ You’ve got me bang to rights , it’s a fair cop and I’ll come come quietly ‘
So contrived it would be bordering on the comical if it wasn’t so disturbing .
The only stairs in use would be to and from the dormitories when marched in size order lines twice a day
The staff there must think people have fallen out of a tree
was there in 71 .Woke everybody up about 1 am .After running away from the violent place .Bang on about being force fed .But still never ate my pudding was like pig swill .Totaly understand what you and others went through .Wonder if you remember they guy smashing his bed out if the window Albert .Woke everybody up at 1 am
that was me the kid with the gammy leg
that was me the kid who was forced fed ALBERT EDWARD MORRIS I WAS THEN NOW DAVIES 2 CAME IN THE SHOWE WHEN I WAS WASHING THE BLOOD OFF ONE WOULD PUNCH ME IN THE BACK OF MY HED THE OTHER WOULD THEN HIT ME ON THE BACK OF MY LEGS AND BUM PEOPLE WOUL ASK ME DID THE DO ANYTHING ELSE I TOLD THEM I DONT NO I WAS NOCKED OUT FOR A LONG TIME MY NURSE WAS THE SECRIORY WENT FOR FOOD AFTER EVERYONE HAD GONE I ATE LEFTOVERS STILL HAD VERY BAD BROOSING 8 MONTHS AFTER
Re Bryn Estyn Young Offenders Centre – the so called pillar of the community – turned out to be a sadistic pervert – he’d actually sued for defamation before and won
The Major government created a outrage to pretend to appease people , then pretended to address it but it was in reality a smokescreen to cover for other things .
Also the defamation award would have scared people off – as a Senior Tory Minister said re Leon Brittan – it has already been put to bed twice
Ex-police chief found guilty of sexually abusing boys in 1980s https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/oct/21/ex-police-chief-gordon-anglesea-found-guilty-sexually-abusing-boys-1980s?CMP=share_btn_tw
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/smirking-ex-police-chief-guilty-sexually-abusing-boys-north-wales-1587655
Why it is always masons ? – no wonder it used to be so corrupt at work
To be sentenced on November 4th – definitely the nonce’s wing in prison
Your posts are undermined by being anonymous.
Sorry Lemn but it’s far from an ideal world , it’d be lovely if I didn’t have to hide behind a pseudonym or nom de plume but we are not dealing with very nice people to put it mildly , nor do they play by the Queensberry Rules either .
Principles and morals can be very ‘ expensive ‘ and cause a lot of problems .
Re Woodend – there’ll be surviving ex staff watching this blog , their relatives – some might bitterly resent your blog ; along with solicitors etc
Better not to show your hand , nor play the strongest card – better for people to guess ?
For instance in the Operation Pollinal case – the Police Federation paid legal fees .
There was plenty of evidence in the Jillings Inquiry – but that was suppressed as insurance firms didn’t want more people to come forward thus affecting their profitability
You said the likes of Woodend had to close because of the high insurance premiums against continued claims and litigation .
The insurance companies wanted things ‘ to be kept down ‘ – as it would encourage others .
Sorry we’ll have to agree to disagree – better a quarter of a loaf than no loaf at all ?
I’ll keep on ‘ torpedoing ‘ various entities under anonymous cover if you don’t mind
https://paddyfrench1.wordpress.com/2016/10/21/exclusive-gordon-anglesea-new-revelations/
I love what you are doing but the simple fact is that as an anonymous person you could be undermining the case for others. For all I know you could well be one of the others and by throwing out so much detailed information on here you could be quite easily handing them their get out of jail free card (excuse the pun).
You’re partially ! right – in the latest Private Eye No . 1430 , 28th October to 10th November there’s a Crime Report Special – Gordon Anglesea Sex Abuse Trial on Pages 20 / 21
The Police Federation paid for Ms Tania Griffiths QC for Anglesea , you’re talking £500 – 600 per hour
Angelsea did say there was a social media ‘ conspiracy ‘ purely to obtain compensation and his brief did try that on again in her closing defence speech to the jury
There are thickies that believe all that old lags with a chip on their shoulders trying it on , Daily Mail rubbish – when in reality , people would be lucky to get past a solicitors clerk and if they did – they’d be soon be tripped up , sooner if not later
Tania Griffiths also tried to revisit the 94 Libel Trial when Anglesea sued Private Eye , The Observer , The Independent on Sunday and HTV for damage to reputation
The Judge conducting the trial wouldn’t let her , and the two warring barristers in this expensive , over theatrical , adversarial system were told off quite a few times – in fact the jury threatened to walk out a few times .
The Waterhouse Tribunal Inquiry wasn’t allowed to be mentioned either – he didn’t issue writs to the papers not to mention it for nothing .
The Tribunal Judge was a golfing partner of then Tory Home Secretary Leon Brittan – * allegedly they went on holiday to Italy together
It was all a sham create a false outrage about North Wales – then bury it – as a smokescreen to cover for other things
Sorry but actually it’s not that detailed information that I am ‘ throwing out ‘ – it’s easily findable , mostly Google Search – Page 1 results
It’s not me that has written the articles , it’s stuff from local rags , the odd social media stuff from Facebook , ‘ alternative media ‘ and some mainstream media
As ‘ being one of the others ‘ there’s stuff on my other posts that doesn’t tally with that assertion
I’m sorry but that all sounds a bit ‘ Corbynista ‘ and paranoid – trying to ‘ out’ people as ‘ the enemy ‘ and / or the Trojan Horse
Those people ,though arguably well meaning ; I’m sorry to say are too idealistic , maybe a bit 6th formish if I’m being harsh
Send me a private email to lemn at lemn sissay dot com and tell me who you are. Then I would feel more comfortable posting your messages. I appreciate them. But you are pretty much the only one here who remains anonymous to me. Many of the others are victims as well you could be. And many of them have used their names – the bravest of all. You can understand my (or anyone elses) concern at the anonymity albeit harshly regarded (possibly) as six formish.
I’ve somehow got you in my email list so we must have spoken. No need to send email. All good. I’m standing down.
You would have – might have been a then breaking news development
Gordon Anglesea dies
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gordon-anglesea-dies-live-updates-12327093
lemm i am 52 now and spent 7 month in there when i was 11 or 12 before being moved allocated to crompton house in shaw oldham i have a tale to tell i was deemed part of the wood workdue to length of time i was there. absconded twice the beetings wippings the cane the cell room open a door lock it count the heads open next door walk through lock it count the heads. medicine ball sadistic game with MR fat b…d.
if ever you want a private chat im up for it mate. that place has been stuck in my head forever hardly ever a day goes by when i think of it for some reason i too was force fed twice.
yes I remember the medicine ball game and how much the staff enjoyed watching us beat the hell out of each other.
and Alison Taylor was sacked for blowing the whistle at Bryn Estyn – ‘ tantamount to professional suicide ‘ , ‘ a closed shop ‘
Alison Taylor: Woman who blew the whistle on abuse breaks her silence http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/alison-taylor-woman-who-blew-the-whistle-on-abuse-breaks-her-silence-8348387.html
and Alison Taylor was sacked for blowing the whistle at Bryn Estyn – ‘ tantamount to professional suicide ‘ , ‘ a closed shop ‘
Sound familiar ?
Alison Taylor: Woman who blew the whistle on abuse breaks her silence http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/alison-taylor-woman-who-blew-the-whistle-on-abuse-breaks-her-silence-8348387.html
Yor posts are undermined by being signed off – anonymous.
There’s brave and downright foolhardy – with all things considered
It’d be naive to think you can fight all those vested interests and the system on your own – without ‘ things happening ‘
Sorry !
There you go – the insurers recommended that the Chairman of the Social Services Committee – Whistleblower should be sacked
Let’s say I’ve been around too long to believe much in coincidences
” Insurers ‘advised against’ publication of child abuse report
16 July 2015
From the section Wales politics
Share
Jillings report
The Jillings report was ‘virtually unseen’ by committee or council members, Ann Clwyd said
A report on the north Wales child abuse scandal was not published for 17 years because of concerns over libel and compensation claims, an MP has said.
Ann Clwyd told the Commons that council insurers had warned that publication of the Jillings report would encourage court cases and compensation claims.
The report found evidence of “extensive abuse” over a “substantial” number of years in north east Wales care homes.
It said that at least 12 young people died from unnatural causes.
On Thursday Ms Clwyd, the Labour MP for Cynon Valley, said that had the report been published at the time “it would have sounded alarm bells and things would have moved much faster”.
“The report, limited to 12 copies only, was virtually unseen by committee or council members and was pulped,” she said.
“The insurers suggested that the chair of the council’s social services committee – Malcolm King, a brave and determined whistleblower – should be sacked if he spoke out.
“They wrote: ‘Draconian as it may seem, you may have to consider with the elected members whether they wish to remove him from office if he insists on having the freedom to speak’.”
Ms Clwyd wants ministers to bring forward a bill to reform insurance company influence.
“It is a matter of concern that insurance companies can still exert adverse influence on any inquiry or report into complaints about children in the care of local authorities,” she said
Justice Minister Caroline Dinenage said she could understand the disappointment that a previous government failed to take forward recommendations in a Law Commission report in 2004.
“However, there have been a number of changes in both the insurance industry and in statutory framework around inquiries since then,” she added. “
It may ! be possible that ongoing enquires are handed on by the Police to the National Crime Agency ?
In Wales it’s Operation Pallial
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/all-about/operation-pallial
I was there.. I went in at 14 and left a wreck being placed in another care home in Birkdale.
I was battered and had my genitals mauled with by a member of staff.
I had my face pushed face down into a plate of hot porridge for asking for some real sugar, instead of the low calorie pink packets of crap they gave us.
I got many a slaps and punches and I was told to keep quiet or I would be in care until old enough to go to jail.
I was told that if anything was mentioned by my social worker or family at any case conference, I would know about as soon as they left.
If I was to meet Mr Mackey or Wigman on the street now, I would be uncontrollable in what I would do to them.
It got worse after Woodend, I was sent to St Thomas Moore at Birkdale.
The abuse and forced undressing along with the unwanted touching and mauling was just too much. I legged it, when caught I told the Police and social services what was going on, but they took me back and said nothing or even followed up any complaints I made.
I haven’t told any member of my family or friends what happened back in the late 70’s.early 80’s.. It still haunts me and I recently requested all my records under the DPA from Wigan council, only to be told, they can’t find them or any files from my social worker.
Find David Greenwood of Swistalskis Law Firm in Leeds
‘ Tommy Mores ‘ ( St Thomas More ) well known in Southport ?
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11133028
” Legal status: Public Record(s)
Closure status: Closed Or Retained Document, Open Description
Access conditions: Closed For 81 years
Closure criterion: Contains sensitive personal information which would substantially distress or endanger a living person or his or her descendants ”
Closed 1981 – I wonder why …..not !
http://www.thetcj.org/child-care-history-policy/the-court-lees-affair Re caning there
Arson attack on the place http://www.qlocal.co.uk/southport/news_list/Major_Fire_St_Thomas_More_Liverpool_Rd-50431486.htm
Comment in the local rag
” Delbertious says It’s funny that all the large old buildings in this town that get refused planning permission seem to spontaneously combust!!! Keep your eyes on the old Kingsway building that’s been empty for a long time! “