The official inquiry into child abuse in Lambeth council-run childrens homes opened yesterday (Monday). What follows over the next 20 articles is yesterday's opening speech by Rachel Langdale QC taken from the IICSA's official website. From the IICSA website: Please be aware that some viewers may find the content of our hearings distressing. If affected, … Continue reading DAY ONE – CHAPTER ONE “We emphasise, as we have done before, that these homes do not represent the totality of what happened to children in Lambeth’s care; far from it”
Month: June 2020
DAY ONE – CHAPTER TWO “Unlike our other case study homes, Lambeth at no point commissioned any internal report or enquiry into any allegation or incidence of abuse at Shirley Oaks”
The CHILE files reflect only a small proportion of 25 the children who were in the care of the Lambeth, but,/ Page 17: nonetheless, they speak to the wider experience of 2 children in Lambeth homes, in homes in other parts of 3 the country and in foster care. The summaries of 4 the CHILE … Continue reading DAY ONE – CHAPTER TWO “Unlike our other case study homes, Lambeth at no point commissioned any internal report or enquiry into any allegation or incidence of abuse at Shirley Oaks”
DAY ONE – CHAPTER THREE: “LA-A20 refers to men having unrestricted access to parts of Shirley Oaks. LA-A67 recalls two priests visited regularly and took a particular interest in his sisters. “One would stay the night. “Visitors books should have been used to track who was there, but they never were.”
The primary sources of 24 information to this investigation are, first, the voices 25 of core participants who lived there. Second, written records from Lambeth which have remained in existence 2 from the time, including the individual care records of 3 children. Third, statements made to the police, 4 principally those made between 1998 to … Continue reading DAY ONE – CHAPTER THREE: “LA-A20 refers to men having unrestricted access to parts of Shirley Oaks. LA-A67 recalls two priests visited regularly and took a particular interest in his sisters. “One would stay the night. “Visitors books should have been used to track who was there, but they never were.”
DAY ONE – CHAPTER FOUR “We were often told we were not normal children, we were scum, we would never amount to anything and we didn’t deserve to be looked after. “The home was run on fear. “All the children only wanted to be loved and have some affection shown to them.”
Children in their statements to the police in 1999 2 referred to race and racism as being a barrier to 3 disclosure and part of the abuse they experienced. 4 LA-A117 refers to not being able to talk to her house 5 mother, who was white and she didn't want me". LA-A50 6 was subject … Continue reading DAY ONE – CHAPTER FOUR “We were often told we were not normal children, we were scum, we would never amount to anything and we didn’t deserve to be looked after. “The home was run on fear. “All the children only wanted to be loved and have some affection shown to them.”
DAY ONE – CHAPTER FIVE: “John Carroll was a convicted child sexual abuser. “He concealed that conviction from Lambeth when he applied to work there. “Those who provided references for him in 1978 didn’t mention it either…. “You will hear that Lambeth officials decided that Carroll should not be dismissed on account of his conviction, nor on account of his concealment of it”
Philip Temple left Lambeth and went on to abuse other 2 children. Evidence will be given as to how he was 3 finally apprehended. 4 He was replaced by Patrick Grant. Like Temple, 5 Grant sexually abused children in his care. There is 6 evidence he abused at least one of the same children as … Continue reading DAY ONE – CHAPTER FIVE: “John Carroll was a convicted child sexual abuser. “He concealed that conviction from Lambeth when he applied to work there. “Those who provided references for him in 1978 didn’t mention it either…. “You will hear that Lambeth officials decided that Carroll should not be dismissed on account of his conviction, nor on account of his concealment of it”
DAY ONE – CHAPTER SIX “There was little outside scrutiny of Southvale. “Complaints were dealt with by the people complained about”
though it appears he had always been a cause for concern 2 at Angell Road. A letter written by a staff member 3 in April 1988 to John Carroll set out the concern LA-F4 4 was causing because of his relationship with two 5 children. I'm going to refer to these children as Z and … Continue reading DAY ONE – CHAPTER SIX “There was little outside scrutiny of Southvale. “Complaints were dealt with by the people complained about”
DAY ONE – CHAPTER SEVEN “One particular child at Southvale never had any new clothes bought, never got as many privileges as the others. When she asked the other staff why this was the case she was told: The officer-in-charge hates him”
On the points/ system, he said this: 2 "This involved staff and children meeting towards 3 the end of each day and discussing behaviour which 4 merited points being awarded or removed. There was an 5 opportunity for the system to be manipulated by staff, 6 particularly as they were untrained, and there was 7 … Continue reading DAY ONE – CHAPTER SEVEN “One particular child at Southvale never had any new clothes bought, never got as many privileges as the others. When she asked the other staff why this was the case she was told: The officer-in-charge hates him”
DAY ONE – CHAPTER EIGHT “We know that during the period he worked for Lambeth, Les Paul photographed many boys…the issue of whether Lambeth staff were involved in the possible production and dissemination of pornography or imagery of child abuse is one that endures”
Another care worker who worked at Southvale for/ 13 years in the late 1970s and '80s gave a statement to 2 the police in 2003. She said that Paul was often 3 criticised for having favourites. She recalled one 4 child who needed cream applied to his anus and how Paul 5 would volunteer for … Continue reading DAY ONE – CHAPTER EIGHT “We know that during the period he worked for Lambeth, Les Paul photographed many boys…the issue of whether Lambeth staff were involved in the possible production and dissemination of pornography or imagery of child abuse is one that endures”
DAY ONE – CHAPTER NINE “The children were found to have few possessions or clothing that could be called their own and it was reported that the owner of Manor House in Bristol was determined to frustrate attempts to remove any children from the institution”
One of the CHILE files reviewed by the 24 investigation team documents the series of placements of 25 a very young child described as having learning/ disabilities due to possible brain damage at birth. 2 From the age of 3, he was moved from place to place with 3 placements at Shirley Oaks, Stockwell Park … Continue reading DAY ONE – CHAPTER NINE “The children were found to have few possessions or clothing that could be called their own and it was reported that the owner of Manor House in Bristol was determined to frustrate attempts to remove any children from the institution”
DAY ONE – CHAPTER TEN “One of the most conspicuous features of how Lambeth responded to allegations is the sheer number of internal inspections, reviews, reports and public inquiries which it commissioned or generated. These are critical not just to understanding Lambeth’s institutional knowledge and how it responded to a given incident or allegation, but to the question of whether the commissioning of reports became an end in itself, a convenient signal that something was being done, but which changed nothing.”
Following the examination, one further 23 teenage male child, LA-A291, made an allegation to his 24 mother of sexual assault by a member of staff at 25 Monkton Street, although the child was unable to/ identify the alleged perpetrator by name. 2 In some cases, parents gave consent to the 3 examination and attended the examinations. … Continue reading DAY ONE – CHAPTER TEN “One of the most conspicuous features of how Lambeth responded to allegations is the sheer number of internal inspections, reviews, reports and public inquiries which it commissioned or generated. These are critical not just to understanding Lambeth’s institutional knowledge and how it responded to a given incident or allegation, but to the question of whether the commissioning of reports became an end in itself, a convenient signal that something was being done, but which changed nothing.”
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