Category: csa inquiry scotland

400+ SCOTTISH ORPHANAGE CHILDREN BURIED IN UNMARKED GRAVE (updated 12th Sept)

Posted in #PaedoUK, Child Murdered, CoverUps, csa inquiry scotland, Scotland6 Comments

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https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/irish-children-buried-in-mass-grave-at-scottish-orphanage-5l6wdc38h

Screenshot_20170912-042304HUNDREDS of children’s bodies from Smyllum Park Orphanage have been discovered in a mass grave.

At least 400 youngsters were buried at St Mary’s Cemetery in Lanark, southern Scotland, close to where they were cared for at the home – but what do we know about Smyllum Park Orphanage so far?

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Where is Smyllum Park Orphanage?

Smyllum Park Orphanage was opened in 1864 at Smyllum Park in Lanark, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

The institution was run by a Catholic order of nuns and housed 11,600 children aged between one and 14 years old, including those who were blind or deaf-mute, before it closed in 1981.

Decades later an unmarked mass grave was found at nearby St Mary’s Church in Lanark which is just a three-minute drive away from the care home.

The orphanage is now being examined by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry into historical allegations of the abuse of children in care.

When were the mass graves discovered?

At least 400 youngsters’ bodies were found at the burial plot by two former residents of Smyllum in 2003.

Frank Docherty and Jim Kane uncovered the overgrown, unmarked section of St Mary’s Cemetery as they campaigned to expose physical abuse which was allegedly suffered by former residents.

A year later they were told by the orphanage founder, Daughters of Charity, that children had been buried in 158 compartments in the graveyard.

Records show that most of the children had died of diseases like pneumonia, tuberculosis and pleurisy.

But Frank and Jim, who both died earlier this year, were adamant that more children were buried there, accusing the nuns of “incomplete records”.

An investigation by BBC’s File on 4 and the Sunday Post revealed at least 400 children were buried in the plot.

A third of those who died were aged five or under. Just 24 in total were aged over 15, and most of the deaths occurred between 1870 and 1930.

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Who are the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul?

The Daughters of Charity was a group founded by French priest Vincent de Paul and widow Louise de Marillac in 1633.

They worked to establish homes for orphaned children, run hospitals, work in prisons and help the poor in Paris before expanding their work across France.

It began to open establishments in the 1800s when it took charge of St Joseph’s Reformatory for Girls near Sheffield in 1861.

Smyllum Orphanage was launched in 1964 – the Daughters of Charity’s first presence in Scotland.

But by the 1980s, all of its children’s residential establishments in Britain were shut down.

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https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4436539/smyllum-park-orphanage-mass-graves-discovered-daughters-charity-st-vincent-de-paul/

Sunday 10 September 2017 15.17 BST

wp-image-1045427285Hundreds of Scottish orphanage children allegedly buried in mass grave

High infant mortality rate and allegations of abuse raise suspicions of Smyllum Park in Lanark, once run by Catholic nuns

The Scottish child abuse inquiry is to investigate claims that the bodies of at least 400 children from a home once run by Catholic nuns are buried in an unmarked mass grave.

The high infant mortality rate has raised concerns about conditions at Smyllum Park orphanage in Lanark, which was operated by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.

Mass grave of babies and children found at Tuam care home in Ireland

The institution, which looked after children from broken homes, opened in 1864 and closed in 1981. More than 11,000 children stayed at the orphanage over that period.

Records reveal that most of the deaths were due to natural causes, mainly from diseases such as TB, pneumonia and pleurisy. About a third of the victims were under the age of five, and the majority of the deaths occurred between 1870 and 1930.

Former residents of the orphanage uncovered a burial plot containing the remains of a number of children at nearby St Mary’s cemetery in 2003.

Frank Docherty and Jim Kane, who both died earlier this year, alleged that many of those who passed through Smyllum Park were subjected to physical abuse, including beatings, punches and public humiliations. Both men also believed that the number of deaths was far higher than the 120 previously acknowledged by the Catholic order.

An inquiry by BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 and the Sunday Post newspaper examined death certificates in archives and found 402 children from Smyllum Park. Only two were found to have been buried elsewhere. The remainder are thought to have been laid to rest in St Mary’s cemetery, a mile away from the former home.

Smyllum Park orphanageSmyllum Park orphanage opened in 1864 and closed in 1981. 

The recorded death rate, according to the reports, is calculated to have been, in some periods, around three times the average for children in Scotland.

The suggestion that children were put into an unmarked mass grave echoes the public outcry over the recent discovery of the remains of 800 babies and children at a former Catholic care home in Tuam, in the west of Ireland.

Like Tuam, the row over what happened at Smyllum Park focuses not only on the way in which children were buried but the supposedly strict, punitive regime said to have been operated by nuns.

One of the deaths recorded at the Scottish orphanage is that of Francis McColl, who died in 1961, aged 13. His death certificate indicates he died from a brain haemorrhage. His brother Eddie had heard that he was struck on the head by a golf club. He has told researchers that he was never able to find any trace of where his brother was buried.

Two representatives of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul gave evidence to the Scottish child abuse inquiry earlier this summer. They said they could find no records of abuse. The nuns declined to comment on how many people were buried in the mass grave.

In a statement given to the BBC last week, the order said they were “cooperating fully” with the child abuse inquiry and believed that was the “best and most appropriate forum for such investigations”.

They said: “As Daughters of Charity our values are totally against any form of abuse and thus, we offer our most sincere and heartfelt apology to anyone who suffered any form of abuse whilst in our care.”

The order has been granted the status of core participant in the inquiry, which is expected to hear evidence about its homes at a hearing in November.

The Scottish inquiry – which is only investigating the provision of residential care – is more narrowly focused than the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in England and Wales.

A spokesman for the Scottish inquiry confirmed that the allegations surrounding the mass grave at Smyllum Park would be one of the subjects it examined.

A spokesperson for the Catholic church in Scotland said the Daughters of Charity operated as a separate organisation. “The death of children in care is always tragic,” the spokesperson said. “Any suggestion that the deaths of some children were caused by anything other than natural causes should be investigated to the fullest extent possible.

“The Catholic church has never had any responsibility for or ability to place children in care: that has always been and remains a matter for the statutory authorities who placed children in care and were subsequently responsible for their welfare.”

The spokesman said local priests had participated in services held at the graveyard in memory of children from Smyllum Park orphanage buried there.

White Flowers Alba, a victims group that has helped the investigation into Smyllum Park orphanage, said: “The true scale of the horrors of Smyllum long hidden by the Roman Catholic church are only being now revealed.

“This is a horror we have worked for over number years to have exposed, spending many hours in harrowing interviews, providing support & care for those still suffering today from what they witnessed & experienced. White Flowers Alba is facilitating support for those affected by this tragedy.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry said: “For many months, the Inquiry has been gathering evidence from survivors and a range of other witnesses and continues to do so…. On November 28 the first case study of the hearings will begin. It will consider the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.” https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/10/smyllum-park-lanark-orphanage-catholic-nuns-children-mass-grave-allegedly     https://archive.is/iVtMg

Bodies of ‘hundreds’ of children buried in mass grave at Scottish orphanage http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/10/bodies-hundreds-children-buried-mass-grave/     https://archive.is/U4KjW    

Young boy aged 6 killed by nun  https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/655029/young-boy-aged-six-killed-by-nun-at-lanark-orphanage-in-1964-former-resident-claims/

Aangirfan. http://aanirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/orphans-murdered.html?m=1

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LINKS WITHIN ARTICLE

https://stv.tv/news/west-central/1397441-hundreds-of-orphanage-children-buried-in-mass-grave/    https://archive.is/FR11w

DAVE SHARP: Christian Brothers abuse survivor wins five-figure payout #FIFE

Posted in #PaedoUK, csa inquiry scotland, FIFE, Scotland, SNP paedo coverer upperers, UK1 Comment

Dave Sharp is the first person in Scotland to win a payment from the Catholic order – decades after he was abused at St Ninian’s residential school in Fife. 

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CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ABUSE SURVIVOR WINS COMPENSATION AFTER 40-YEAR FIGHT

 
 

An abuse victim has won a 40-year fight to secure compensation from the ­notorious Christian Brothers monks.

Dave Sharp was awarded a “significant five-figure sum” decades after he was repeatedly raped and beaten at St Ninian’s residential school in Fife.

He is the first person in Scotland to win a payout from the Catholic order, who ran residential schools for children across the world.

The payment is likely to allow hundreds of other Scottish victims to win compensation for historical abuse at various organisations.

Dave, 59, said: “I hope my payment is the first of many the Christian Brothers are forced to make to those men whose lives have been wrecked because of the treatment they received as children in ­Scotland’s residential homes and schools.

“There are dozens of victims out there who have far stronger cases than mine.

 

Dave Sharp is the first in Scotland to win a compensation payout from the Catholic Church and he hopes other survivors will come forward 

 

 

“In some cases their abusers are still alive, while in others they have already secured victories and convictions in the criminal courts.

“If I can win, then so can they. They must come forward and tell their stories. There is help and support out there for all survivors, regardless of the institutions they were abused in. They will be believed and helped.

“It’s time that all institutions, regardless of religious ­denomination or background, are held accountable for the crimes of their staff.”

Boys at St Ninian’s, in Falkland, were all in need of care as a result of being orphaned, neglected or outwith parental control.

Pupils were sent by social work departments across Scotland but the school catered mostly for ­children from the old Strathclyde and Tayside regional council areas.

It housed up to 45 boys at a time and was run by members of the Christian Brothers between 1952 and 1983.

Dave’s tormentor, former headteacher Brother Gerry Ryan, has since died. Dave, 59, told how he was tied up, abused and hung by the neck in a freezing basement shower room repeatedly between the ages of 10 and 16.

Dave Sharp staged a protest outside St Andrew’s cathedral in Glasgow last year
Survivor Dave Sharp (centre) with Patrick McGuire from Thompsons Personal Injury Solicitors and abuse care worker Sandra Toyer 

 

He said: “Even now, years later, I still get flashbacks of being hung by a piece of rope round my neck on to the shower, and my hands tied behind my back, and him beating me with a belt.”

Dave was forced to seek justice in an English court because in Scotland, abuse victims have just three years from the date of their injury – or from their 16th birthday – to bring a civil court action.

That time bar will be removed under a key change in Scots law to come into effect in November.

Victims will be able to seek compensation as long as they were under 18 at the time of the abuse.

The Scottish Government believe it will allow about 2200 people abused since September 1964 to seek justice in civil courts.

Dave works with support group Wellbeing Scotland and has set up his own team called SAFE – Seek And Find Everyone – to track down victims.

Dave’s victory comes after ex-St Ninian’s headteacher John Farrell, 74, and colleague Paul Kelly, 65, were jailed for a total of 15 years for abusing and sexually assaulting six boys in the 70s and 80s. 

HTR

Patrick McGuire, lead partner on historic abuse at Thompsons ­solicitors in Glasgow, welcomed the decision to move the time bar.

He said: “The public are fully behind the survivors. The law is now on their side and with strong solicitors by their side, survivors will receive the compensation to which they are entitled in law.”

An independent Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry into historical abuse is under way, led by judge Lady Smith.

More than 60 institutions, including several private schools and church bodies, are being ­investigated.

Alastair Gillespie, who acted for the Congregation of Christian Brothers (CCB) in Dave’s case, said: “Mr Sharp alleged that he was sexually abused by a teacher while a pupil of St Ninian’s during the early 1970s, and that as a result, he has suffered injury and loss.

“The CCB and its legal ­representatives reviewed Mr Sharp’s allegations and decided it was appropriate to seek to resolve the claim before it became formally litigated in the courts.

“Any claim that might be made is considered very carefully on the facts and evidence which are unique and specific to that claim.”

When pressed on why Dave has yet to receive a full apology from the Christian Brothers, Mr Gillespie added: “The CCB has already expressed regret regarding Mr Sharp’s ­allegations and ­reiterates that expression of regret.”

The Catholic Church in Scotland said: “Compensation payments or ­counselling arrangements made by ­religious orders are entirely a matter for them.

“Since the details of any such ­agreements would not be shared with other parties, it is not possible to comment on them.

“Between 2001 and 2015, the Catholic Church issued a number of apologies to anyone who had ‘suffered any form of abuse at the hands of those representing the Catholic Church’

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia offered the service to the people of France following the terrorist attacks in Paris
Archbishop Philip Tartaglia offered a profound apology to those who have suffered abuse by anyone within the Catholic Church

“Most recently, in August 2015, Archbishop Philip Tartaglia offered a profound apology to all those who have been harmed and who have suffered in any way as a result of actions by anyone within the Catholic Church.”

Yesterday, Dave thanked the Daily Record for supporting his fight for justice.

He said our hard-hitting reports on the Christian Brothers were key to a positive outcome and added: “The thing these ­organisations hate the most is negative publicity and people shining a light on how they work.

“The Daily Record never gave up on me and gave me the voice I needed to take on the Christian Brothers and the ­Catholic Church.”

If you are an abuse survivor & want advice or support visit www.wellbeingscotland.org

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/abuse-survivor-wins-five-figure-11042039     https://archive.is/UpWge

 

READ MORE

De La Salle, St Ninian’s, FIFE. 55+ Articles (2001-2016)
https://spidercatweb.wordpress.com/de-la-salle-st-ninians-csa
De La Salle: St Joseph’s School, Tranent, Edinburgh https://spidercatweb.wordpress.com/paedo-monk-82-jailed-for-7-years-for-abusing-boys-at-st-josephs-school-tranenthttps://spidercatweb.wordpress.com/de-la-salle-st-ninians-csa        De La Salle Brothers ‘failed’ abused boys  https://spidercatweb.blog/2017/06/16/de-la-salle-brothers-failed-abused-boys/    

Scottish Paedophilia: Institutions, Care Homes, Schools & Paedo Rings https://spidercatweb.blog/2015/11/02/scottish-paedophilia-institutions-care-homes-schools-paedo-rings/

The incredible Mr Dave Sharp!

 

Child abuse inquiry to probe Lanarkshire childrens homes run by nuns

Posted in #PaedoUK, csa inquiry pasrt 2, csa inquiry scotland, Scotland, SNP paedo coverer upperers3 Comments

NT

THE second phase of the Scottish child abuse inquiry will further investigate controversial children’s homes run by a Catholic Order of nuns.
It is examining historical allegations of the abuse of children in care and has been taking statements from witnesses since last spring. 
Officials said the first part of the second phase starting in autumn will focus on homes run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, such as Smyllum Park in Lanark and Bellevue House in Rutherglen.
The head of the religious order which ran the controversial children’s homes has already described allegations of abuse as a “mystery”.
Sister Ellen Flynn, leader of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul in Great Britain, told the inquiry her congregation could find “no evidence” of abuse taking place at Smyllum Park.
The inquiry, led by Lady Smith, heard more than 4,000 children passed through the home between 1930 and its closure in 1981.
Former residents have alleged the sisters administered severe beatings at Smyllum, where the bodies of up to 100 orphans lie in an unmarked grave.
The inquiry earlier heard how neither the sisters nor lay staff at the school had qualifications for looking after children until they began to undertake childcare courses in the late 1960s.
As well as a small group of nuns, the school employed between 30 to 35 people as childcare workers, nurses, laundry workers and handymen, all of whom could access the children unaccompanied.
The inquiry also heard that in the early part of the century it had been “common practice” to separate siblings.
While the inquiry heard that “some very good archival evidence” exists in relation to Smyllum, it was told there are no records of punishments which were handed out.
Yesterday it was revealed that Phase 2 hearings will start on November 28 and applications are being sought to give evidence into the two Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul homes.
A spokesman for the inquiry said: “The deadline for leave to appear in relation to the first case study is September 4. Applicants must show that they have a direct or substantial interest in the scope and purpose of the hearings.  
“The evidence given at the hearings will supplement written statements taken from witnesses in advance and documents recovered by the inquiry team during investigations.”
Public hearings began in Edinburgh in May and a series of religious organisations has admitted children were abused in their care and issued apologies, including the Catholic Church in Scotland. The hearings have heard a catalogue of damning testimony about the loss or destruction of vital records kept by institutions accused of presiding over abusive regimes.
Legislation lifting the time-limit on damages for child abuse cases was passed by the Scottish parliament earlier this year.The Bill removes the current three-year limitation period for personal injury actions in cases of child abuse where the person was under 18 at the time.
It will apply to all cases of child abuse after September 1964 – but campaigners are still lobbying for justice for those who were abused before then.
Religious orders are also facing demands for redress for victims. During the inquiry, the Catholic Church said it was considering cash compensation for survivors. The cost may be at least £200million.
In early 2018, the inquiry will examine homes run by Sisters of Nazareth, investigating Nazareth House sites in Aberdeen, Cardonald, Kilmarnock and Lasswade. 

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15463546.Child_abuse_inquiry_to_probe_Lanarkshire_childrens_homes_run_by_nuns/        https://archive.is/EpJVI

Second phase of the Scottish #ChildAbuseInquiry announced

Posted in #PaedoUK, csa inquiry scotland, Scotland, SNP paedo coverer upperers1 Comment

9th Aug 2017 

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The second phase of hearings in the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is to open with a case study centring on care establishments run by a Catholic order.

The independent inquiry is looking in detail at historical abuse of children in residential care in Scotland.

The inquiry has been separated into a series of phases, the first of which continues on 31 October.

Phase two starts on November 28 with a study of homes run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.

Applications to appear in relation to this case study are now open, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park in Lanark and Bellevue House in Rutherglen. The deadline for applications to appear, for people with a direct or substantial interest in the hearings, close on 4 September.

Further case studies will be announced in due course.

Scottish Abuse Inquiry ~ THE most comprehensive & INCLUSIVE list of Institutions, Care Homes, Schools etc https://spidercatweb.blog/2015/11/02/scottish-paedophilia-institutions-care-homes-schools-paedo-rings/

Inquiry scope

More than 60 institutions including several top private schools and church bodies are being investigated as part of the probe, which is chaired by Lady Smith and is due to report no sooner than October 2019.

The inquiry states its purpose as being “to investigate the nature and extent of abuse of children whilst in care in Scotland”, while considering “the extent to which institutions and bodies with legal responsibility for the care of children failed in their duty”, in particular seeking any “systemic failures”.

However, it does not cover children who were abused while living with their natural or adoptive families, while using sports and leisure clubs or attending faith based organisations on a day to day basis. The inquiry will also not examine allegations of children being abused in non-boarding schools, nursery or day-care centres.

The evidence given at hearings will supplement written statements taken from witnesses in advance, and the inquiry is continuing to take statements from survivors of abuse in private sessions.

The first phase of hearings, which began in May, heard apologies from groups who said they “deplored that physical sexual abuses could occur”.

The inquiry, which had cost more than £7.8m as of 30 June, is taking place at Rosebery House in Edinburgh.

Most comprehensive & INCLUSIVE list of Institutions, Care Homes & Schools https://spidercatweb.blog/2015/11/02/scottish-paedophilia-institutions-care-homes-schools-paedo-rings/

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-40877226    https://archive.is/TuyyV

WANT TO KNOW THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT THE INQUIRY?

Here is what Scot Gov & the establishment don’t want you to know

PLEASE WATCH

Have I just let the WildCat out the bag?!

Oops~a~daisy

May as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb….

THE most comprehensive & INCLUSIVE list of Institutions, Care Homes & Schools https://spidercatweb.blog/2015/11/02/scottish-paedophilia-institutions-care-homes-schools-paedo-rings/

  1. Former boss of child abuse probe sues Scottish Government for £500,000
  2. CSA INQUIRY SCOTLAND
  3. Child sex abuse inquiry to probe more than 60 institutions {including Prince Charles & Tony Blair’s old schools}
  4. Survivors Attack SNP Over CSA Inquiry
  5. CSA Inquiry Taking Evidence As A Matter Of Urgency
  6. UKs Pointers On How To Hold A CSA Inquiry
  7. CSA Inquiry Scotland. Corruption IN PICTURES!
  8. Public inquiry into child abuse set to be costliest in Scottish history
  9. Survivors accuse SNP of indifference over CSA inquiry
  10. Survivors spell out fears to Swinney & give him “one last chance”
  11. Abuse inquiry chief quits amid counter-accusations Herald Scotland
  12. CSA Inquiry Scotland: It’s 2 down 1 to go as Chairwoman quits
  13. CSA Chairwoman’s Letter of Resignation to John Swinney
  14. CSA inquiry row ‘centred on use of public cash’, says BIG FAT LIAR Swinney
  15. Scottish child abuse inquiry witnesses ‘deserve answers’
  16. Survivors Call For Wider Remit As Some Quit Inquiry To Seek ‘Justice’
  17. Fresh controversy engulfs troubled Child Abuse Inquiry

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Hollie Greig, Head Teachers & Child Sex Abuse #no2np

Posted in #PaedoUK, csa inquiry scotland, Paedo Teachers, Scotland, SNP paedo coverer upperers, SNPbad2 Comments

Considering the HUGE number of Scottish teachers arrested & or convicted of child sexual abuse crimes,

WHY WAS HOLLIE GREIG’S HEADMASTER & SOCIAL WORKER NOT EVEN QUESTIONED BY POLICE?

SCOTTISH PAEDO HEAD TEACHERS

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8334208.stm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/6671273/Child-porn-head-teacher-jailed-for-two-years.html

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scottish-headteacher-charged-sexual-abuse-10299023

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12259144.Head_who_abused_his_pupils_jailed__Girls_duped_by_talk_of_TV_sex_survey/

A couple of examples of English paedo head teachers

wp-image-1311347648

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3575806/Cambridge-educated-deputy-head-15-000-year-Catholic-private-school-blew-600-week-paedophile-drug-parties-jailed-horrific-stash-porn-images-featuring-children-young-two.html

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http://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/former-headteacher-is-spared-jail-after-being-caught-with-indecent-images-of-girls-1-8676066

wp-image-84256378

http://m.surreymirror.co.uk/dorking-school-apologises-after-ex-deputy-head-teacher-jailed-for-secretly-filming-naked-children/story-30451947-detail/story.html

 

 

DOT JOINING: Scottish VIP Paedophile ring

Posted in #PaedoUK, Child Murdered, CoverUps, csa inquiry scotland, Fred West, Freemasons, Robert Black, Satanism, Scotland, SNPbad, UK, VIPaedo4 Comments

 

 

 

PART 2 ON YOUTUBE 

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Abuse campaigner: I told Esther Rantzen about paedo Jimmy Savile 18 years ago   https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/984731/abuse-campaigner-i-told-esther-rantzen-about-paedo-jimmy-savile-18-years-ago/

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Fred & Rose West: Documentaries, News Reports & Interviews https://spidercatweb.blog/2016/09/13/fred-rose-west-documentaries-news-reports-interviews/

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30 “Historic” Newspaper Articles on Thomas Hamilton & Dunblane

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McRae, Gallogley, Paton, Ibrox, Celtic’s Jock Stein & Kevin Kelly, The Catholic Church & Savile all over the damn place!

https://spidercatweb.blog/2016/11/25/112553/

 

 

 

*PLEASE READ* FELICITY, DUNBLANE & THE SCOTTISH CHILD ABUSE INQUIRY

Posted in #PaedoUK, csa inquiry scotland, Scotland, SNP paedo coverer upperers6 Comments

WITH MANY THANKS TO THE WONDERFUL

 

hgfd

http://www.gcvs.org.uk/important-communication-from-the-scottish-child-abuse-inquiry/  https://archive.is/6n5BY

hyteadchtds

 

http://www.devereuxchambers.co.uk/barristers/profile/felicity-cullen     https://archive.is/c5gx7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cullen,_Baron_Cullen_of_Whitekirk

 22 Oct 2015 – The Scottish Historical Child Abuse Inquiry was formally established … Felicity Cullen, Deputy Solicitor, .

 

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Martyn McLaughlin: Holyrood should tread carefully over child abuse inquiry

Posted in csa inquiry scotland, Scotland, SNP paedo coverer upperersLeave a comment


Susan O Brien has resigned less than four months after the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry s first formal call for evidence
00:00Wednesday 06 July 2016
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The victims’ trust is easily lost and after the resignation of the chairwoman, who will come forward to testify, asks Martyn McLaughlin
Trust is a fragile thing easily lost. The trust of the neglected and the persecuted is rarer still, a commodity lent in faith more often than certainty. For the victims of child abuse, the decision to step out from shadows that span the length of a lifetime is an act of fortitude. Trust is the most precious thing they have. Sometimes, it is all they have left.

These prisoners of childhood are well acquainted with betrayal. Robbed of innocence, they have seen their torment denied and trivialised. That they can find the strength to rely on the authorities that so grievously failed them is nothing short of a miracle.


They give their trust in the hope that it is a means to an end in the long journey towards justice, accountability and redress. Squander it and they are betrayed once more.

Hemingway once said the best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. What conclusion have the victims of child abuse in Scotland arrived at this week as they watch the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry spiral into disarray, less than four months after its first formal call for evidence?

Back then, its chair, Susan O’Brien QC, issued a six-page long address, the essence of which could be found in the third from last paragraph. “I am asking survivors to help us, by telling us what happened to them,” she said. Now, she is gone, just a week after her fellow panel member, Professor Michael Lamb, tendered his resignation. Who now will come forward to testify before such an anarchic set up?

The inquiry, tasked with poring over tens of millions of documents and gathering evidence from those who suffered abuse as children in residential or foster care, is at grave risk of failing before it has begun. So far, it has cost £1,113,817, a figure that is expected to be dwarfed by the final bill, likely to exceed £12m. Just one panel member remains – Glenn Houston, chief executive of Northern Ireland’s Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority – and even then, there are well-founded doubts over his future.

In May, he wrote to the education secretary, John Swinney, warning of a “significant risk of loss of public trust and confidence in the integrity of this inquiry should the chair be removed from office.” The fact Ms O’Brien chose to jump before she was pushed is unlikely to have addressed his misgivings.

Some 12 years after former first minister Jack McConnell made a “sincere and full” apology to the victims of abuse in children’s homes, and nearly a decade since the then SNP minority government announced a form of truth commission on historical abuse, the current turmoil seems scarcely believable. Getting this far has taken considerable time and political will, yet even before the inquiry has held its first public meeting, questions must surely be asked of whether its existing structure is fit for purpose.

Both Ms O’Brien and Mr Lamb have accused the Scottish Government of interfering in the inquiry’s work to the extent that its independence can no longer be guaranteed. The former claims a request to replace a government employee with an external solicitor has been blocked, while Mr Lamb said officials have questioned the inquiry’s decisions to date and meddled “in ways large and small, directly and indirectly”.

Urgent steps are being taken to seek a new chair and panel member, but the small pool of experts from which such individuals can be drawn would be excused for politely declining any approach, for fear of being unable to fulfil their role. At the present time, it is about as inviting and secure as being asked by Mark E Smith to join The Fall.

For his part, Mr Swinney yesterday indicated the friction centred around whether it was necessary for members of counsel to take all the statements from survivors at a cost of about £100 an hour. It is to be expected that a former finance secretary should advocate a shrewd approach to an inquiry that will be the costliest in Scottish history, but before digging their heels in, Mr Swinney and his civil servants ought to have considered the ultimate price of their prudence.

This is not a major capital project or a scheme that falls under the Non-Profit Distributing programme. It is a highly sensitive inquiry that has been decades in the making. Controlling expenditure is important but it is not paramount. Many victims of abuse have died waiting for answers. Others still with us have abandoned all hope. The events of the past week will regrettably add to their number.

An inquiry of this nature is entirely dependent on the integrity of its process . The acrimony of recent days has caused devastating, perhaps irreparable damage. As Helen Holland from the In Care Survivors group pointed out, the people most affected by the upheaval are the survivors themselves, the very people who should be protected.

There is still time for Mr Swinney to put things right. A concurrent inquiry in England and Wales was mired in controversy until Home Secretary Theresa May took the decision to expand its terms of reference and grant it new statutory powers. It was an imperfect solution, but one that addressed concerns the inquiry could go about its work without fear or favour.

The Scottish Government must give careful thought to its next step. Replacing Ms O’Brien and Mr Lamb will achieve little if underlying worries over the constitution of the inquiry are not tackled.

The trust of the victims must not only be restored, but vindicated. They deserve nothing less.  http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/martyn-mclaughlin-holyrood-should-tread-carefully-over-child-abuse-inquiry-1-4170083

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Former child abuse inquiry chair Susan O’Brien loses damages claim against Scottish Government

Posted in csa inquiry scotland, Scotland, UK4 Comments

Susan O’Brien’s claim ministerial interference breached her rights is thrown out of court

A judge has ruled a compensation claim by the former chair of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry should be dismissed

Susan O’Brien QC quit the troubled inquiry last year after it emerged she faced ministerial intervention to remove her.

She then raised an action for damages at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

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O’Brien claimed ministerial intervention amounted to a breach of contract. In her resignation letter, O’Brien said government interference had left her with “no alternative” but to step down.

However, Lord Pentland called the £500,000 claim “misconceived” as he threw the case out of court yesterday.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The judge has confirmed that the decision by ministers to undertake an investigation was, in the circumstances, appropriate, proportionate and fair.

“The focus of the Scottish government remains on supporting the successful operation of the independent public inquiry.”

The Child Abuse Inquiry hearings are ongoing under new chair High Court Judge Lady Smith.

https://www.holyrood.com/articles/news/former-child-abuse-inquiry-chair-susan-obrien-loses-damages-claim-against-scottish

Child Sex Abuse Evidence Lost By ‘Equipment Breakdowns’

Posted in csa inquiry scotland, Scotland, SNP paedo coverer upperers, SNPbad2 Comments

16th Jan 2017

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15025564.Abused_children_are_let_down_every_day_by_faulty_equipment/      http://archive.is/4tYbG

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MISSING, LOST, STOLEN & HIDDEN PAEDOFILES https://spidercatweb.blog/2015/10/09/missing-paedo-files-2/

 

Charity fails to provide records for 40 years of child abuse #Quarriers

Posted in csa inquiry scotland, Scotland3 Comments

The Quarriers organisation told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry it had been unable to find punishment books or minutes

A charity has claimed it has no relevant records of child abuse from a 40-year period during which its staff physically and sexually assaulted young residents.

The Quarriers organisation, founded to offer a “loving family” to orphaned and destitute children, told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry it had been unable to find punishment books or minutes from any postwar senior management meeting where the abuse of children was discussed, until the closure of its children’s facility in 1989.

Yet over the same period, four men and three women who worked at Quarriers village in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, were convicted of sexual and physical abuse. More than 20 former residents have made complaints of abuse dating to the 1970s.

Campaigners questioned whether records had been destroyed on purpose.

Dave Whelan, who lived in Quarriers from 1969 to 1974, and was abused by staff, said he was shocked by evidence provided by Alice Harper, the charity’s chief executive.

“I think given the timescale of where the records are missing, and the amount of convictions in that timescale, it makes me really seriously concerned,” Mr Whelan said. “Were they destroyed on purpose? Certainly it was negligent.

“I believe [punishment books] existed because in law they had to keep them [but] there are no punishment books, no records of regulation by the state.

“It is a systemic failure about the oversight of the organisation.”

Quarriers village, founded by William Quarrier in 1871, had 43 houses, which for long periods housed more than 1,000 children between them, every year. Until the 1960s boys and girls lived separately. Boys were under the care of a house father and a house mother (usually a married couple), while girls were looked after by a house mother and house auntie.

The inquiry heard that house mothers and fathers required no formal childcare training until the 1960s and were employed on the basis that they were good Christians and wanted to work with children.

James Peoples, counsel for the inquiry, said: “In practice, house parents enjoyed a very large measure of autonomy for a very long time.”

Ms Harper agreed and accepted that there had been “a significant lack of training and supervision in childcare”.

She added: “Nothing I’ve read or researched shows an understanding of a child’s emotional or psychological needs.”

The inquiry heard that one of the seven convicted offenders, jailed about 12 years ago, had been accused of abuse by a child in the 1980s. The child was referred to a psychologist, but in the end their story was not believed, Ms Harper said.

Mr Whelan said he had no doubt that contemporary records still exist from the 1970s of allegations of child abuse.

He said: “A number of children did report abuse to the superintendent in my time. My sister reported it. There is a psychologist’s report in my sister’s file that records she reported it. It talks about how the house parents treated her and myself very harshly.

“The inquiry needs to get someone to go in to look at these records.”

A letter from the chairman of the Quarriers senior board, dated 1937, demonstrated that “autonomous” and largely unsupervised house parents were capable of extreme brutality and corporal punishment

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/charity-fails-to-provide-records-for-40-years-of-child-abuse-6sc5t7vr8

Children had to bow and salute to care home staff #Quarriers

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A CHILDREN’S home where staff were convicted of sexual and physical abuse was warned of giving children decades ago, an inquiry has heard.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in Edinburgh heard that the Quarriers Home was contacted by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, a donor and a visitor over concern over “thrashings” as far back as 1937 but there is no record of any action.

Children in the home near Bridge of Weir hat housed mainly children from the Glasgow area were expected to bow or salute to their superiors, the inquiry heard.

It also heard that seven house mothers and fathers – those looking after the children – were convicted of physical and sexual abuse after the year 2000 for crimes against 23 children between 1955 to 1981.

Eighteen females and five males were targeted in that catalogue of abuse.

The, inquiry heard there was evidence pointing to children being punished for wetting the bed and being locked in cupboards, while the organisation’s rules outline how many times to strike a child whether on the hands for a girl or both hands and posterior through normal clothing for a boy – up to eight times with a strap for a boy over 14 at one stage.

In a letter from chairman of the official called James Kelly wrote to all to house parents about “thrashings”.

He wrote, in 1937: “Severe thrashing not only makes nervous wrecks of some boys, it hardens others and produces defiance rather than penitence.”

He added that “thrashing is loathsome and unnecessary”.

James Peoples QC, inquiry senior counsel, said: “Even then there was a concern, by the standards of the time, that there was excessive corporal punishment being meted out?”

Alice Harper, Quarriers chief executive, told the inquiry: “Yes.”

Children were often not believed.

The hearing before Lady Smith heard the Quarriers, one of Scotland’s best known homes of the last century that looked after thousands of vulnerable children, have not been able to provide one completed logbook that includes punishment records, despite it being in the organisation’s rules, or standing orders.

The inquiry also heard house fathers and mothers were not necessarily trained or had any qualifications until the 1960s.

Alice Harper, Quarriers chief executive, said that the only requirement was that the couples or individuals had “Christian values and a love of and an interest in children”.

The village of about 43 cottages first opened in 1878 and was later named after its founder William Quarrier.

Many of the children were also send abroad.

There was no formal interview process for house parents at one stage, but perhaps a reference from doctor or clergyman would aid employment.

An empty logbook of a kind used between and 1958 and 1988 which required details of punishments given to children was given to the inquiry but none was available from this entire period.

No records of inspections were available.

James Peoples said: “Is there any evidence that the organisation at any stage took an organisational decision to not retain those records, this particular form of records, like logbooks and punishment books?”

She said: “We have not been able to find any evidence that there 15 has been an instruction to destroy the records.”

Mr Peoples outlined the description in the standing orders at one point of “the objectionable habits of children who are bed wetters and soiling their bed and wearing apparel are very difficult to cure.

“The utmost sympathy is felt for the house mothers who have to deal with the consequent inconvenience”.

The rules add: “In dealing with such cases house fathers and house mothers should consider how they would handle the same condition if the children were their own.

A line in bold in updated 1944 rule book directs against making children sleep on rubber sheets.

At its peak in 1930 the village had 43 cottages housing a total of 1400 children in total.

The inquiry continues.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15375525.Children_had_to_bow_and_salute_to_care_home_staff/

Plea from headteacher to 3,000 former pupils: Did you suffer child abuse at Gordonstoun?

Posted in #PaedoUK, csa inquiry scotland, Scotland, SNPbad, UK3 Comments

A prestigious school rocked by child abuse allegations has contacted more than 3,000 former pupils in an effort to uncover historic offences.

Allegations of Gordonstoun pupils being abused first became public two years ago. A number of ex-pupils at its junior school, Aberlour House, claimed they were preyed on by teachers during the 1980s and early 1990s. 

Since then, staff have been helping police with their investigation.

And now it has emerged the school has been in touch with thousands of former pupils to ask them to report any abuse they may have suffered while studying there.

Principal Lisa Kerr said it was important to “learn the lessons of the past” in order to ensure the abuse never happened again.

She said: “We have been incredibly proactive in contacting our alumni and saying ‘if you had a bad experience please come forward’.

“If things happened which were criminal, we want them reported to the police, and investigating officers have been very supportive.”

Gordonstoun – where several members of the Royal family have studied – is one of several independent schools in Scotland named by judge Lady Smith, who is conducting a national inquiry into historical abuse.

Writing in the most recent alumni magazine, the school’s chairwoman, Eve Poole, expressed her support for the Scottish abuse inquiry and included its contact details.

Historic sex abuse allegations were first made against the school on a private Facebook page set up by former students, and became public in 2015.

One student claimed she was raped as a 12-year-old on a school camping trip, while another claimed he was assaulted in his dormitory at Aberlour House in 1990 after getting injured in a rugby game.

Now school bosses say there are measures in place to ensure any evidence of bullying or abuse will be immediately detected.

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But Ms Kerr said that its leaders needed to know about events of the past to ensure they were not repeated.

She added: “There is not an organisation in the country that could not put its hand on its heart and say things had happened in the past which they wish did not.

“That’s a matter for sadness and regret in society as a whole.

“What we are doing here is giving as much attention and care to people who did not have a happy time in the past as pupils in our care do today.

“For us, it’s not about trying to brush anything under the carpet, it is quite the opposite.

“We cannot give the kind of care we have here today if we try to pretend that the past did not happen, we have to be open about it.

“I am determined to do that, and I hope it will give people the confidence to come forward.”

Ms Kerr, who was appointed last year as Gordonstoun’s first female principal, said she is proud of the support and care given to students at the school today.

A computer system allows information to be shared about any pupil who may be showing signs of distress or “unusual behaviour”.

Each pupil is assigned a staff supervisor, a group leader, a child protection officer and student counsellor – a system that has been approved by the Care Inspectorate.

The school, founded in 1934, taught Prince Charles and brothers Andrew and Edward, along with other members of the royal family.

Former pupils also include Lossiemouth’s Olympic gold medal-winning rower Heather Stanning.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/moray/1275544/gordonstoun-contacts-3000-pupils-amid-child-abuse-claims/

PRESS & JOURNAL 26th June 2017

Yet they believe in God?! #Smyllum #Lanark

Posted in #PaedoUK, csa inquiry scotland, Scotland4 Comments

Presumably they have evidence that PROVES his existance… 

 

Heart-rending allegations of decades of maltreatment at Lanark’s former Smyllum Orphanage featured in the very first sitting of what will be a marathon inquiry into historical child abuse in Scotland.

Nearly four decades after the institution closed its doors, the now-ageing former occupants of the orphanage finally had their long-awaited day in court as the Scottish child abuse inquiry got under way in Edinburgh last week.

 

But it is understood that there is anger among those who term themselves ‘survivors’ of Smyllum Orphanage at some of the evidence given at the hearing by members of the religious order that ran the institution, the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.

 

There were audible groans from the public benches at their claims that Smyllum’s punishment and medical records could not now be found despite a search of the order’s archives.

 

The inquiry also heard that surviving nuns on the staff remembered the orphanage as “a happy place”.

The leader of the order in Britain, Ellen Flynn, said that they “can find no evidence” of any abuse of children in their care in Lanark, only conceding that she was “appalled to think something had happened” and was “very sorry” if any of the many allegations were true.

She also remarked that the now-elderly Smyllum nuns were “nervous” about the inquiry into alleged events there in the 1950s and 1960s, including a claim that one child died after a beating by a sister.

Sister Flynn said that accusations of abuse had been made against “a deceased individual” and that her order had co-operated with all police investigations, adding that “our attitude is one of seeking the truth”.

Some of the evidence heard at the opening hearing came from beyond the grave.

It was in the form of the written testimony of Frank Docherty, who died aged 73 shortly before the inquiry he’d sought for decades finally got under way.

A Smyllum orphan in the 1950s, he said his time there had left lifelong scars.

He wrote: “The way we were treated took away our self-esteem and was emotionally damaging. Throughout my life, I have had to put up a front to people, so people have not seen the real me.

“My childhood was taken away from me.”

The initial six weeks of the inquiry, set up by the Scottish Government, will hear evidence from organisations accused of abuse.  http://www.carlukegazette.co.uk/news/nuns-could-find-no-evidence-of-abuse-at-smyllum-lanark-1-4482570

https://archive.is/3E9PF

The need for truth and apologies

Posted in #PaedoUK, csa inquiry scotland, Scotland1 Comment

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The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is now underway to the point where Lady Smith, the Chair, is hearing witnesses on behalf of different organisations involved in residential child care in Scotland within living memory. Many organisations within Scotland have been asked to report to the Inquiry and to give details about their involvement in such care, the Church is among them.

At the moment, the Inquiry seems to be examining the broad picture and learning about structures and how children came to be under the care of different establishments.

The work of the Inquiry will be complex and lengthy and will inevitably involve difficult press coverage for the Catholic Community. For that reason, I hoped that the Catholic Media would be a great resource in explaining the evidence given to the Inquiry in a way which helped Catholics understand the truth. I found myself fundamentally disagreeing with the angle which last week’s SCO used in covering the story of my testimony to that Inquiry. This article is designed to help clarify the story.

From the beginning, the Bishops of Scotland have been unanimous in their desire to assist and cooperate with the Inquiry and created a group which would prepare materials and respond on the bishops’ behalf. As a member of that group, I found myself standing in the Inquiry’s hearing room recently, raising my hand and swearing to tell the truth. Unfortunately, the SCO headline and story was presented last week, didn’t serve the complexity of the truth I tried to tell.

The Church in Scotland has apologised for the fact that children in our care suffered abuse, an apology re-expressed in our opening statement, acknowledging “An overwhelming sense of shame that these abhorrent crimes have occurred in the context of the Church” a sense of shame, “felt by all Catholics, by our men and women in parishes, by our religious, by our priests and deacons and by our bishops.” To understand how we came to this state of shame is important; we need to be open to examining all the aspects of the story and not looking for a one-size-fits-all theory.

In the context of discussing the way the Church handled accusations of abuse I was asked to reflect on a document issued by the Holy See in 1962 describing a process for dealing with such allegations. The responsibility to deal with this was the bishop’s and he was to do so by means of a Tribunal a “Church Court”. The world was changing and the Church was being asked to change too. The Church sought to engage with the modern world and to both learn from it and teach it. In the context of that opening out into the world, bishops began to use experts to advise on many matters they had handled on their own in the past. This advice included experts in psychology and therapy and they learned that many professionals believed that therapy could help and assist a person to reform and not reoffend. Since the bishops were not experts in psychology or therapy and the Church by her very nature sought to redeem and to save people, to turn them away from sin and back to God, this was welcomed. As Brother Brendan Geary noted in last week’s article, there was a mistaken belief, held very widely, that an abuser could be changed. It would take the world and the Church many years to discover how wrong that idea was. When faced with the choice of placing an abuser on trial before three Canonical (priest) Judges who had no formation in psychology or psychiatry or placing them into long term intensive therapy with experts guiding them to “change their ways”, the answer seemed obvious. It was equally obvious to the legal authorities, that on occasion that this was the appropriate response to a reported crime.

Nowadays it is obvious that abusers do not change, they are incurable and cannot be trusted, sadly and tragically that was only learned over time. It was not only the Church that learned this, but society too, as an ever-increasing knowledge was developed of the psychology of abuse and abusers.

If the Church made mistakes, as is willingly but sadly admitted, it did not make those mistakes out of malice or carelessness but rather in the hope of seeking to restore, repair, save. That is not meant as an excuse, but rather to cast a light on the truth and help us understand what happened. It does not make the pain and the suffering of an abused person any less real or any less inexcusable. It certainly does not mean as the headline claimed last week, that “Vatican II reforms contributed to child abuse mistakes.”

What if the Church had continued to use Tribunals through the 60s, 70s and 80s, and sentence abusers to a penalty that did not include therapy? Could we say that children would have been any safer, that things would have been different? I don’t think we could. It was not the reforms of Vatican II that caused mistakes – it was bad people doing horrible, evil things to innocents, it was superiors trying, with the best possible advice available at the time, to reform and change them. That was a mistake we made and that is why we needed to apologise, to those who suffered.

http://www.sconews.co.uk/opinion/53419/the-need-for-truth-and-apologies/

‘Systemic failures’ let priests abuse boys at Fife school

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The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry heard safeguarding measures put in place by the Christian Brothers at St Ninian’s school in Fife fell “well short” of what would be expected today. 

Last year two former teachers were jailed for a total of 15 years after being convicted of the physical and sexual abuse of boys in their care.

Appearing before the inquiry in Edinburgh on behalf of the Christian Brothers, Michael Madigan said the congregation acknowledged with “deepest regret” that children had been abused. 

Mr Madigan said priests had been allowed unaccompanied access to boys despite a warning in the “Chastity” section of a 1946 report which discouraged Brothers from spending time alone with children. 

He said dormitories at the school were often supervised during the night by just one Brother and said the disappearance of log books for the period 1976-83 – when much of the abuse took place – was “mystifying”. 

One priest, now dead, had been removed from the school and later relieved of his vows in the 1960s because he “could not be trusted with children”. 

The inquiry, before Lady Smith, heard that 858 boys passed through the school between 1958 and its closure in 1983.

A total of 35 former pupils came forward with allegations against five members of staff ahead of last year’s trial, but only two men were convicted. 

Former headmaster John Farrell was jailed for five years and Paul Kelly for 10 years for abusing boys aged between 11 and 15 between 1979 and 1983. 

Mr Madigan said the congregation acknowledged there had been “systemic failures” and had not done enough to protect children. 

He added: “By today’s standards, certainly, we would have fallen well short of what was deemed desirable.” 

Mr Madigan, who was asked by the Christian Brothers to compile a report for the inquiry, said log books detailing physical punishments at St Ninian’s were held in the congregation’s archives in Dublin. 

But he said the records were “scant” for the period 1973-76 and non-existent for the period 1976-83. The inquiry heard a constitution published by the Christian Brothers in 1946 had discouraged priests from spending time alone with children in their care. 

Asked why that was the case, Mr Madigan said: “The risk of temptation to molest the pupils. Unfortunately, a lot of experience would have borne that out.” 

The inquiry continues.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/systemic-failures-let-priests-abuse-boys-at-fife-school-1-4482427      http://archive.is/Eyft7

 

 

Scottish Paedophilia: Institutions, Care Homes, Schools & PaedoRings

 

 

 

 

 

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