DETECTIVES leading the country's biggest investigation into historic
sex abuse confirmed last night that they have interviewed 30 former
members of staff at the North-East detention centre where young people
say they were preyed on with no chance of escape.
And they revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service will decide in
the next few months whether or not to bring criminal charges against
staff who ran the notorious Medomsley Detention Centre, near
Consett.
A total of 1,254 victims have come forward to tell Durham Police that
they were physically or sexually abused over a 30-year period.
The centre gained public notoriety when guard Neville Husband and
accomplice Leslie Johnson were jailed for a reign of terror which saw
them commit sex attacks on vulnerable young men, many of whom were
briefly locked up for offences which would nowadays be dealt with by
community orders.
Both men have since died.
One trainee was sexually abused after having a bread knife held to his
throat, another was attacked after he stole marzipan and icing from a
store.
Husband and storeman Johnson's offending led Durham Police to launch
Operation Seabrook, a huge investigation which has seen retired
detectives brought back in to help with the in-depth inquiry.
Medomsley closed in 1988 and detectives have since traced former staff members who ran the centre.
Durham Police said it had interviewed 30 former prison officers,
members of staff or governors. Two of the 30 were arrested on suspicion
of physical and sexual assaults.
The investigative phase has finished, and senior figures are in
consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service and legal counsel about
bringing charges in 2016.
Detective Superintendent Paul Goundry, who has led the two-year
investigation, said recently: "The aim is once this is finished it's
finished forever, we have to do it right, this investigation has to be
meticulous."
Lawyer David Greenwood, a specialist in the rights of survivors of
sexual abuse, who represents some of the Medomsley victims had no
criticism of the police.
"The commitment shown by Paul Goundry and his officers has been really first class," he said.
"I think they are doing a tremendous job.
"The scale of the inquiry just demonstrates how badly things can go wrong with institutional failures.
"This has not happened just at Medomsley, it can happen in local
authorities, churches, prisons and hospitals around the country."
Mr Greenwood, who works for West Yorkshire firm Switalskis, welcomed
the fact that Medomsley would be included in the Goddard Inquiry, the
national, independent investigation into child abuse, led by Dame Lowell
Goddard QC.
He said: "Her inquiry has the power to get to the heart of allegations of collusion."
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