Retired cops were called in to help Durham Constabulary with Britain's biggest historic sex abuse investigation
Alan Simpson, who has been looking through the old files at the Chronicle
Detectives working on the UK’s biggest historic sex abuse case have trawled our archives for clues.
More
than more than 1,240 former inmates at Medomsley Denetention Centre
have now come forward to report being physically or sexually abused
while being held at the facility, near Consett, in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
The victims came forward after Durham Constabulary
launched Operation Seabrook, with the aim of establishing exactly what
happened at Medomsley, bringing any surviving offenders to justice, and
making sure victims get the help and support they needed.
And the
scale and complexity of the Seabrook investigation has resulted in the
force bringing back a crack team of experienced retired detectives whose
skills have proved invaluable in the inquiry.
Two former
detectives working on the team last month visited our Newcastle office
to trawl through old articles we had published about Medomsley, which
are held in our library on microfilm.
With the investigation
phase of the operation complete and all surviving main suspects
identified and interviewed, the Seabrook team has now submitted files to
the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and is awaiting advice that will
identify individuals likely to be charged - and which victims may be
required to give evidence.
And Det Supt Paul Goundry, who has led
the two-year investigation, has lifted the lid on the inquiry and told
how the victims’ accounts of horrific abuse have left even the most
hardened long-serving detectives sickened.
He said: “This
investigation is probably one of the most challenging the country has
faced, not just due to the number of victims but also because Medomsley
closed in 1986, which means we are talking about events that occurred
between 30 and 50 years ago.
“The investigation team is made up
of very experienced detectives who have built up close bonds with many
of the victims. Some hardened detectives have been quite traumatised by
the accounts of the victims.” Neville Husband
Operation Seabrook was launched following the convictions of
former prison worker the late Neville Husband, who was jailed 10 years
ago for abusing youngsters at the centre.
The judge in Husband’s
second trial ruled that there would be no further prosecutions against
the convict, however, the case sparked a number of new previously
unknown victims to come forward.
Operation Seabrook has three
aims; To understand how Medomsley operated in the context of the time,
to prosecute any individuals taht committed criminal offences against
detainees during that time and to help any inmates that have suffered
mental health issues as a result of their time at Medomsley.
From the outset, Det Supt Goundry was determined to make sure potential victims were handled with skill and sensitivit.
And to do so he drafted in former Durham Constabulary detectives, with the skills and experienced needed.
“One
of the aims of the investigation from day one was to ensure that this
is the last time an investigation into Medomsley took place, the force
was in it for the long haul,” he said.
“The aim is once this is finished it’s finished forever, we have to do it right, this investigation has to be meticulous.
“We
urged anyone that had been in Medomsley and had suffered or witnessed
abuse to come forward.
The numbers that came forward were not expected,
and from day one we had to make a decision on how the investigation
would be staffed and we decided we wanted it to be Durham Constabulary
officers that would deal with the victims so we did not go for mutual
aid from other forces.
“Durham has great pride in the way it
handles its victims and I wanted to ensure every victom was dealt with
by a Durham Constabulary officer.
“So I obtained authority from
the executive to substantially increase the scale of the team by
employing experienced retired detectives who that the relevant skills to
deal with victims of historic abuse. They have a proven track record
and the relevant skills.”
VIEW GALLERY
Former Det Cons Steve Hedley, who retired from the force
after 25 years, is one of those detectives that chose to come back and
finish what he had started.
The ex-cop, who has 15 years CID
experience and was on the Major Crime Team for 10 years, worked on
Seabrook in the run-up to his retirement.
He felt he wanted to return and see the investigation through.
“I
still wanted to be part of Durham Constabulary and the force gets the
benefit of my experience and I get to do a role which I am trained for,”
he said. “I’m trained in interviewing vulnerable victims and and
children.
“I was involved in the investigation from the start and
it’s a lot to get your head around. And having worked on it from the
beginning I wanted to see it through. “We use all different facets of
our experience from over the years. It’s clearly been a team effort. Not
one person could have done it.”
Steve explained that interviewing the victims required specialist skills.
“A
lot of them haven’t even told their families,” he explained. “So we
have got to be careful with how we make contact with them. We never
cold-called anyone, they had to come to us. Some of them have spent 30
years putting it out their minds.”
And Steve admits he was shocked by some of the things he heard.
“We
have been shocked by the scale of brutality, some of what I have heard
is the most shocking things I have ever heard,” he said. “And a lot of
them have been affected by it throughout their lives.
“At the start what I heard did affect me, but you can’t get emotional, you are there to be professonal and do a job.”
The
Seabrook team expects decisions on prosecutions to be made next year,
but officers are continuing to work tirelessly supporting victims.
Det Supt Goundry added: “I’m conscious of the fact that this has been running for two years, but we have got to get it right.”
Hassockfield training centre closed on 20 November last year but Serco continued to be paid until 9 January, FoI request reveals Serco had managed
Hassockfield training centre since it opened in 1999.
Photograph: Ian Nicholson/PA
A private company that operates prisons for the government has been
paid more than £1m for running an empty secure children’s unit for seven
weeks, the Guardian has learned. Serco,
which operates six prisons in the UK and jails in Australia and New
Zealand, had managed Hassockfield training centre, near Consett, since
it opened in 1999.
Its contract expired last September, but it was extended by the
Ministry of Justice before the unit closed on 20 November last year,
when the remaining children were transferred or released.
However, Serco continued to be paid until 9 January this year. A
freedom of information request revealed the MoJ paid Serco £1.1m for
that seven-week period.
The MoJ defended the payment, saying it had saved money across the
last financial year and the centre had been closed “efficiently”.
But MP Meg Hillier, the chair of the parliamentary public accounts committee, said: “This is right out of Yes Minister.
Even if some of this cost was for security of an empty building it
suggests that there was little planning by the MoJ about what to do once
the last child had left.
“This comes after the fiascos over prisoner tagging overpayments
and the mishandling of the translation services contract. This all
points to the need for the PAC to take a close interest in the MoJ’s
management of taxpayers’ money.”
Hassockfield was one of four secure training centres in England. The
other three – Medway in Kent, Rainsbrook in Northamptonshire and Oakhill
in Milton Keynes – are run by G4S.
The
units were established by the Labour government in 1998 and hold boys
and girls aged 12-17 at an annual cost per child of around £160,000. In
2014-15 Serco was paid £6.4m for running Hassockfield.
In 2004, 14-year-old Adam Rickwood became the youngest child to die
in custody for more than a century when he hanged himself at
Hassockfield. Serco said at the original inquest that the restraint was
lawful, which the coroner upheld. Rickwood’s family appealed that ruling
in the high court, which granted a second inquest in which a jury ruled that unlawful use of force by staff at the centre contributed to the boy deciding to take his own life.
Serco expressed its condolences to Rickwood’s family.
Hassockfield occupied the site of a former detention centre,
Medomsley. In 2003 and 2005, two former staff members were jailed for historical sexual abuse of boys at Medomsley
in the 70s and 80s. Last year, Durham police launched their biggest
investigation, Operation Seabrook, after over a thousand former
detainees at the centre reported allegations of sexual and physical
abuse there.
Carolyne Willow, director of Article 39, a charity which promotes and
protects the the rights of children in institutions, made the FoI
request about costs at Hassockfield. She said: “It cannot be right for
Serco to be given £1.1m for looking after an empty building when
services that help keep children out of prison are facing severe cuts.
“It’s like the bedroom tax in reverse, because here’s a property with
not a single child sleeping in it and the state pays the equivalent of
£154,000 a week to Serco for guarding it.”
An MoJ spokesperson said: “The closure of Hassockfield secure
training centre was concluded efficiently and saved the Youth Justice
Board £1.8m in 2014-15.”
A former WIDNES taxi driver kept an agonising secret for more than 31 years.
It was only when he had children that he decided to reveal the torment that has wrecked his life.
Dad-of-two Raymond Poar, aged 54, has written about the abuse and
neglect he endured at the hands of the late Neville Husband, one of the
most prolific paedophiles in the UK.
He preyed on boys whilst working at the former Medomsley Detention Centre in County Durham.
He was jailed for 10 years decades after victims fought for justice.
Raymond, of Canterbury Road, Ditton, spent five years wrestling with his traumatic memories to compile a book entitled Shame.
He said: “I cried every day when I was writing it.
“It was an agonising journey.
“I was raped, bound and gagged.
“I chose the title because I felt too ashamed to tell anyone what had happened to me.”
Raymond said he ended up in court at 14 for stealing food because his
late parents were unable to look after their eight children.
He said: “There was never any food in the house.
“I loved my mother dearly and I’d do anything to have her back.
“The oldest was 10 when she had eight children. She couldn't cope.”
He was only 17 when he fell prey to Husband whilst working in the borstal kitchens.
Raymond said: “I was young and naive. It was horrendous.
“I have so much anger inside me.”
He received £70,000 compensation but gave it all away.
He said: “It felt wrong. I couldn’t enjoy any of it.”
He tried to take his own life several times.
He has suffered a nervous breakdown and a stroke and is now has epilepsy and is unable to work.
He said he has only survived with support from his wife.
Raymond now wants to raise awareness. He said: “Kids are born with innocence. Parents have got to start taking responsibility.
“Don’t let them end up in care or the judicial system.”
Shame, written under the pseudonym Phil Thomas, is on Amazon Kindle.
“Every single penny is going to help kids who suffer abuse,” said Raymond. “I’m hoping to get it published in paperback.”
Reporting of Abuses at Police Stations when liberated.
To date 14 young lads who were detained at The Medomsley
Detention Centre' During the 1970's and 1980's" Reported horrific
crimes of abuse inflicted against them ! The following sadistic abuses
endured:
Sexual Assault • Sodomy • Rape
Mental Torture • Physical Torture
Physical Assault.
14 Complaints - Not 1" of the Complaints were followed up by the Police Why ?
Each lad was either threatened by the Police' To leave the station or be returned to Medomsley Detention Centre.
Other complaints for reasons only known by the Police were ignored.
These dismissed complaints of the above abuses' Allowed Paedophile's
Within the centre and out with the centre to continue with they're Paedophilia lust for young boys.
The first registered complaint was made at Consett Police Station in 1977'
No action was taken and this allowed Prolific Paedophile's
Neville Husband and Leslie Johnson and others to carry on abusing
hundreds if not thousands of lads for a further
8 years.
I believe in the best interests of Justice !
Each of the 14 complaints' must be fully investigated"
Police Officers and Constabularies who failed to follow up testimonies
from the victims' Must be held accountable and brought to Justice.
Why should they be brought to Justice ?
I believe all are accountable of Perverting the Laws of Justice"
By allowing the above Paedophile's to continue abusing.
Had Consett Police' carried out a live investigation in
1977" All Predators may well have been arrested and removed from the
centre'Which would have allowed fellow detainees who were still detained
and suffering abuse" To give corroborated testimony' to support 1st
complaint.
One Police failure to comply with the Law' Could have been put down to paper work error !
14 failures to comply with the Law passes incompetence !
These failures fall in to Conspiracy to Cover Up' A Network Paedophile Ring by The NE of England's Police Constabularies.
Had Consett Police' carried out they're duty to Protect the Vulnerable
as Sworn by Oath !
Myself and hundreds if not thousands of fellow Survivors /
Victims" Would never have suffered the inhuman abuses carried out
against us against our will.
5 of the 14" Complaints were made at Durham Constabulary HQ.
Durham Constabulary:
Are now carrying out they're 3rd Medomsley Abuse Investigation.
A FORMER senior clergyman has appeared at crown court for the first time in relation to historic sex allegations.
The Venerable George Granville Gibson, who previously served as
Archdeacon of Auckland, one of the leading posts in the Durham diocese
of the Church of England, faces a total of eight charges dating from the
late 1970s and early 80s.
Following an initial hearing at South Durham Magistrates’ Court in Newton Aycliffe,
last month (June 17), district judge Stephen Harmes sent the case
involving the 79-year-old former church minister to Durham Crown Court.
During a short preliminary hearing at the crown court today (Wednesday
July 1), the charges were not put to Mr Gibson, but arrangements were
made for future proceedings in the case.
Anthony Dunne, prosecuting, said the offences related to two
complainants, both of whom were said to be teenagers at the time, on
dates between 1977 and 1983.
“I understand the matters will be completely denied and so a timetable can be set,” said Mr Dunne.
A date of Monday October 5 was agreed for a plea and case management
hearing, when trial defence counsel Andrew Stubbs QC, will be available
to attend.
The trial, to be staged at the court, is expected to run for at least
five days, with a start date agreed for Monday January 11.
Mr Gibson, of West Crescent, Darlington, was initially arrested in
April 2014 and, following lengthy investigations, was charged on May 7
this year.
The charges include three counts of indecent assault and one of buggery on a man aged 16 or over, in Newton Aycliffe, and the Consett area, between 1977 and 78.
He has also been charged with four counts of indecent assault on a
second alleged victim, in Newton Aycliffe, between October 1979 and
October 1983.
Judge Christopher Prince adjourned the hearing and bailed Mr Gibson to return for the October 5 hearing.
Following his previous court appearance the Durham diocese issued a
statement confirming the now retired clergyman was facing historical
sexual abuse offences.
It added: “This matter is being dealt with under judicial process and
so it would not be appropriate for us to comment in any way that may
prejudice that work.
“We will not be making any additional comments or statements on this court case or the circumstances surrounding it.”
During his clerical career, Mr Gibson, a former mining engineer, was a curate in Cullercoats, North Tyneside, vicar in both Cramlington, Northumberland, and Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, before serving as Archdeacon of Auckland from 1993 - 2001
Former County Durham Archdeacon George Granville Gibson
denies eight allegations of historic abuse after he was arrested as part
of Operation Seabrook
Former Darlington and Aycliffe church minister George Granville
Gibson, 79 leaves Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court charged with a
number of historical sexual offences
A former County Durham archdeacon is the first person to appear in court as part of one of the UK’s biggest investigations into historic sex abuse.
George
Granville Gibson, a former Archdeacon of Auckland, has denied eight
counts of sexual assaults against two men dating back to the 1970s and
1980s.
During his appearance before Durham Crown Court
on Wednesday it emerged one of the charges relates to an alleged
indecent assault during a visit to the Medomsley Detension Centre.
Four of the alleged sexual assault charges relate to a man aged 16 or over in Newton Aycliffe and Consett between 1977 and 1978.
Four
further counts relate to alleged indecent assault on a second victim,
in Newton Aycliffe between October 1979 and October 1983.
The
79-year-old, of West Crescent, in Darlington, was arrested as part of
Operation Seabrook in April 2014 and charged in May this year.
Gibson denied all charges when he appeared at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on June 17.
During a hearing at Durham Crown Court on Wednesday he spoke only to confirm his name.
Anthony
Dunne, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was sent to this crown court,
he is suspected of sexual offences against two complainants.
“I understand that the matters will be completely denied.”
Gibson’s defence counsel, Eric Watson, did not offer any further information during the hearing.
Gibson
is due to stand trial in Durham Crown Court on January 11th next year,
and he will next appear in Durham Crown Court on October 5. He was
released on bail.
Operation Seabrook was reopened in
2013 and has seen Durham Police interview 1,180 former inmates of
Meadomsley who have claimed they were abused while detained at the
centre.
Detectives have interviewed 16 former members of staff and arrested two, who have since been released on bail.
