Tuesday 28 January 2014

Medomsley abuse police inquiry flooded with more calls


The Northern Echo: Photograph of the Author

The Northern Echo: Medomsley abuse police inquiry flooded with more calls  
Medomsley abuse police inquiry flooded with more calls 
 
POLICE investigating abuse claims at a North-East detention centre have been flooded with calls following renewed publicity about the scandal.

Durham Police said 108 calls were made after a report in The Northern Echo and a BBC Inside Out documentary on Medomsely Detention Centre aired on Monday night.

Detective Superintendent Paul Goundry who is leading the inquiry codenamed Operation Seabrook, said: “While we expect the vast majority will be victims who have not previously come forward, we cannot give a precise figure until they have been spoken to by the detectives working on the investigation.

“Some might be witnesses, for example, or people who were not inmates at Medomsley, but may have information.

“As we have always said, we cannot be happy that so many people suffered abuse while inmates at Medomsley, but we are pleased they have had the courage and the confidence in us to make contact.
“This also allows us to offer practical help and support to those who want it.”

A previous police investigation led to the conviction of prison officer Neville Husband, who was jailed for ten years for sexually abusing several teenagers at the former detention centre, near Consett, County Durham. He died of natural causes in 2010 after being released from prison.

Since the case was reopened in August, 143 more people have claimed they were victims of sexual or physical abuse at Medomsley from the late 1970s to 1980s – this is expected to increase following the latest calls.

Durham Police have established a support network including Rape Crisis, The Meadows Sexual Assault Referral Centre and the NSPCC – and has now called in sexualised trauma expert and psychotherapist Zoe Lodrik to make a video for victims.

Ms Lodrick said: “Experiences of violence, brutality, sexual abuse and rape are profoundly traumatic. 
“When those experiences take place in an environment of captivity they are especially so.
“Victims rarely react the way they might expect.

"Shock, horror and normal human survival reactions will frequently result in a passive defensive reaction.
“The mismatch between the victims' perception of what the victim would, or could, have done and what they actually did often compounds feelings of guilt and shame.

“More so if the abuse is cumulative and the victim reacts with passivity to each subsequent assault.”
She added: “Detective Superintendent Paul Goundry has invited me to Durham to make a short video to help those who were abused within Medomsley better understand their responses at the time, with the hope that with understanding some of the survivors will begin to let go of the guilt and shame they may have carried for decades."

Anyone with information should contact 101, visit a page set up on durham.police.uk or call The Meadows on 0191-301-8554. In crisis contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808-800-5000.

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Medomsley Detention Centre: More than 100 calls after TV report

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Police have received 108 calls offering information after a BBC programme about sexual abuse at a former County Durham detention centre was broadcast.

More than 140 people have already claimed they were abused at Medomsley Juvenile Detention Centre in the 1970s and 1980s.

Two members of staff at the centre were jailed in 2003 and 2005 over the abuse.

On Monday, Inside Out North East heard from more alleged victims who had contacted the authorities since then.

'Break my leg'
  In the programme, one man, who did not wish to be named and whose identity is protected, said some boys would go to great lengths to get away.

"Some of the boys would lay at the bottom of the stairs and ask another boy to jump off the stairs on to their legs so they could break a leg and be removed from Medomsley Detention Centre in order to not be subjected to any more beatings," he said.

The centre closed in 1988 after the abuse came to light, but has since reopened as a secure training unit.
Neville Husband, who worked at the detention centre as a prison officer, was jailed for 12 years in 2003, and Leslie Johnson, a store man, was sentenced to six years in 2005.
Both men have since died.

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Abuse inquiry welcomed


Stef Lach 








A SCOT who claims he was a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a notorious borstal officer has succeeded in his campaign to convince police to investigate allegations of a cover-up at a detention centre.

Detectives in England are investigating the alleged cover-up of abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre in County Durham, during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Medomsley first made national headlines in 2003 when Neville Husband, an officer there, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for raping several teenagers.

In 2012, East Kilbride man John McCabe, now 49, broke his 30-year silence on the abuse he suffered as a 17-year-old at the hands of Husband in an interview with the Evening Times.

He called for a full investigation into the abuse and the alleged cover-up, despite Husband having died in 2010.

On the news that Durham Police are looking into the alleged cover-up, Mr McCabe said: "It took me a long time to come to terms with the events that took place at Medomsley when I was a young man.

"I had to live with the shame and the humiliation of those memories every hour of every day.

"But with the support of my family I found the courage to speak out about what happened in that place and to search for justice not just for me, but for the many victims.

"I went to my local MP, Michael McCann, for help and with his complete support, our campaign to have the Medomsley investigation re-opened succeeded.

"I've given the police everything I know but I also know that our calls for witnesses to come forward have led to nearly 150 victims contacting the police and telling their stories, many for the first time. The police must now be left to get on with their work."

Durham's Chief Constable, Mike Barton, pledged all the allegations would be thoroughly investigated.
stef.lach@eveningtimes.co.uk

Source

The following statements have been forwarded to both Durham Constabulary and Press Media.

John McCabe said, “It took me a long time to come to terms with the events that took place at Medomsley when I was a young man.
“I had to live with the shame and the humiliation of those memories every hour of every day.

“But with the support of my family I found the courage to speak out about what happened in that place and to search for justice not just for me, but for the many victims.

“I went to my local  MP Michael McCann for help and with his complete support our campaign to have the Medomsley investigation re-opened succeeded.

“A team of detectives are now deployed on this case.
“I’ve given the Police everything I know but I also know that our calls for witnesses to come forward have led to nearly 180 victims contacting the Police and telling their stories, many for the first time.
“I salute their bravery.
“The Police must now be left to get on with their work and I believe they will be able to secure the information they need to allow them to pursue prosecutions.
Michael McCann MP said, “John and I have been kept informed of developments by Durham Police.
“The resources that have been dedicated to this investigation mean that there is a real opportunity to secure convictions.
“There will be many people across the country who participated in this abuse who will be having sleepless nights, waiting for a chap at the door from the authorities.
“They probably thought that after all these years they had gotten away with their crimes.
“But thanks to John McCabe and his fight for justice they‘ll have to account for their actions.
“They deserve to go through that anxiety but their fears can’t come close to comparisons with the terror they instilled in their young victims.
“Justice will be done but we are mindful that proper judicial processes must be followed to secure convictions and we will therefore be allowing the Police to get on with their work.
“Successful convictions are far more important than a BBC documentary.”

Investigation into Medomsley Detention Centre abuse cover-up claims


York Press: Photograph of the Author

York Press: Kevin Young 
  Kevin Young
AN investigation into claims of a cover-up has been launched after more than 140 people contacted police over abuse at a detention centre.

Police have been inundated with allegations of physical and sexual abuse at the Medomsley Detention Centre, near Consett, during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The centre first made national headlines in 2003 when Neville Husband, an officer at Medomsley, was sentenced to ten years in jail for serious sexual assaults on several teenagers in the 1970s and 80s, including York campaigner Kevin Young.

Mr Young has previously spoken publicly of the trauma he suffered after being sent to Medomsley in 1977 after being convicted of receiving stolen property. He has spent much of the last decade campaigning for justice.

Detective Superintendent Paul Goundry, who is leading the latest inquiry into the detention centre, codenamed Operation Seabrook, said: “There are claims that there was cover-up that went right to the top and that Husband couldn’t have continued the abuse without others either turning a blind eye or helping.

“How far up it went, and whether or not people turned a blind eye and were complicit in it, is a clear line of inquiry for this investigation.”

After serving his sentence, Husband, a disgraced United Reformed Minister, died of natural causes at his home in 2010.

The investigation was renewed last August. It has since become the largest inquiry of its kind, with about 80 officers involved, along with a support network– including Rape Crisis, The Meadows Sexual Assault Referral Centre and the NSPCC.

Det Supt Goundry said about half of the new victims alleged physical abuse “far beyond what was meant by a short, sharp shock”. The remainder claimed sexual abuse – the bulk of whom said they had been been abused by Husband.

The Press reported in 2007 how Mr Young battled to get over the catalogue of sexual and physical abuse he suffered while being moved between up to 50 different care homes and institutions as a child.

When he grew up, he put the past behind him and built up a security business, but his life went into a nosedive when two days before Christmas in 1996, he had a chance encounter with Husband in the street.
In 2003 he started legal action against the Home Office and Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds), which ran the institutions where he was abused.

In 2008 the Law Lords ruled in favour of Kevin Young, allowing him and several other attack victims, to sue for damages, years afterwards.

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TV report into detention centre draws significant response

11:08pm Monday 27th January 2014 in News
A TELEVISION investigation into abuse claims at a North-East detention centre drew a significant response, it was reported tonight.

About 50 new allegations were made to police after the BBC Inside Out report into Medomsley Detention Centre aired this evening.

Detectives announced in August they were starting a new investigation into allegations young men sent to the centre near, Consett, County Durham, were abused by staff.

Since then, 143 people have reported they had been victims of sexual or physical abuse at the centre between the late 1960s and mid-1980s, but that number now seems likely to increase.

In 2003, a previous police investigation called Operation Halter led to the conviction of Neville Husband, a prison officer at the centre.

Husband was initially jailed for eight years after being found guilty of abusing five youngsters.

The publicity surrounding the trial then led to others coming forward and Husband was subsequently jailed for a further two years for these attacks.

After being released from prison he died from natural causes in 2010.

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