The Monster of Medomsley: 11/15/14

Saturday 15 November 2014

Operation Seabrook - Medomsley Detention Centre Updates!

Operation Seabrook - Medomsley Detention Centre

17/12/2014

‘Operation Seabrook’ is the criminal investigation into allegations of sexual and physical abuse perpetrated by staff against detainees at Medomsley Detention Centre near Consett, County Durham.

It was launched in August 2013 and is investigating abuse which happened over a period of many years, principally the 1970's and 1980's.

The 'Seabrook' team has now heard from more than 950 former inmates at Medomsley who have reported they were abused while detained at the centre during those years.

A BBC 'Inside Out' programme on the case was broadcast at the end of January 2014 and remains available to view via the BBC website.

The Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) is Det Supt Paul Goundry, with Det Chief Insp Brad Howe as the deputy SIO. Marian Garland, a former detective has been appointed victim co-ordinator and can be contacted directly via marian.garland@durham.pnn.police.uk

Numerous lines of inquiry have been undertaken to identify those responsible for offences at Medomsley who are still alive, and detectives are now in the process of carrying out interviews with a number of former prison officers and members of staff. This process is expected to last until late January 2015.

Durham Constabulary is working with various organisations to provide the best possible support for victims. Access to support is available without the need to contact the police for those who feel unable to do so.

Independent Psychotherapist Zoe Lodrick

The following organisations can be contacted independently of the police for support .

NSPCC FREEPHONE HELPLINE (24 hrs): 0808 800 5000

National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

The helpline is available for anyone who has concerns about a child or anyone including adults who wish to discuss their own experience of abuse as a child or young person.

Contact can also be made via e mail : help@nspcc.org.uk or by text 88858
Contact can be made anonymously if the caller so wishes.

NAPAC
National Association for People Abused in Childhood

Freephone from all landlines and mobile networks 0808 801 0331.

Calls do not show on your bill; lines are open 10am to 9pm Monday - Thursday, and 10am to 6pm on Friday. NAPAC is unable to take messages or ring back.

The Meadows:
The Meadows Sexual Assault Referral Centre (Darlington and Co Durham) 0191 301 8554

The Meadows will accept calls between the hours of 9am-3.30 pm Monday to Friday and can arrange one-to-one counselling sessions and can make referrals to similar centres throughout the UK.

Counselling does not involve discussing what has happened in relation to the assault, it aims to help you work through your feelings to aid the healing process.

Staff at the Meadows will not contact the police without your consent unless there are current concerns in respect of a child or vulnerable adult.

Police start investigation into historic allegations of abuse of young inmates by warders

Launched Operation Seabrook (12811630)

First published Thursday 13 November 2014 in Consett News

DETECTIVES have begun interviewing former prison officers over allegations that young inmates were physically and sexually abused.

Since August 2013, 915 men have told police that as teenagers they were abused at Medomsley Detention Centre, near Consett, County Durham, between the 1960s and 1988, when the centre closed.

Durham Police launched Operation Seabrook to investigate the claims.

Around 300 have alleged they were assaulted by Neville Husband and Leslie Johnson, former Medomsley officers who have since died. Both were convicted after an investigation in the early 2000s.

Since last Thursday four men have been invited to attend formal interviews under caution at Durham and Consett police stations by the Seabrook team.

All were prison officers at Medomsley at differing times during the 1970s and 1980s and have since retired.

They were not arrested but may be interviewed again.

Det Supt Paul Goundry, who is leading Operation Seabrook, said: “Our initial priority was to gain a full understanding of how Medomsley Detention Centre operated during that time.

“We also needed to make counselling and professional support available to anyone who needed help, and I am really pleased that almost 200 victims have taken up this offer.

“Many of those who have contacted us had never revealed to anyone else what had happened to them at Medomsley all those years ago.

“It has been a traumatic experience for some, and I appreciate their courage in coming forward and making that initial call.

“A principal aim was to identify a number of people we needed to speak to about the allegations that have been made.

“The actions we are now taking are crucial to that aspect of the operation, and there are a number of other former employees we will be making contact with over the next few weeks.

“We have been liaising with the Prison Officers Association (POA) over the last few months and anyone we interview is made aware of the legal support the POA can provide.

“There is still a huge amount of work which has to be done and we are in close contact with the Crown Prosecution Service, who ultimately will decide if there are grounds to charge individuals with criminal offences.”

Up to 70 detectives from the major crime and safeguarding teams have been involved in Operation Seabrook.

Counselling and support for Medomsley victims is available via the local Sexual Assault Referral Centre, known as The Meadows, 0191-301 8554.

Source

Former prison staff are questioned by police in connection with Medomsley abuse claims

Four former prison workers have been questioned by
Durham Police detectives

Medomsley Detention Centre in County Durham

Detectives probing allegations of abuse on inmates at a young offenders’ centre have begun interviewing former members of prison staff.

A new investigation into alleged violent and sexual attacks at Medomsley Detention Centre, near Consett, was launched by Durham Police last year.

It centres around the abuse of detainees in their late teens who were held at the Home Office-run centre between 1960, and when it closed in 1988.

Previous police investigations in 2003 and 2005 led to the conviction and jailing of former staff members Neville Husband and Leslie Johnson, who have since died.

But since the new probe, codenamed ‘Operation Seabrook’ was launched a staggering 915 men have contacted police to say they had been either physically or sexually abused at Medomsley. But just a third of these say they were abused by either Johnson or Husband.

Last week detectives began interviewing four more men, all of which attended police stations voluntarily and were formally interviewed under caution. All were prison officers at Medomsley at different times during the 1970s and 1980s.

Det Supt Paul Goundry said: “Our initial priority was to gain a full understanding of how Medomsley Detention Centre operated during that time. We also needed to make counselling and professional support available to anyone who needed help. A principal aim was to identify a number of people we needed to speak to about the allegations that have been made. The actions we are now taking are crucial to that aspect of the operation, and there are a number of other former employees we will be making contact with over the next few weeks.”

Source

Medomsley Detention Centre Abuse: Officers Questioned as 900 Alleged Victims Come Forward

By Ewan Palmer

November 13, 2014 17:00 GMT

Neville Husband was jailed in 2003 for sexual abuse while working as a prison officer at Medomsley detention centre(Durham Police)

Police investigating claims of sexual and physical abuse at a young offender's institution in Durham have started to question four former members of staff.

The investigation into Medomsley Detention Centre, near Consett - named Operation Seabrook - was launched last August following allegations by former inmates at the detention centre from the 1960s to when Medomsley was closed in 1988.

Previous police investigations in 2003 and 2005 led to the conviction of former Medomsley staff workers Neville Husband and Leslie Johnson, both of who have since died.

Since Operation Seabrook was launched, a total of 915 former inmates at the centre have come forward with allegations of sexual or physical abuse, one-third of whom say they were sexually assaulted by either Husband or Johnson.

Four men have now been questioned, but not arrested, by police after voluntarily attending police stations in either Durham or Consett.

All four men were prison officers at Medomsley at different times during the 1970s and 1980s and have since retired. They were free to leave, but warned they could be questioned again in the future.
Det Supt Paul Goundry, of Durham Constabulary, praised the "courage" of the alleged victims in coming forward and said nearly 200 out of 915 of them had taken up the force's offer of counselling and professional support.

He added: "Many of those who have contacted us had never revealed to anyone else what had happened to them at Medomsley all those years ago. It has been a traumatic experience for some, and I appreciate their courage in coming forward and making that initial call.

"A principal aim was to identify a number of people we needed to speak to about the allegations that have been made. The actions we are now taking are crucial to that aspect of the operation, and there are a number of other former employees we will be making contact with over the next few weeks.

"We have been liaising with the Prison Officers Association over the last few months and anyone we interview is made aware of the legal support the POA can provide.

"There is still a huge amount of work which has to be done and we are in close contact with the Crown Prosecution Service, who ultimately will decide if there are grounds to charge individuals with criminal offences."

Source

Former prison officers questioned over alleged abuse at Medomsley borstal

Press Association
The Guardian, Thursday 13 November 2014 23.24 GMT

Police are investigating claims of historical abuse at Medomsley detention centre in County Durham. Photograph: YAY Media AS/Alamy

Police investigating historical sexual and physical abuse at a detention centre have interviewed four retired prison officers under caution, the force has said.

A total of 915 former inmates have come forward to report they were physically or sexually abused by staff at Medomsley detention centre in County Durham.

The men detectives interviewed were ex-officers who worked there during the 1970s and 1980s.
They attended on a voluntary basis, were cautioned but not arrested, Durham police said.

More former prison officers were expected to be interviewed over the coming weeks.

Durham police launched Operation Seabrook in August last year to investigate abuse at the borstal which closed in 1988. Detainees, often sent there for relatively minor offences, typically spent six-to-eight weeks at the Home Office-run centre before being released.

Previous police investigations in 2003 and 2005 led to the conviction and jailing of Neville Husband and Leslie Johnson, former members of staff at the centre who have since died.

Of the 915 men who have come forward to report abuse, around a third said either Husband or Johnson sexually abused them.

DS Paul Goundry, leading the inquiry, said: “Our initial priority was to gain a full understanding of how Medomsley detention centre operated during that time.

“We also needed to make counselling and professional support available to anyone who needed help, and I am really pleased that almost 200 victims have taken up this offer.

“Many of those who have contacted us had never revealed to anyone else what had happened to them at Medomsley all those years ago.

“It has been a traumatic experience for some, and I appreciate their courage in coming forward and making that initial call.

“A principal aim was to identify a number of people we needed to speak to about the allegations that have been made.

“The actions we are now taking are crucial to that aspect of the operation, and there are a number of other former employees we will be making contact with over the next few weeks.

“We have been liaising with the Prison Officers’ Association over the last few months and anyone we interview is made aware of the legal support the POA can provide.

“There is still a huge amount of work which has to be done and we are in close contact with the Crown Prosecution Service, who ultimately will decide if there are grounds to charge individuals with criminal offences.”

Up to 70 detectives from the force’s major crime team and safeguarding teams have been involved in Operation Seabrook.

Source

Medomsley abuse: Durham Police interview former wardens Warders Questioned In UK's Biggest Abuse Probe

Police are set to question up to 100 ex-staff at a youth detention centre after 900 former inmates claimed they were abused.

By Martin Brunt, Crime Correspondent

Police are questioning former warders from a youth detention centre at the heart of Britain's biggest sex abuse investigation.

Sky News understands 22 retired staff, including an ex-governor, are being quizzed after detectives unearthed evidence of an organised paedophile ring targeting the young inmates.

Up to 100 former staff at Medomsley Detention Centre could eventually be questioned as part of the probe, it is thought.

More than 900 men have made accusations of rape, other sex attacks and violence during their time at the Medomsley Detention Centre near Consett, County Durham, in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Det Supt Paul Goundry said: "Many of those who have contacted us had never revealed to anyone else what had happened to them at Medomsley all those years ago.

"It has been a traumatic experience for some, and I appreciate their courage in coming forward and making that initial call."

The suspects are being questioned under caution after volunteering to meet police.
No arrests have been made so far.

Eric Sampson says he was abused at Medomsley at the age of 17 by a prison officer who threatened to kill him if he spoke out.

He told Sky News: "It was worse than a concentration camp. It was ran on violence, Medomsley, it was a hellhole.

"It was the most shocking, horrible place I've ever been in my life."

The historical investigation was launched 15 months ago and 70 police officers are now involved.

It is not the first time the now-closed detention centre has been investigated over allegations of abuse.

In 2003 prison officer Neville Husband, also a church minister, was jailed for sex attacks on five young males.

His sentence was later increased after other victims came forward.

His colleague Leslie Johnson was jailed for similar offences in 2005. Both men are now dead.

At the time they were considered "bad apples", but since then hundreds more former inmates have made allegations before the launch of Operation Seabrook, now thought to the the UK's biggest such investigation.

Michael McCann MP, who was instrumental in prompting the new investigation, said: "The questioning of so many suspects demonstrates that the brave victims are being taken seriously.

"The scale of the abuse is absolutely shocking."

Some victims claim they were taken outside the centre to be abused, suggesting the suspected paedophile ring included other men not connected to Medomsley.

Medomsley abuse: Durham Police interview former wardens

13 November 2014 Last updated at 17:36

One former inmate told the BBC's Danny Savage he would have killed himself if he could because of the abuse at the youth detention centre

Former wardens at a youth detention centre have been interviewed by police investigating claims a paedophile ring operated there.

Allegations of abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre near Consett are being investigated by Durham Police.

More than 900 former inmates have come forward to say they were sexually or physically abused in the 1970s and 80s.

The detective leading the operation said the force would be contacting "a number" of other former employees.

The 2003 jailing of Neville Husband for abusing boys at Medomsley prompted more victims to come forward

"There is still a huge amount of work which has to be done and we are in close contact with the Crown Prosecution Service, who ultimately will decide if there are grounds to charge individuals with criminal offences," Det Supt Paul Goundry said.

The four prison officers, who worked at Medomsley at different times between the 1970s and 1980s, have been formally but voluntarily interviewed by detectives. They have not been arrested.

Danny Savage, North of England correspondent

When a grown man tells you he would have killed himself if he could, during his time at Medomsley, you know that any legal case won't make a huge difference to many of their daily lives.

Things went badly wrong behind the high security fences on a County Durham hilltop decades ago.

Unspeakable things were done to some of those young men - often there for things you would never be jailed for today.

After locking away those painful memories for so long they are now speaking out, hoping for justice.

The investigation was triggered after former prison officer Neville Husband was jailed for eight years in 2003 for abusing five youths.

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

He died in 2010, after being released from prison.

His former colleague Leslie Johnson, who was jailed for six years in 2005 for sexual offences, has also since died.

Police no longer believe the pair were operating alone.

One alleged victim, Stephen Branley, described how the experience had made him suicidal.

"They would punch you in the ribs and in the head, bending your fingers back. I wanted to kill myself," he said.

"If I'd had the chance to get hold of a razor blade I would've done it."

Another alleged victim, who spoke anonymously, previously told the BBC: "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."

Another, Ray Poar, has waived his right to anonymity. He was 17 when he was sent there for stealing biscuits from a factory and said the experience "ruined my life".

He said he was woken up after wetting his bed and was forced to bunny hop naked to the showers.

When he couldn't make it to the showers he was kicked, he said.