- The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry was set up following a proposal by Senator Francis Le Gresley that was backed by the States in 2011.
- It has been charged with investigating what went wrong in Jerseys care system in the years following 1945.
- It launched in April 2014 and the first public hearings began on 22 July last year.
- It is chaired by Frances Oldham QC, who is joined by by Alyson Leslie, who has led serious case reviews into child abuse, and Professor Sandy Cameron, a former director of social work in Scotland.
- Hearings take place at 11-15 Seaton Place. Anyone who wants to contact the inquiry can email info@jerseycareinquiry.org, write to PO Box 551 St Helier Jersey JE4 8XN or freephone 0800 7350100 from 8.30 am to 7 pm Monday to Friday.
Wednesday 9 September
THE States and the civil service would ‘close ranks’ when faced with criticism which led to the mishandling of a case of two suspected child abusers, according to a former Health Minister.
Ben Shenton, who served as Health Minister for about a year from August 2007, told the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry that the ‘default position’ of the States would be to ‘put the barricade up’ rather than investigate a matter.
He added that the civil service did not respond well to criticism, which meant that improving Children’s Services became difficult.
Mr Shenton, who was elected as a Senator in 2005 and remained in the States until 2011, also told the inquiry that ‘ministers tended to turn into sheep’ once elected and that people would be appointed to positions because of who they were friends with.
The inquiry has previously heard evidence relating to the removal of Alan and Jane Maguire of Blanche Pierre family group home after they were accused of physical abuse. As part of a deal to secure their removal, the Maguires were given a letter thanking them for their work and Mrs Maguire was redeployed elsewhere within the Social Services.
Giving evidence, Mr Shenton said that it was easier for the civil service to ‘close ranks’ rather than properly investigate the allegations against the Maguires.
Asked by inquiry counsel Patrick Sadd what he meant by the States ‘closing ranks’, Mr Shenton, who was not minister at the time the Maguires were removed, said: ‘It means dealing with a matter in a manner which causes the least amount of ructions within the service.
‘It is far easier for the States to pay someone off to make them exit quietly than to have a full-blown criminal investigation or inquiry.
‘The civil service themselves have a cultural problem which exists today where they find it very difficult to take criticism. Instead of taking criticism positively and using it as a sort of robust two-way argument as to how something should be done, they tend to do put the barricade up.
‘It was far easier for them to pay off the Maguires and give them a good reference to move on than it was to actually look at the issues.’
Mr Shenton, who said he supported comments recently by Deputy Jackie Hilton for the introduction of a Children’s Minister, added that he was selected to be Assistant Health Minister by Stuart Syvret because he was ‘not in the pocket of other politicians’ and that generally, ministers would ‘turn into sheep’.
He said: ‘I think Jersey has a unique system of government, where on the face of it you are elected as an independent, but sometimes your progress through the political ranks and where you get to in politics very much depends on who you rub shoulders with and whether you want to move on within establishment circles.
‘Within Children’s Services, when I became Assistant Health Minister, Iris Le Feuvre had been removed as head of the Child Protection Committee. She was not an expert in child protection issues and yet she was appointed to that position because of who she knew and who she hung around with, as opposed to her competency and her professional qualifications.
‘So putting an expert in charge of the Child Protection Committee, which is something Stuart Syvret did, upset a lot of people.’
Tuesday 8 September
A FORMER member of an Education advisory panel claims he was ‘severely reprimanded’ for reporting flaws in the standard of care at Haut de la Garenne.
Keith Barette, who sat on the Education sub-committee for three years in the late 1970s, told the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry yesterday that he may not have had his position on the panel renewed due to his view that the former children’s home should have been closed.
The inquiry, which has recently been on a break from public hearings, resumed yesterday for one week to hear from committee members responsible for the Island’s care homes.
Two former Health Ministers are among those due to give evidence later this week.
The sub-committee was a voluntary panel of members of the public which would make recommendations to the full Education Committee.
Unlike the Education Committee, the sub-committee had no powers to make policy decisions.
However, Mr Barette said that recommendations made by the sub-committee tended to be followed by the committee.
In 1978 Mr Barette was given the job of looking into Haut de la Garenne by the sub-committee.
The two main concerns he raised in his report were that it was too big, meaning that children ‘would feel overwhelmed’, and that the high turnover of staff meant that relationships between the carers and children were constantly changing.
In his report, Mr Barette added that children who behaved badly would receive more attention from staff, which may have caused other children to misbehave.
He said: ‘I had made these observations with Haut de la Garenne not providing an acceptable standard of care for children in this day and age, and I got severely reprimanded for that.
I felt that having made my point and been reprimanded, it would be a difficult thing to pursue.
‘Deputy Anne Baal said to me that the Education Committee took a very dim view of my comments.
‘The full Education Committee wouldn’t accept that Haut de la Garenne didn’t provide a satisfactory level of care.’
He added that he recommended that the home be split into six smaller self-contained units while other arrangements were made, such as professional fostering, which would ultimately lead to the complete closure of the home.
Mr Barette added that he supported the introduction of a ‘professional fostering’, whereby trained carers would be paid to look after children in small groups, but that not enough people came forward for that type of fostering.
He said: ‘I thought it was quite clear that professional fostering should become part of the childcare service in the Island.
‘It seemed obvious to me that if you could have a home environment for children, it was more beneficial than being in a big home like Haut de la Garenne.’
Earlier in the sitting, inquiry chairwoman Frances Oldham repeated comments she had made previously about concerns over the late disclosure of requested documents from various States departments, and said that she would have ‘no hesitation’ in recalling witnesses if necessary as a result of the late documents.
The inquiry was due to continue this morning.
Monday 17 August
THE Law Officers’ Department has hit back at claims that it is hampering the progress of the inquiry into historical child abuse by failing to provide documents in time.
Last week Frances Oldham QC, chairwoman of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, accused States departments, including the Law Officers’ Department, of holding up the investigation by failing to provide important documents in time – if it all.
However, in a strongly worded statement, the department has disputed that claim, saying that it has ‘worked hard with the inquiry to provide everything requested’.
During a hearing last week, Ms Oldham said that some witnesses who have already given evidence may need to be recalled due to the late disclosure of documents. She added that the panel would be seeking written confirmation if the documents did not exist, and said that failure to provide the requested files could lead to ‘adverse inferences being drawn by the inquiry in its final report’.
Responding to the claims, the States say that more than 2,000 documents have been provided, some of which contain hundreds of pages, and the Law Officers say that they were ‘surprised and concerned’ by Ms Oldham’s statement.
A spokesperson for the department said: ‘We do not believe that the Law Officers’ Department has failed to provide any important documents to the inquiry or that any documents have been provided too late for the inquiry to use at the appropriate time.
‘As the inquiry has progressed, requests for the disclosure of specific documents have been received, often with short deadlines. These have been located, reviewed and redacted before being made available to the inquiry. The Law Officers’ Department has worked hard with the inquiry to provide everything requested.
‘The Law Officers’ Department documents are, in the main, relevant to phase two of the inquiry, when the investigation and prosecution of alleged abusers will be under scrutiny. This stage has not yet begun, as Mrs Oldham indicates. During phase two, police officers, lawyers and law officers will be giving their evidence and putting the Law Officers’ Department material into context.
‘The Law Officers remain committed to assisting the swift and efficient progress of this inquiry to its conclusion and have been working closely with the inquiry’s lawyers to this end. The department has written to the inquiry requesting details by return of the documents which they suggest have not been disclosed.’
The inquiry is due to restart the week beginning Monday 8 September for four days, before it will take another break to prepare for the second phase of the investigation, which is expected to begin in early October.
Wednesday 12 August
SCHOOLS would punish children because it was assumed they had behaved badly simply because they were in care, the former manager of a residential home has claimed.
Speaking on Wednesday at the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, Christine Wilson, who ran La Préférence in the 70s and 80s, recalled one occasion when she visited the headmaster of a school and was told that the children were being punished for the things that they had ‘probably done’.
She said she believed that the children would simply be seen as ‘naughty children’ because they were in care. The inquiry heard that Mrs Wilson would ‘constantly be going up to the school’ to ask why children were being caned for things that they said they hadn’t done. She claims that she was told by the headmaster of one school that while the child might not have done that specific thing, ‘they were being caned for all the things they had probably done’.
Mrs Wilson said: ‘They weren’t seen as individuals, and unfortunately the children from Haut de la Garenne and La Préférence at the time went to the same school, so there were even more of them. They were just seen as naughty children.’
She added that she believed that La Préférence provided a more caring and loving environment for the children than some of the other care homes in the Island and said it was designed to be ‘as home-like as possible and as a result there were fewer rules and there was certainly a more relaxed atmosphere’. Mrs Wilson also recalled being invited to a social gathering at Haut de la Garenne by Jim Thomson, then manager of the home, and said that she did not feel comfortable with the amount of alcohol being drunk.
She said: ‘I suppose what I felt was there was too much alcohol being consumed and there were sleeping children and I didn’t think it was appropriate for there to be that sort of social event when there were children around. I did say that I didn’t think it was appropriate to have people who were trying to find toilets when there were children sleeping and I didn’t go again.’
The inquiry was due to continue this morning before taking a break from public hearings until the beginning of September.
Tuesday 11 August
A YOUTH worker went on to abuse a child after the then Attorney General Sir Philip Bailhache failed to report earlier allegations against the man to the police, a former Education director has said.
Speaking at the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry yesterday, John Rodhouse, who was director of Education between 1973 and 1989, said that Sir Philip told him to investigate an allegation of abuse against the volunteer youth worker but not to involve the police.
Mr Rodhouse said that Sir Philip, who went on to be appointed Bailiff and is now the External Relations Minister, had become aware about an allegation of abuse but that the victim’s father did not want any police involvement because of his ‘position’ in the Island.
The former Education Director says that he told Sir Philip that he needed to pass the information on to the police and said that it was Sir Philip’s ‘duty to report it’. But Sir Philip told him that the parents would not co-operate and that they should not involve the force, the inquiry heard.
Mr Rodhouse says he then investigated the claims and the suspect admitted the offence to him and was sacked immediately and blacklisted from working with children.
The man went on to commit another offence against a child – something which Mr Rodhouse says would not have happened if Sir Philip had dealt with the case ‘properly’.
It was not specifically stated whether the abuse was physical or sexual.
Describing Sir Philip’s handling of the initial allegation, he said: ‘There was one instance about which I still feel very uncomfortable. The then Attorney General Philip Bailhache called me to tell me that a named volunteer youth worker had acted improperly with a boy.
‘Philip Bailhache wanted me to investigate and take action. I protested that it was a matter for police but Philip Bailhache said that the parents would not co-operate and that if I did not act nothing would happen.
‘I interviewed the man who admitted the offence and, with the help of the Youth Office, the man was effectively removed from all youth work in Jersey.
‘As far as I was concerned I was caught between the legal authority of the Island in the person of the Attorney General and what I believed to be my professional and moral duty.
‘I have since learned that the man was some time later convicted of a similar offence.’
He added: ‘I believe that if Philip Bailhache had accepted my view that the police should have been involved then there would have not been the other case.
Mr Rodhouse began giving evidence to the inquiry last week, during which he said that Jersey was decades behind the UK at the time of abuse at Haut de la Garenne and that the Island’s politics often prevented change from being made.
Yesterday, Mr Rodhouse apologised to the victims of abuse and said that he was ‘bewildered and deeply concerned’ about the allegations, particularly at Haut de la Garenne.
He said: ‘I have thought hard about my responsibility for what has happened. I trusted the people who worked under me and what I have read so far in the transcripts of this inquiry indicates that my trust was misplaced. I am truly sorry.’
In a brief statement to the JEP, Sir Philip said: ‘I am afraid that I have no recollection of this alleged incident and cannot therefore comment upon it.’
Thursday 6 August
A FORMER Les Chênes care home worker accused of ‘being a bully when drinking, and often drunk while working’ appeared before the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry yesterday.
The man, referred to as Mr Y, who worked at the children’s care home during the 1980s and 1990s, was accused by several witnesses of a series of violent assaults on children.
Mr Y was accused of ‘pinballing’ children by throwing them off walls in the care home, as well as punching, pushing, throwing them to the ground and dragging them by their clothes.
He was also accused of often lifting children by their ears.
A statement from a witness was read to the inquiry which said that on one occasion a child picked up a kitchen knife to defend themselves against one of his attacks and another time Mr Y sat on a child’s chest after pushing him to the ground.
When asked, Mr Y repeatedly denied recalling any of the incidents and said: ‘I would not do anything like that. I am a non-violent person’.
In his defence, he claimed that the witnesses were trying to get revenge against him and some of them might be trying to get compensation claims.
In statements read to the inquiry, it was claimed that Mr Y often attended work under the influence of alcohol and the inquiry was also presented evidence of two formal reprimands he received for doing so.
Meanwhile, one staff member reported in her statement that on one occasion she had taken over driving the care home’s minibus because she had smelt alcohol on Mr Y’s breath. On another occasion he crashed a car with three children in it but he was not breathalysed by the police when it happened.
Another witness statement said: ‘He was a bully when he had been drinking, and he was often drunk while he was working.’
Mr Y admitted that he used to drink before going to work but added that he would not drink during work hours and did not ever regard himself as drunk while at work.
However, when asked by the inquiry panel about his drinking habits, he said: ‘I perhaps did not have the best interests of the children on my mind.’
The inquiry was also read statements from two former staff members, including the headmaster, reporting seeing Mr Y push children against walls.
Earlier in the day, a former senior civil servant in the Health Department, Richard Jouault, appeared before the inquiry.
Mr Jouault was the director of corporate planning and performance management for the Health Department in 2007, at the time Stuart Syvret, who raised concerns about alleged child abuse in Jersey, was the Health Minister.
He said that during a period of illness that year, Mr Syvret changed from being ‘sharp and good to work with’ to ‘distracted’ and highly critical of the department.
Tuesday 4 August
SOCIAL Services failed the Island’s children in the wake of the departure of two former care workers who left a prominent children’s home amid allegations of abuse, says a former manager of the department.
Giving evidence to the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry yesterday, Marnie Baudains, the retired directorate manager of Social Services, admitted that she was surprised when charges against Alan and Jane Maguire were dropped following an investigation in 1997.
The pair left their role as housekeepers at the Blanche Pierre care home in 1990 following allegations of abuse, but Mrs Maguire was kept on in Children’s Services.
Patrick Sadd, counsel to the inquiry, read a statement from Mrs Baudains, who was a child care officer at the time. It said that her and her colleagues were ‘expecting a conviction’ when charges were brought against the Maguires in 1997, and that the service had ‘failed’ children in care.
Asked why she felt that Social
Services had failed, the 63-year-old, who was involved in care services for 26 years until she retired in 2011, said: ‘We failed to care for them properly. I think the fact that we didn’t discover all that had happened to these young people meant that it is quite likely that we didn’t provide them with the appropriate level of care following the Maguires’ departure.’
For the first time, the inquiry
was shown a document which detailed a meeting between Mrs Baudains, the then Attorney General, Sir Michael Birt, police officers and other senior figures involved in the case.
It was during that meeting that Mrs Baudains found out that the charges against the Maguires would not progress any further due to ‘insufficient evidence’.
Mrs Baudains admitted that she ‘would not have dissented from the view that there was insufficient evidence’ because she was sat in a room with senior officials who had a much greater legal standing.
But she added: ‘I was surprised that they said there was not enough evidence, because there were a number of witnesses rather than just one. To put it bluntly, I thought we were on the way.’
Asked if she ever felt there was a reluctance among some of those involved to take the case further, Mrs Baudains said: ‘I don’t think so. All I can say is I have not picked up on that in the past. I know that my police colleagues were keen to see the case go forward.’
Meanwhile, the inquiry was read a statement from Mrs Baudains criticising former Health Minister Stuart Syvret by suggesting that his ‘erroneous’ criticisms of Social Services in 2007 actually ‘increased the risk to children’, as they may have been unwilling to come forward.
Mrs Baudains clarified that she had no problem with criticism being made of the department but felt that it had not been done in the correct way.
‘It wasn’t a criticism of receiving criticism, it was a criticism of misinformed comment in the public arena,’ she said.
The inquiry was due to resume today.
Friday 31 July
A FORMER Children’s Services employee has denied taking any cast member of the popular sitcom Dad’s Army to Haut de la Garenne.
Giving evidence at the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, the man – referred to as Mr K – was yesterday asked by counsel to the inquiry Patrick Sadd whether he had met any of the cast from the BBC programme, which ran from 1968 to 1977.
Mr K said that he had never met any of the cast and certainly had not taken them to the home. It is unclear why the question was asked and there was no suggestion of any allegations against any of the cast.
He said: ‘I can confirm that I have never had contact or met any member or cast member of the TV programme Dad’s Army, or indeed any other popular sitcom.’
The witness also denied two allegations of sexual abuse made against him.
Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon, a man who arranged beach trips for children at Haut de la Garenne has denied allegations that he used them to commit acts of sexual abuse.
The man, referred to as Mr A, told the inquiry panel that he was blackmailed by a former resident for £10,000 and believes that the allegations came after he refused to pay.
Mr A reported the attempted blackmail, which occurred in 2003, to police and the former resident was subsequently convicted.
However, the resident subsequently made allegations that he had been sexually abused by Mr A. The police investigation into the claims was dropped because of a lack of evidence.
The witness, who was not a member of staff at Haut de la Garenne but a regular visitor to the home, also faced allegations from two other former residents that he abused them when taking children out on trips. All the claims were denied by Mr A.
He said: ‘I remain greatly shocked by the allegations made against me, which are wholly unfounded.
‘I thought that I was doing something kind by taking the children out for the day. I thought it would be nice for the children from the home to spend time with people from outside and see how they lived.
‘Knowing what I know now I would certainly never have taken children out by myself. Doing so
made me vulnerable to false allegations
being made against me, which are very difficult to defend.’
The inquiry is due to resume next week.
Wednesday 29 July
THE former head of Children’s Services has said the way he handled a child abuse case could be perceived as a cover-up.
Anton Skinner, who was head of the service between 1986 and 1995, received complaints of physical abuse against children staying at the Blanche Pierre family group home, which was run by Alan and Jane Maguire.
Giving evidence for a second day at the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, Mr Skinner said he responded to the allegations, which were made in 1990, in the manner that he thought best at the time but did not report the case to the police. He yesterday admitted that, with hindsight, mistakes were made.
He told the inquiry that his main priority was to remove the Maguires from the family group home. However, as they were living at the home and denied the allegations, Mr Skinner said that he had to strike a deal with them to ensure they agreed to leave quickly.
He added that while he did not see this as a cover-up, it could be seen as such.
When asked by panel chair Frances Oldham whether the fact that he failed to pass the
information on to the police or open disciplinary proceedings against the Maguires constituted a cover-up, Mr Skinner said: ‘Well, if you are describing that, that would constitute a cover-up, then clearly in those terms it was a cover-up, but not something that I would have seen as a cover-up. It was something I would have seen as trying to deal with a situation as quickly as possible.’
Part of the agreement was to quickly find alternative housing arrangements for the Maguires and to ensure that Mrs Maguire was given another job in Children’s Services. Mr Skinner did this despite believing the allegations that had been made by two members of staff at the home, the inquiry heard.
As a result, the Maguires were left in charge at Blanche Pierre for around two months while the arrangements were made.
On Tuesday, Mr Skinner told the inquiry panel that he did not pass the case on to the police’s Child Protection Team because he wanted to protect the children from having to give evidence.
Yesterday, he said: ‘From the moment those allegations were made my issue was how can I move Alan and Jane Maguire out of the group home?
‘How can I achieve moving them on and their full co-operation and compliance in moving them on without causing more damage to the children?
‘I was trying to get them from a point in which they just wanted to deny everything to a point in which they accepted that they would have to go.
‘That required a great deal of work, effort and sensitivity to deal with that.
‘If what you’re trying to imply is that what I was doing was treating them in a special manner, I was treating them in the manner I felt necessary to accomplish the aims which I had.’
The Maguires were subsequently investigated by police in 1997 and charged with several counts of physical abuse against children. However, the criminal proceedings were dropped a year later due to a lack of evidence.
Another request made by the Maguires upon leaving Blanche Pierre was to receive a letter thanking them for their service. This letter, which was drafted by Mr Skinner, who described the content as ‘balderdash’, was sent to them signed by then president of the Education Committee Iris Le Feuvre.
He said that he believed the letter was simply so that they could have something to show to their family and parish priest.
Mr Skinner said: ‘I didn’t see any great significance with the letter which she was going to show their parish priest or family. I wasn’t giving them a reference for another job.’
Admitting that mistakes were made, Mr Skinner said: ‘Are you saying I was lenient on the Maguires for pursuing this route rather than taking them through a disciplinary route? Then clearly I would have to say yes, with hindsight.’
He was due to continue giving evidence today.
Wednesday 29 July
Child abuse suspects were allowed to foster a child
A COUPLE suspected of child abuse were allowed to foster a girl despite having been removed as the managers of a family group home because of allegations made against them, the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry has heard.
Alan and Jane Maguire ran the residential care home at Blanche Pierre but were removed from the role following allegations of physical abuse against children.
The inquiry yesterday heard that the Maguires subsequently fostered one of the children who had previously been under their care at Blanche Pierre.
Anton Skinner, a former head of Children’s Services, said that ordinarily the allegations that had been made against the Maguires would have precluded them from fostering a child.
However, he told the inquiry that he believed that this child was treated differently to the others at Blanche Pierre and that this was the primary reason that the fostering application was approved.
He added that he believed it was in the best interests of the child to keep her with the Maguires rather than to place her with someone else.
Mr Skinner said: ‘It was a decision made by the officers involved with full discussion with me. It was put to me that quite apart from anything else, the Maguires had raised this infant as their own because of the age at which the infant was placed with them.
‘They treated her like that and the view was that this child would be severely damaged by removing her from the care of Mr and Mrs Maguire due to their special relationship.’
He added: ‘It was put to me that the Maguires had a relationship with this child that was unique to the other children in the home. That child regarded herself as a child of the Maguires.
‘Clearly the Maguires had the commitment to the child because otherwise the child wouldn’t have been placed with them.’
It is unclear whether any of the abuse allegations involved the child in question.
Documents produced during the hearing showed that there was no evidence to suggest that the child had been treated any differently to the other children by the Maguires.
The inquiry heard that in order to remove the Maguires from Blanche Pierre, Mrs Maguire was offered a job elsewhere in Children’s Services and alternative housing was found.
However, Mr Skinner denied that the fostering of
the child was part of a deal to ensure that the Maguires moved on from Blanche Pierre.
He said: ‘It wasn’t part of the initial discussion. Obviously the placement of this child became an issue professionally both for the staff at the Children’s Services and the Maguires.’
Mr Skinner was due to continue giving evidence this morning.
Tuesday 28 July
A FORMER head of Children’s Services said that he chose not to report suspected abuse to the police – because he wanted to spare children the trauma of giving evidence in an investigation.
Speaking at the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, Anton Skinner, who worked at Children’s Services for over 20 years, said that he had been told of allegations of physical abuse carried out by Islanders Alan and Jane Maguire, but that he did not believe the case would get to court without the children having to be interviewed.
Mr Skinner, who worked as a senior child care officer before being appointed children’s officer in 1986, said that he had concerns about the Maguires, who ran a family group home at Le Squez, and that he knew they had to be removed from their position as house parents.
He told the inquiry that other members of staff at Le Squez approached him to make allegations of physical abuse at the home, claiming that they had seen a boy being picked up and thrown across the room and into a wall by Mr Maguire.
Mr Skinner said he spoke to the Maguires but they denied the claims and instead tried to undermine those who had made the allegations.
Despite the allegations, Mr Skinner did not refer the case to the police’s Child Protection Team.
He said: ‘I had a situation in which two members of staff had quite honestly come forward and made some allegations regarding that couple.
‘When I interviewed the couple they were very clear as to the extent of the physical chastisement. So I had a contrary amount of information from both sides as to what had happened.
‘Because we were handling the inquiry and most of the complaints were of parental discipline – discipline which the Maguires were quite certain was ordinary discipline – if I had referred it to the police all of those complaints would have ended up in complete stand-off.
‘You would have had the Maguires saying, “it didn’t happen like that” the staff saying, “it happened like that” then the children, who were very young, would have had to have been engrossed in that, interviewed in detail by the police.
‘I knew enough about child protection at that stage to know that I wanted to protect those children.’
He added: ‘I had a target to achieve which was to remove the Maguires with the least collateral damage to the children in the group home.’
The Maguires were removed from running the family group home a short time later.
The pair went on to appear in the Magistrate’s Court, facing charges of assault in 1997. However, the criminal proceedings were dropped a year later due to a lack of evidence.
Mr Skinner was due to continue giving evidence to the inquiry this morning.
Tuesday 28 July
HAUT de la Garenne was ‘complete chaos’ and was unable to provide adequate care for the children living at the home, the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry has heard.
Anton Skinner, who worked as a child care officer before becoming Children’s Officer in the 1980s, said that the centre was poorly run but that as there were few care alternatives, children continued to be sent to the home.
The inquiry heard that it would be ‘a massive achievement’ for staff to get through a shift without a major incident, and that the drama seen in the home was evident in the ‘chaotic and confrontational behaviour’ of the children.
Mr Skinner said that the home was unable to meet the needs of the children because of its size and the number of residents at the home.
He added that the children would often run away and that on one occasion three girls were sexually abused by a man outside the home but that in situations like that, there was not much the staff could do.
He said: ‘There was no alternative placement for children. The situation had to be managed with
the children remaining at a home that was unable to meet their needs. So you would have constant episodes of children absconding from the home and then getting into
difficulties.
‘This was a constant cycle because there was nowhere else to go with them. There was nothing else to do about it other than manage troubled young people during a period of time in which they were evidencing some of the damage.
‘Every child who had to be removed from home who couldn’t be provided with an alternative family who could give them detailed love and care – every one of those children were failed, of course they were.’
Mr Skinner described the home as ‘complete chaos’ and said that detention rooms would be used on occasion when children returned to the centre.
He added that Haut de la Garenne was ‘a total situation of crisis’ and that residential staff were ‘trying to do their best with these hopeless situations’.
The inquiry is currently in phase 1B of its hearings, during which former members of staff will give evidence.
Friday 11 July
JERSEY is always ‘five to eight years behind the UK’ when it comes to introducing legislation which may benefit children in care, according to a former Children’s Services employee.
Pauline Vautier, who worked for the department at various times between 1978 and 2009, told the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry that she did see improvements in the way that Children’s Services was run throughout her career.
However, she said that any changes to legislation took a long time to implement and added that Jersey lags five to eight years behind the UK.
She said: ‘I can only say that in Jersey it just seems that any new legislation takes a very long time in coming through and for change to come about there needs to be political will, there needs to be legislation and there needs to be resources.
‘Sometimes I think it was very slow for those three underpinning foundations to come into place.’
Mrs Vautier added that in the future, she hoped that more support would be given to care leavers into their mid-20s rather than the current care leaving age of 18.
She also told the inquiry on Thursday that when she first joined Children’s Services, she was given a larger case load than would normally be expected for a newly qualified social worker and was offered very little supervision.
Mrs Vautier said: ‘I think that any newly qualified social worker today, either in England or in Jersey, for the first year of their work, would have a protected case load and enhanced supervision, so they would have less cases and be supported in recognition of the fact that they are a newly qualified worker. I had a case load of 60 cases.’
Thursday 9 July
THE so-called ‘Jersey way’ prevented care workers from doing what was best for children, a former employee at Heathfield has told the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry.
The inquiry has heard several allegations of sexual abuse against ‘Mr V’, including that he engaged in a sexual relationship with a former resident at the home – Witness 216 – and that he was grooming another younger resident. Mr V denies the allegations. He said that by helping the former resident, he left himself open to having allegations made against him.
After Witness 216 reported the alleged abuse, Mr V was questioned by police, was suspended from Heathfield and subsequently left his position as he acknowledged that he had been ‘damaged’ by the allegations.
Mr V told the inquiry that he had taken Witness 216 on driving lessons and helped him to move into a new flat when he left Heathfield. The former resident of the home claimed that Mr V forced him to have sex on those occasions.
Denying the allegations, he said: ‘In an Island as small as Jersey, any allegation of the type that was made against me is going to reverberate around the Island for some length of time, and in view of the fact that I had to recognise that I had made a serious misjudgment, I was obviously damaged.’
He added that the misjudgment was that he did not ‘recognise early enough the danger I had put myself in’ and that by deciding to help the resident, he had opened himself up to having allegations made against him.
Once the allegations were made, Mr V was suspended from his role at Heathfield, but subsequently returned to the home briefly to work out his notice period, despite the concerns about his conduct.
Mr V also said that he was concerned by the number of children that were admitted to the home. He said: ‘I have to say that the establishment was entrenched. I came to realise very early on that there is a Jersey way of doing things.
‘I suppose it was quite strange to me that the Children’s Services should be part of the Education Service, which was part of the judicial services, and that the integration between all of them was bound by Island tradition.
‘I felt that the area of concern for me was the level at which admissions into care were carried out by child care officers without the real ability to choose the best path because the best path wasn’t available.
‘It was quite disappointing to me that there wasn’t, for instance, an outreach system other than through the Youth Service, which would have in my view prevented many children going into care.’
Wednesday 8 July
THE former head of a children’s centre claims he was forced out of his job for challenging what he believes could have been an illegal system of solitary confinement.
Simon Bellwood, who managed the Greenfields secure unit for a brief period in the mid-2000s, told the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry that he believed there was a ‘political agenda’ to protect people and that there was a ‘culture of fear’ within the Island to prevent people from speaking out.
He said he had raised concerns during his interview about prison terminology such as ‘cells’ and ‘inmates’ being used to describe the bedrooms and children at the unit.
The inquiry has previously heard evidence about the ‘Grand Prix’ system used at the centre – whereby children were docked points and potentially put into solitary confinement in special cells for failing to behave. Mr Bellwood said that he thought this may have been a breach of human rights laws.
He took over the running of the facility shortly before it moved into a new building on the same site and saw the move as a chance to implement a new behavioural system, which focused more on rewarding positive behaviour rather than punishing negative behaviour.
The 41-year-old, who had previously run a secure children’s home in Essex, said that disbanding the Grand Prix system caused tension with his bosses and that his challenging of the system meant that he was viewed simply as a troublemaker.
Mr Bellwood, who was eventually dismissed from his post, said: ‘I think it was probably quite unusual in that I came over here and I saw what I saw and I acted in the way that I acted because that’s what I believed in. I did it in a way that it did cost me my job.
‘There is a culture of fear. You cannot put your head above the parapet because if you do there is a good chance you will get shot.
‘There is a culture in Jersey whereby if employees do not like the system, then it is tough. There is a saying in Jersey, “If you don’t like it, there’s a boat out in the morning”. I think there is a lot of truth in that saying.’
He said that he requested to meet the then Chief Minister, Frank Walker, to discuss the issues, but that that request was refused.
Mr Bellwood added: ‘It’s a political agenda. I think it appears that there is far too often a culture of protecting people that you’ve worked with for many many years.
Mr Bellwood told the
inquiry that in order for
Jersey to progress, it needed to become more transparent and more open to external scrutiny from other jurisdictions.
A FORMER carer at La Préférence children’s home has branded allegations of abuse made against him as ‘absolute fantasy’ and ‘like something you would write for a kid’s story’.
He also said that he believed some people were making allegations in an attempt to receive compensation.
Speaking at the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, ‘Mr A’, who worked at La Préférence for about 15 years, said that he had never hit a child and that other members of staff would have known and would have reported him if he had.
The inquiry has previously heard a number of allegations of abuse made against Mr A, mainly relating to physical abuse, but has also heard one allegation of sexual abuse. Mr A denies all the allegations.
Referring to an alleged incident where a witness claimed that they had been beaten with a cricket bat, Mr A said: ‘The whole thing is the sort of thing that you would write for a kid’s storybook or comic.
‘I don’t know anybody in their right mind who would believe any of this. You are working in a situation where there are other people there, so if this had happened it would have been reported to other people. It is so far-fetched.’
Another former resident said that on one occasion, Mr A had frightened him and another child who had been playing in the sandpit by throwing tarpaulin over them and claiming he had covered it in petrol and would set it alight. Mr A described this as ‘absolute fantasy’.
Mr A was also alleged to have put his hands down another child’s pants and that another member of staff had seen this happen.
Responding to the allegations, he said: ‘I wouldn’t even dream of doing anything like that ever, and if there had been a member of staff then I’m sure they would have reported me straight away and I would have been out of a job. For them to come up with all of this is just mind-blowing, really.’
He added that he had felt angry that a series of allegations had been made, not just against him but also against other former care workers who ‘have given their lives to this work’ and that many of the claims were ‘completely outrageous’.
When asked why he thought these allegations had been made, Mr A said: ‘I think a lot of these kids are confused. A lot of them are disturbed, which shows we didn’t really do the system as good as it should be done.
The inquiry was due to resume this morning.
Wednesday 1 July
A WHISTLEBLOWER was left ‘shocked’ after the former head of a care home was kept on by Children’s Services despite allegations of abuse against her, the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry has heard.
Former care worker Susan Doyle told the inquiry yesterday that she felt Jane Maguire, who ran Blanche Pierre children’s home alongside her husband Alan, should have been dismissed after an investigation was conducted into the pair’s conduct.
Mrs Doyle, who worked at Blanche Pierre between 1989 and 1991, reported numerous instances of alleged physical and mental abuse to Children’s Services.
The witness claims she used to hear Mr Maguire, who died in 2009, ‘brag’ how he would wash children’s mouths with soap for swearing.
She also claimed that he would make children stand in a hallway ‘shivering’ for hours until he would allow them to go to bed.
Referring to Mrs Maguire, the witness said the she never saw her engage in physical abuse, but there was emotional abuse, and heard about an incident where she did not tell one child that their mother had died for up to three weeks, causing her to miss the funeral.
The inquiry heard that Children’s Services carried out an investigation into the pair following Mrs Doyle’s disclosure, and Mr and Mrs Maguire were interviewed by Anton Skinner, the former head of Children’s Services at the time.
Mr Maguire was subsequently ‘retired’ from his role at the home but his wife was kept on in within the department.
‘I was reminded by Mr Skinner to remember all the good work they had done in previous years and that is the reason she continued to be employed in the department.’
And after the pair left the home Mrs Doyle said she was ordered by senior figures at Children’s Services to collect the keys from the Maguires despite the pair knowing that the care worker had given evidence against them.
‘I was shocked. I was frightened. It should have never happened,’ she said.
The witness added that Children’s Services would sporadically visit the home to speak with the Maguires but said the couple would portray a ‘misleading’ picture of life there.
‘In 1997 Mr Maguire faced nine counts of assault and one count of grave and criminal assault, while Mrs Maguire faced three counts of assault and one count of grave and criminal assault.
But the criminal proceedings were abandoned a year later when prosecutors considered that there was insufficient evidence to proceed.
Advocate Patrick Sadd, counsel to the inquiry, asked whether the Maguires appeared to be under any stress during her time working with them at the home.
She replied: ‘I think following the birth of their own child and having five quite damaged children they were struggling to cope but it does not excuse their behaviour and their cruelty.’
Tuesday 30 June
A FORMER social worker with a specialism in helping children and adults who had been sexually assaulted was removed as a counsellor during a States police investigation into child abuse because of a potential conflict of interest.
The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry heard evidence yesterday from Marilyn Carré, who worked in the Island’s children’s homes and as a probation officer between the 1970s and the 1990s.
When Operation Rectangle was launched in 2008 to investigate abuse at Jersey’s care homes, the head of the States psychology services, Tracey Wade, asked if Miss Carré – who had attended courses specialising in helping child and adult sexual abuse victims – could be seconded as a counsellor for former residents who came forward.
While in her seconded role, Miss Carré heard from former residents who alleged that they had been sexual abused at Haut de la Garenne, including from one woman who claimed she had been abused by a man known to the inquiry as Witness 7.
Miss Carré told the inquiry that the woman said that she had seen Witness 7 playing golf with the Attorney General while the police investigation was ongoing.
In her statement, Miss Carré said: ‘It is difficult to understand how anyone could maintain objectivity if they were playing golf with a potential abuser at the same time as an investigation.’
When she was appointed as a counsellor, Miss Carré raised concerns with two UK police officers working on the case about a possible conflict of interest because she had worked in Jersey’s care homes.
She told the inquiry that the officers then ‘cleared it’ with Alison Fossey, Detective Chief Inspector with the States police who headed the Jersey investigation, and that she was told she could start work as a counsellor.
But weeks later, Miss Carré’s contract as a counsellor was cancelled because of a potential conflict of interest, the inquiry heard.
Miss Carré said the decision had upset her greatly.
Care inquiry panel member Professor Sandy Cameron asked Miss Carré if she had considered it inappropriate to become involved in the investigation because of her history working in the Island’s children’s homes.
She said she would have avoided any specific cases where a conflict of interest may have arisen from her past roles within Children’s Services.
‘I spoke to Tracey Wade and she said that if you feel you can keep that boundary, I do not feel there will be a problem,’ she told the inquiry.
”She trusted me to keep that boundary.’
Miss Carré also told the inquiry that she felt that Haut de la Garenne was ‘barbaric’ because of the staff’s restraint techniques.
Thursday 25 June
SECURITY levels at a former children’s home were so poor that dog patrols had to be used to stop drug dealers entering the site, a former principal has told the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry.
Kevin Mansell, who began working at Les Chênes in the early 1990s and later became principal of the home, told the Inquiry he also raised concerns about the frequency and length of time some young people were being held on remand as he said he believed that it may have breached their human rights.
The former Le Rocquier teacher said that by the early 2000s the school had become a remand centre for troubled teenagers and was often exceeding its capacity due to the number of young people sent to the home.
But despite repeatedly asking for additional resources, Mr Mansell said that his requests were ignored, meaning that Les Chênes was often left struggling due to being ‘severely under-resourced’.
The inquiry heard that the issue of security at Les Chênes was raised in an independent report on the Island’s care homes, but that the Education Department refused to allow a fence to be built around the site to stop unwanted visitors.
Mr Mansell said: ‘I think for me the glaring issue was the security of the site. It was in the countryside, there was no perimeter fence.
‘We were having drug dealers come on site and I asked for some sort of fence, some sort of security but that was denied to me – it was said that this was not in keeping with the ethos of the school.’
He added that night-time dog patrols were used for a time in an effort to combat the issue.
Mr Mansell said he also raised concerns about potential breaches of human rights due to the length of time some teenagers spent on remand.
He said: ‘I questioned as to whether it was appropriate that these young people were being remanded with such frequency and for such long periods of time.
‘I felt there was a possibility that we were in breach of young person’s human rights, in that the courts were remanding people in for such long periods of time for such minor offences, which as an adult would have perhaps carried a fine and yet we were repeatedly being asked by the courts to take these young people and hold them securely. I have to say I didn’t think that was right.’
Wednesday 24 June
A FORMER teacher at Les Chênes residential home, who was allegedly given the nickname ‘Pinball Wizard’ for throwing children into his office wall, has denied all allegations of abuse.
Speaking at the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry yesterday, the witness – referred to only as Mr E – said that he could remember one incident in which he had to physically restrain a child and that there had been a few instances of corporal punishment, but that it had been used ‘incredibly sparingly’.
The inquiry has previously heard several allegations of physical abuse made against Mr E, including that he would ‘pinball’ children into walls. Mr E denied all the allegations.
He told the inquiry that when corporal punishment was used it was properly recorded and he did not use the cane so hard as to cause injury.
Responding to allegations of physical abuse made against him, Mr E said: ‘I am very disturbed about these allegations, which are unfounded.
‘But what is disturbing about them is that the nature of the allegations would be totally contrary to my overall philosophy and the way that I approached my work, not just at Les Chênes but my work elsewhere.
‘They will have felt that they should never have been there in the first place.
‘But I prided myself on the quality of the relationships between staff and between children and particularly the quality of the relationships that I enjoyed with all the children that were placed at Les Chênes.’
Mr E said that he had only become aware of the nickname ‘Pinball Wizard’ just before he retired and that the term was unlikely to have been used at the time.
‘I would be absolutely amazed if in a small community it was possible for someone to have a nickname and not be aware of that nickname.’
The inquiry has also previously heard evidence that a former resident of the home told Mr E that he was being abused by another member of staff, but that the complaint was ignored.
Mr E said: ‘If one of the pupils had made a complaint of that nature I would have investigated it.
‘I would have taken a view as to the seriousness of the intervention and would have warned the member of staff about his interaction with children, or if it was more serious I would have taken serious disciplinary action.’
The inquiry was due to continue this morning.
Friday 19 June
A FORMER director of Education has described the use of discipline at Les Chênes while he was principal at the residential school as ‘robust but not excessive’.
Tom McKeon, who was the St Saviour school’s principle from 1977 to 1988, yesterday told the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry that relationships between staff and students were ‘very good’ and that the use of corporal punishment by staff was rare during his tenure.
And according to Mr McKeon, who served as the head of Jersey’s education system for 15 years between 1992 and 2007, there was only one occasion where he saw ‘inappropriate’ behaviour by Les Chênes staff towards children.
‘I would never push or hit a child and I would certainly not allow my staff to either,’ he said.
‘I never witnessed a member of staff hitting a child. I did witness a member of staff pushing a child against a wall and I warned them that the action was inappropriate and could lead to disciplinary action.’
The now retired former Les Quennevais headteacher told the inquiry that children were rarely punished by being placed in isolation, but admitted that that there were strict expectations for behaviour at the school.
‘I do not believe that the use of secure accommodation to deal with bad behaviour is appropriate and that’s why it was used so very sparingly.
‘There were high expectations of children’s behaviour.
‘Children did not have the freedom to act in a way they wished whenever they wished.
‘They did not have the freedom to disrespect one another or to disrespect members of staff.
‘Discipline was robust but not excessive.’
Mr McKeon added that one of the most positive aspects of the school was the atmosphere between staff and students.
‘The relationships between staff and children were good – that was one of the strengths of the school and that enabled the children to speak quietly and confidently to members of staff they trusted.
‘The environment made it possible for children to express their concerns because even though there were members of staff considered to be very strict, there were other members of staff that were very easy in discussion.’
Later in the hearing, Mr McKeon spoke about issues that Les Chênes encountered when he was Director of Education.
He told the inquiry that from 1997 there was an increase in the number of young people being sent to the school by the courts and that he met then Magistrate Ian Le Marquand in an attempt to address the matter.
He added that with the increased numbers of young offenders being taken in by the school, more and more supply staff were having to be employed, which then caused further problems.
‘I think there was an extraordinary inconsistency, probably a lack of knowledge, there was insufficient training provided to supply staff,’ he said.
A FORMER Les Chênes teacher has rebutted a string of allegations that he physically abused children at the residential school.
Giving evidence to the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, the man, known as Mr K, denied several allegations – including two claims that he grabbed students around the throat and held them against a wall.
One of the other claims that Mr K denied was pushing a student into a coffee machine while at the same time having a fight with another child.
Recalling the incident he said: ‘The two young people had been missing from school all day and spent most of the day in a public house in St Helier where they had been injecting heroin. They returned to school in the evening and clearly they were under the influence of drugs.’
Mr K told the inquiry that he remembered being attacked by the pair and having to restrain them, but denied assault.
He added: ‘In any situation you would want to use the minimum amount of force, but it was partly about ensuring your own safety and the safety of other young people.’
The witness also denied a claim that he broke into a toilet, kicked a girl three times in the stomach and then dragged her by the hair to the secure area.
Mr K said that he remembered the incident and that he went into the toilet because the girl was smoking, but said that he did not kick the girl or drag her away.
He said: ‘There were a significant amount of witnesses to this event and I am certain if I had been using undue force they would have intervened.’
Wednesday 17 June
THE daughter of a former superintendent of a Jersey care home has described allegations that he had sexually abused residents as ‘complete rubbish’.
Marion Robson told the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry that she had been shocked by the ‘false’ allegations that her father, Jim Thomson, had raped a former resident who cleaned his flat.
She said that further allegations of abuse made against him were also untrue.
Mr Thomson was appointed superintendent of Haut de la Garenne in 1977 and Mrs Robson, who had no formal care qualifications, told the panel that her father ‘could quite possibly’ have played a role in her getting a job at the home the following year.
She said she did not witness any abuse while she worked there and that the first she knew of the allegations against her father was when her brother heard it on the radio last year.
Mrs Robson said that while working there, she was ‘not aware’ of any gossip about sexual contact between her father and Tina Mcguire, who has waived her right to anonymity, who in January told the inquiry that she had been repeatedly raped by him as a teenager.
She said she had been shocked by the ‘false allegations’ of abuse by another witness to the inquiry, which she described as ‘complete rubbish’, and claimed that another had ‘either made a misrepresentation to the inquiry or had a very bad memory’.
Mrs Robson added that allegations that her father ‘prowled the corridors ready to lash out at anyone’ were ‘just absurd’ and that claims the home was a violent place were ‘rubbish’.
While mostly based at Haut de la Garenne, Mrs Robson was also asked to work at the family group homes Clos de Sables and Blanche Pierre as part of her job.
Mrs Robson described Jane Maguire, who ran Blanche Pierre, as ‘very strict’ and ‘very much in charge’, while her husband Alan was a ‘blustering, bombastic’ man.
She said that while she never saw the couple hitting the children, Mrs Maguire would ‘verbally reprimand’ them and interrogate them after they had returned from weekend visits home.
Mrs Robson also said there were no procedures in place to report abuse and she was ‘too nervous’ to report the Maguires, who are not related to Tina Mcguire.
She added that the the relationship between Jane and the Children’s Services was ‘far too cosy’.
‘There was a kind of possessiveness and a kind of jealousy.
‘She was the mum and the boss.
‘I do regret not having spoken out but that was what it was like.
‘I was concerned about what would happen to me and what support I would have had.’
Mrs Robson said that none of the children confided in her about abuse and she thought that was because they lacked the confidence to talk about it and they ‘probably thought they would not be believed.’
The inquiry, led by Francis Oldham QC, continues.
Wednesday 17 June
FOSTER children at a family group home were ‘oppressed’ and not allowed to express opinions, the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry heard yesterday.
Marilyn Dunford, who worked at the Don Road home during the 1970s, said she felt the Island’s Children’s Services ‘could have been more active’ in supervising house parents who would look after a number of foster children.
She also told the inquiry that the fact child care officers did not visit more often was one of the ‘major downfalls’ of the system.
Mrs Dunford said the foster children would stand to attention in front of the house mother, who spoke to them ‘very harshly’ and referred to them by their surnames.
The inquiry also heard from former residents who claimed that they were mistreated by the house mother, including being slapped and hit on the back of the legs with a coat hanger for not tying a shoelace properly.
Within months of being at Don Road, Mrs Dunford noticed that a nine-year-old boy had a bruise above his eye, and he told her ‘mummy did it’ – meaning the house mother.
The incident was reported the following day to senior child care officer, Brenda Chappell. Three months later the house mother, identified as Witness 279, was ‘retired’ due to ill-health rather than sacked, the inquiry heard.
Mrs Dunford was then put in charge and introduced some changes.
She said: ‘I felt they needed the lid taken off, they had been so oppressed. They didn’t have much freedom. They weren’t allowed to have an opinion.’
The inquiry continues on Friday
Tuesday 16 June
THE night when two Les Chênes students sparked a response from riot police after they went on a ‘spree of destruction’ has been recounted by the former deputy head of the residential school.
Giving evidence to the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry yesterday, Peter Waggott, the school’s acting principal at the time of the incident in August 2003, described how the two teenage boys ‘were hell-bent on causing trouble’ and had to be dealt with by police officers armed with CS spray and riot shields.
However, Mr Waggott, who was dismissed from his role as deputy head a short time after the incident, alleged that the Education Department had repeatedly ignored the school’s requests for extra support and that staff had become ‘severely stretched’, with some working up to 90 hours a week.
Responding to a series of questions about the incident from counsel to the inquiry Patrick Sadd, the teacher, who now works at the Greenfields centre, recalled how events had escalated when a staff member at the school in St Saviour went to the games room in the secure part of the complex to tell the boys to go to bed.
According to Mr Waggott, who taught at the school from 1989 to 2006, the two boys became argumentative and a short time later they removed heavy electrical plugs from the wall and started swinging them around the room, creating ‘a scene of broken glass and destroyed furniture’.
Describing how the events progressed, Mr Waggott said: ‘Those two boys were wielding steel table legs and smashing everything in sight. They were on a spree of destruction – there’s not really another way of describing it.’
Continuing to give evidence, Mr Waggott said that when the police arrived at 9 pm, they urged the boys to ‘come quietly’, but they did not respond. The inquiry heard that the police ruled out using patrol dogs because of the mass of broken glass on the floor. At about midnight a rapid-response team came to the scene and used CS spray and riot shields to diffuse the situation.
Mr Waggott later told the panel that although the incident was ‘a 100 per cent one-off’, the boys had been part of a cohort who had caused ‘numerous problems’ over a long period of time.
And according to Mr Waggott, in the run-up to the incident, the Education Department had ignored concerns from the school about the security of the building and the lack of staff.
‘There was the ongoing issue of the fact that we had alerted the department to the inadequacies of the building. We were also relying on part-time supply staff to cover that period, and this was outside my control,’ he said.
‘We had requested that staffing was improved and the building was improved and that had repeatedly been knocked back. For most of the time that I was deputy principal, we were stretched. I was working 70, 80 and sometimes 90 hours a week because it couldn’t be covered in any other way.’
Wednesday 10 June
A CHILD who was fostered by two allegedly abusive house parents would ‘sleep with her eyes open’ because she was so frightened of what they might do to her, the Jersey Independent Care Inquiry heard yesterday.
Retired care worker Audrey Mills told the inquiry that when she became the head of Blanche Pierre family home group in 1990, she met ‘damaged children’ who required ‘intensive therapy’ because of the way they were treated by house parents Jane and Alan Maguire.
And according to Ms Mills, the terror that the couple inflicted on the children left one girl, who was due to be fostered by the couple, in a state of constant worry.
‘By the time I moved in, a lot of damage had been done – the children had no trust in people any more,’ she said.
‘The care at Blanche Pierre under the Maguires certainly affected the children.’
Speaking about the fostered child, Ms Mills said: ‘She was sleeping with her eyes open.
‘I had never come across this apprehension of going to be fostered.’
Ms Mills, who also worked at Haut de la Garenne for several years in the 1960s and 1970s before moving to the UK, said that Jane Maguire should ‘never have been employed’ in Jersey’s care system.
She added that she had been shocked when the Education Committee wrote the pair a letter congratulating them for their ‘excellent service’ when they retired from the Le Squez home.
‘People at the time knew what had gone on but still praised her for what she had done, and the children were the ones that suffered,’ Ms Mills said.
‘She hadn’t done her job. She hadn’t protected the children.’
Jane and Alan Maguire faced trial in the late 1990s following several allegations of child abuse, but the case was dropped because of a lack of evidence.
Throughout yesterday’s hearing Ms Mills was critical about the Jersey care system, suggesting that the service fell short of that which she had experienced working in London.
‘I think a lot of the problems at the time in Jersey stemmed from a lack of awareness by staff of children’s physical, psychological and emotional problems.
‘In short, I don’t think residential social care workers were trained to be empathetic and were not adequately trained at all.
‘Generally speaking, I don’t think people were aware of specific States policies or objectives at the time.
‘This was in contrast to my time in England.’
Wednesday 3 June
FORMER Health Minister Stuart Syvret allegedly approached ex-pupils at the Les Chênes residential home to encourage them to make complaints about staff, the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry heard yesterday.
Jonathan Chinn, who was a PE teacher at the residential school for 20 years until 2002, said in his statement to the inquiry that a number of former pupils had told him a ‘prominent States Member had approached them’, although he could not prove it.
When pressed at yesterday’s hearing by Counsel to the inquiry Advocate Harriet Jerram to name the then States Member, he replied: ‘Stuart Syvret.’
There was no further mention of Mr Syvret’s alleged actions.
In his statement Mr Chinn also claimed that a former head of care cleared out old records which had been kept for years.
Mr Chinn also revealed that, towards the end of his time as a teacher at the home, there were problems due to an increase in young people on remand and children taking drugs and self-harming.
He said that when a new head of the care home was brought in he was happy at first because he thought it would bring in new ideas for improvements, but he added that the head ‘tried to bring about change for change’s sake’.
Mr Chinn said the man, identified at the hearing as Witness 687, threw out ‘meticulously kept’ records at the home and had a ‘big clear out of the library’.
He said: ‘He had obviously gone into the office and just chucked everything away which should really have gone to the Education Department.’
Mr Chinn said staff were not aware that the records had gone missing until the police visited in 2008 as part of Operation Rectangle – the States police’s child abuse investigation.
‘I’m not sure he was challenged,’ he told the inquiry.
His statement said that Witness 687 had ‘resigned and left the Island after a relatively short period of time’.
Mr Chinn also told the panel that he believed the potential for compensation was ‘the driving force’ behind some of the complaints that had been made against former care home staff, and that he had been made aware of a meeting held between several former students to arrange this.
He told the inquiry: ‘A past student phoned me totally out of the blue and said another student and a couple of others had arranged a meeting to make some complaints about staff.
‘I told him not to get involved because he’s married and has a family.’
However, Advocate Jerram said that out of 26 complaints relating to Les Chênes, only six former residents had applied for compensation through the States-funded Historic Abuse Redress Scheme.
Mr Chinn said all allegations about staff, which were made as part of the States police’s historical abuse inquiry, were ‘untrue’ and that no charges were brought against anyone.
He said the school did a ‘fantastic job’ and the allegations had ‘trashed Les Chênes’s reputation’.
The inquiry continues on Tuesday 9 June.
Thursday 28 May
MEMBERS of staff would physically restrain children at Les Chênes only when it was warranted, according to a former assistant matron at the home.
The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry heard evidence via telephone from Monique Webb, who worked at the home in St Saviour for 25 years.
She told the inquiry that she rarely saw staff physically punish children, but that when she did, it was ‘proportionate’.
Ms Webb worked at Les Chênes with former Education Director Mario Lundy, whom she described as ‘a physical fellow but a nice man’ who restrained the children only when the situation required him to do so.
The inquiry has previously heard several allegations of physical abuse made against Mr Lundy, including one that he would ‘pinball’ children in his office by throwing them into walls and furniture. Other allegations of physical abuse have been made against other members of staff at the home.
Ms Webb said: ‘Occasionally when children, as they do, have temper tantrums at all ages – sometimes somebody said something they didn’t agree with and they’d explode – Mario could always cope with that situation.
‘He is an ex-rugby player, and in order to protect other members of staff, or other children, you had to restrain them. I mean, I presume he had had training on how to do it, but he would restrain them so they couldn’t hurt themselves or anyone else.
‘Children were occasionally forcibly held for a short period of time, or forcibly removed from volatile situations. However, this was necessary to protect them and others around them. I never saw any member of staff hurt a child maliciously.’
The inquiry has also previously heard allegations that two other members of staff – Witnesses 108 and 246 – physically abused children. Ms Webb said that she could recall one incident when Witness 246 grabbed a resident and forcibly pushed him against the wall.
She also described an incident where she believed that Witness 246 had been drinking before driving the school bus and subsequently reported it to the headmaster at Les Chênes.
She said: ‘I just remember this one evening because I was on the bus with him and we were going to the swimming pool at St Saviour’s Hospital. I could smell it on his breath there and I didn’t think his driving was as good as it should have been. That’s why I reported it.’
The inquiry was told that corporal punishment was used very rarely in the home and Ms Webb said that she was only aware of caning happening ‘four or five times’ during her time in the home.
She told the inquiry that on the whole the regime at Les Chênes worked well and that the children at the home were generally happy.
Wednesday 27 May
POOR staffing levels and a lack of training may have been among the reasons that abuse occurred within Jersey care homes, the wife of a man convicted for sexually assaulting young girls has said.
The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry heard from Janet Hughes, who ran the family group home at Clos des Sables in St Brelade for 25 years.
Ms Hughes said that she never received any training before being asked to run the home.
The inquiry has previously heard several allegations that abuse happened within the property and Ms Hughes’ husband Leslie, who helped out at the home, was jailed for three years in 1989 after pleading guilty to indecent assault, procuring an act of gross indecency and unlawful sexual intercourse. He has since died.
Ms Hughes said that she was unaware of any abuse taking place in the home at the time but that she may have been able to spot the signs if she had been properly trained.
She added that had she been aware of the abuse she would have reported it to the police.
‘People should have been trained, they should have been shown how to look out for problems. They should have been better supported, had better levels of staffing.’
The inquiry also heard from Sean McCloskey, who worked at Heathfield Children’s Home in St Saviour before becoming a police officer with the States police.
He said that a former resident of the home told him that he was abused by another member of staff while he was at Heathfield. Mr McCloskey subsequently told Children’s Services.
Mr McCloskey told the inquiry that he felt he had to report the abuse despite the former resident of the home saying that he did not want to take it any further.
He said: ‘He never spoke to me again – I was devastated. Even thinking about it now it makes me feel really sad.
‘It makes me sad as well to think that these things were going on. Why wasn’t something being done about it?’
Mr McCloskey said that the member of staff alleged to have carried out the abuse left the home a short time later as a result of the claims.
Thursday 16 April
A FORMER Haut de la Garenne worker accused of child abuse has claimed that some alleged victims are making false allegations to claim compensation.
Speaking at the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, the man denied all allegations of physical and sexual abuse and said some of the complainants were motived by money, while others had mistaken him for someone else.
The witness, who was questioned by police during the child abuse inquiry in 2008, also criticised the way that the force dealt with the investigation, claiming that his arrest was ‘unnecessary and disproportionate’.
The inquiry has previously heard numerous allegations of physical and sexual abuse against the man, who was referred to as Mr K.
The Islander, who worked at the home in a number of capacities between the mid-1970s and early 1980s, claimed that those who had made the allegations were motivated by money and that there was no truth to the claims.
He said: ‘They are totally untrue. It is a great shame that people have come forward and in fact it upsets me that people have made false allegations for compensation.
‘You must remember this is 40 years ago and people may have mistaken identities, but a vast majority of these allegations were to get compensation.’
‘I think this was disgusting and demonstrates that the compensation lawyers were in league with the police.’
Inquiry counsel Patrick Sadd, who was questioning Mr K, pointed out that of the people who had made allegations, five did not make applications to the redress scheme which paid compensation to alleged victims of child abuse.
Mr K later criticised the police’s decision to arrest and detain him, which prompted him to make a formal complaint against the force for which he was awarded £3,500 in compensation.
The inquiry heard that the then Attorney General, William Bailhache, decided not to bring charges because of insufficient evidence.
The inquiry was shown a letter from Jersey’s deputy police chief, Barry Taylor, responding to the complaint, which suggested that while Mr K’s arrest was entirely lawful, he may have been treated unfairly by police.
The letter to Mr K read: ‘Four allegations of common assault and four of indecent assaults were made against you by six individuals.
‘Of those, one assault had previously been investigated internally and rejected, an allegation of indecent assault by another individual details dates when you were not at Haut de la Garenne. The remainder of the allegations did warrant investigation and there was sufficient evidence available to substantiate that your arrest was lawful.
A WOMAN who alleges that she was raped by her father has claimed that she was bribed by an ex-member of the honorary police to not press charges.
The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry heard evidence yesterday from Witness 64, who said that she felt let down by Social Services following her father’s arrest and conviction.
She claimed that she was regularly abused, but that while her father was convicted of sexual offences against another woman, he was cleared of all charges relating to her.
The woman, who was born in 1959 and was not a resident at a Jersey care home, testified against her father in court despite, she claimed, a member of the honorary police having attempted to bribe her not to.
Summarising the allegations made by Witness 64, inquiry counsel Paul Livingston said: ‘She outlines the violent and abusive home life that she suffered, stating that her mother regularly shouted at her and hit her for the slightest thing.
‘She describes her father’s arrest… and alleges that she was bribed by an ex-member of the honorary police so that she wouldn’t testify against him. She states that her father was tried… in relation to sexual abuse of her and another.
‘She states that her father was found guilty of some of these offences but not in respect of those relating to her.’
The inquiry has begun phase 1B of its hearings, which involves speaking to former members of staff at Jersey care homes, including some accused of carrying out child abuse.
It was due to continue this morning with evidence from a live witness. This week is the first time that the panel has sat in over a month, with the inquiry due to take another break before resuming on Tuesday 26 May.
Tuesday 14 April
A FORMER member of staff at Haut de la Garenne has admitted that abuse took place at the former children’s home but claimed he did not see anything at the time.
The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, which was sitting for the first time in over a month, yesterday heard evidence from Mr K, who worked at the home in a number of capacities between the mid 1970s and the early 1980s.
During previous sittings, the panel has heard a number of allegations made against Mr K, of both physical and sexual abuse – all of which he has denied.
However, Mr K said that although he was unaware of anything untoward at the time, he now accepts that abuse did occur at the home.
He said: ‘I most certainly don’t think it was abuse-free, that would be nonsensical considering that people have been convicted of abuse while working at Haut de la Garenne.
‘Leaving the abuse aside – I didn’t see any cruelty when I worked there.
‘I believe that the corporal punishment that was meted out was in line with the opinion of the public at the time, so therefore when caning was allowed it was meted out – not excessively – and when caning and corporal punishment wasn’t allowed then it was stopped immediately.’
He added: ‘I obviously did not witness sexual abuse but there obviously could well have been sexual abuse. I could not tell you yes or no. And when we say sexual abuse we could be talking about child upon child, that there was at times some inappropriate sexual contact.
‘I never had any sexual abuse reported to me or any physical abuse. I saw Haut de la Garenne as a place where children were kept safe, well-fed, well-clothed and well-educated. That was my view at the time.’
Mr K was due to appear before the panel again this morning.
Meanwhile, the panel – chaired by Frances Oldham QC – also heard further allegations of abuse from witnesses who had been resident in the Island’s care homes.
The witnesses decided to contact the inquiry during the recent break from hearings.
In evidence, read by inquiry counsel Paul Livingston, ten witnesses gave their account of the time they spent in care, and while the majority were mostly positive, others claimed that they had been abused by members of staff at a variety of care homes.
One of the witnesses – Witness 698 – claimed that she was sexually abused and raped by her foster brother and later by a member of staff at Heathfield children’s home in St Saviour.
Mr Livingston said: ‘Witness 698 alleges that she was abused by a member of staff who used to take photographs of her in her pyjamas and then progressed to photographing her without clothes on and performing sexual acts.
‘She also states that after several weeks he then began to touch her sexually and states that after around three months of this she was raped.’
Thursday 5 March
A SPORTSMAN who represented Australia in gymnastics has said that a former Education director accused of abuse was a ‘diamond’ who was the closest thing he had to a ‘father figure’.
Edward Walton, who spoke to the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry via video-link from Australia, said that his life would have been very different had it not been for the care he received in Jersey’s children’s homes.
Previously the inquiry has heard that former Education director Mario Lundy, who retired last year, would allegedly ‘pinball’ residents by throwing them into the walls and furniture.
But Mr Walton, who was regularly in court as a young child, said that he had heard about allegations of physical abuse made against Mr
Lundy and that they had ‘made his blood boil’ as he had never witnessed any violence from the former Education director.
The witness, who was born in the 1960s, spent short periods of time at La Préférence Children’s Home and Haut de la Garenne before being resident at Les Chênes for three and a half years.
It was at Les Chênes that he met Mr Lundy.
Mr Walton, who also briefly played professional football and rugby in Australia, said that he had been encouraged to take part in sport while at the home and had subsequently been picked for an away tour with the Island’s under-15 rugby team.
Mr Walton added: ‘The experiences I gained from Les Chênes helped me to advance. It was the turning point in my life.
‘Mario, in particular, taught me discipline and that if you want to do something, you can.
‘He was a diamond and for me and other children at Les Chênes, he was the closest thing we had to a real and caring father figure.’
Mr Walton said that there was one occasion when he was hit by a member of staff at La Préférence and that for about a week afterwards he passed blood when he went to the toilet.
He said that this was the only experience he had had of physical abuse by a member of staff while in Jersey care homes.
The witness added that while he was ‘intimidated’ by another staff member, who has also been accused of physical abuse against residents at Les Chênes, he believed that he wanted the best for the residents.
He said: ‘He had an aura about him that I found quite intimidating.
‘You have to have some discipline, but for me I genuinely thought he had the best interests of the kids at heart.’
Meanwhile, another witness, William Dubois, who spoke to the inquiry yesterday afternoon, said that Mr Lundy was ‘a violent ex-rugby player who frequently used his fists on the children’.
Mr Dubois said that Mr Lundy had been a member of staff at both Haut de la Garenne and Les Chênes during his time in Jersey care homes and that he physically abused children.
Wednesday 4 March
CHILDREN at a St Helier orphanage were made to beg on the streets and were forced to work in the on-site fields, the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry has heard.
A former resident of Sacré Coeur has claimed that he and other children would be sent to the town centre to try to sell flowers and beg in order to raise money for the home. He also claimed that while he was paid a small amount for helping in the fields, the money was taken off him and was given to the nuns who ran the home.
Michael Renouf, who went to the Catholic orphanage as a two-year-old in 1953 and remained there until the 1960s, said that the nuns who ran the home were ‘evil’ and would verbally abuse and demean the children.
Mr Renouf, who waived his right to anonymity, told the inquiry: ‘I used to help plough the fields with a plough which had nails, so when it went onto the ground you couldn’t pull it and in the end
you used to virtually break your back trying to pull it.’
He claimed that despite growing fresh food on site, it was only the nuns who got to eat it, as the children were fed ‘stale bread’.
Mr Renouf also claimed that when he was 11 he was sent to sell flowers that were grown at Sacré Coeur to raise money for the orphanage. ‘That money would be put into a sack – one day if you were lucky you sold three or four pots of flowers – but the money went to the orphanage. Everybody gave the money back,’ he said.
‘We used to knock on people’s doors and say, “I’m selling flowers for the orphanage”. I was frightened of dogs, and if the house had one, I did a runner.’
He added: ‘We would only be bathed once a month, and even then we would be made to line up and use the same bath water as the other children. By the time I was about 13 I would refuse to bathe in front of the nuns or in the same dirty water as everybody else.
‘If you wet yourself, the nuns would put your underpants or your dirty pyjamas all wet on your head and walk you into the girls’ dining room. The girls were laughing and it made you feel terrible. I used to cry my eyes out.’
Monday 2 March
A FORMER resident of Heathfield Children’s Home has claimed that he was forced into a sexual relationship with a male member of staff.
In witness statements made to the police in 1991 and read out during a sitting of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry on Friday, the man said that a member of staff took advantage of his vulnerability to engage him in homosexual acts in the late 1980s.
The witness, whose evidence was read to the panel by inquiry counsel Paul Livingston, said that the member of staff – referred to at Witness 335 – began abusing him after being appointed his key worker.
The panel, chaired by Frances Oldham QC, were shown a hand-written confidential memo which referred to ‘areas of concern’ regarding Witness 335’s professional judgment, and also heard evidence that the member of staff’s request for early retirement was accepted in October 1991 – after the initial allegations had been made against him.
Mr Livingston, reading evidence from the former resident of Heathfield, known as Witness 216, told the inquiry that the witness had told his key worker that he was ‘unsure about his sexuality’. The witness then claimed that later that night, the member of staff entered his bedroom, locked the door and started to abuse him.
‘He describes how Witness 335 forced him into having sex with him,’ read Mr Livingston. ‘He goes on to describe how after this incident Witness 335 would come into his bedroom on a regular basis and force him to perform sexual acts. He said: “335 made me do these acts as he had power over me, knowing that I was vulnerable and insecure, and he also knew that I would not be able to tell anyone”.’
The man, who is now in his 40s, went on to say
that the sexual relationship lasted for about four years and that the member of staff would take him out
of the home to have sex.
Mr Livingston added: ‘The witness said: “These acts have never taken place of my own free will. I only allowed the acts to take place because I knew that 335 could make my life easier at Heathfield”.
‘He says that the reason he ended up coming forward to the police was because he thought that another resident at the home, Witness 82, was at risk of being sexually abused by 335.’
Another resident, Witness 80, claimed that he regularly saw the member of staff leaving the home with Witness 216, and on one occasion saw them having sex. The claims were investigated by the police but Witness 216 chose not to continue with the inquiry and the investigation was dropped.
Saturday 28 February
A MAN who spent six years at Haut de la Garenne has said that he has ‘happy memories’ of the home and that he did not witness members of staff physically or sexually abusing children.
Luis de Abreu, who waived his right to anonymity, told the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry that while there were instances of corporal punishment, this only occurred when a child had misbehaved. He also claimed that an older resident had attempted to sexually abuse him but that he did not proceed with a police investigation because he did not want the man to be punished for childhood misdemeanours.
Mr de Abreu, who is originally from Madeira and moved to Jersey at the age of ten, said: ‘I have happy memories. I have some sad ones too, but I don’t have feelings of “oh my god that was a dreadful period”.
‘I have memories of us playing, of the kids getting up to all sorts and having fun. There was a lot of camaraderie.’
Mr de Abreu explained that he was placed into care with foster parents after the death of his mother, but after the relationship with his foster parents broke down, he was sent to Haut de la Garenne.
He admitted that life at the home could be ‘quite strict’ but that he was not aware of any abuse committed by members of staff beyond corporal punishment.
He said: ‘I don’t believe that I witnessed any abuse, or that I am aware of physical or emotional abuse to the extent that has been reported.
‘I’m not denying the experiences that everybody else had, we are all different people. We have different perceptions of what happened. I didn’t witness it, I didn’t experience it.’
He added that while he would rather have not been in care and that he had ‘at times felt let down’ by the care system, his experience was very different to what others had reported.
Friday 27 February
A WOMAN has claimed that she repeatedly had her head dunked in a barrel of water for wetting the bed while staying at Sacré Coeur children’s home in the 1960s.
During an Independent Jersey Care Inquiry hearing yesterday, the woman, who is now in her 50s, said that the nuns who ran the home were ‘extremely strict’ and claimed that she once saw her sister being used as a human mop.
The inquiry also heard from the woman’s brother, who claimed that he once had his face rubbed in faeces for soiling himself when he was around five years old. The woman’s other siblings did not give evidence yesterday.
In evidence read out by inquiry counsel Paul Livingston, the woman, who was referred to as Witness 150, said: ‘One time I wet the bed and I told the nuns what happened.
‘They pulled me out of my bed and took me outside to a barrel of water and started dunking my head in it. I recall screaming, struggling and shouting for help. The nuns would pull my head up and then dunk it back in again. It was an extremely frightening incident and one that gave me nightmares for a long time.’
She also recalled an incident where she was pinned down on the floor and had her hair cut off.
Her brother, who was referred to as Witness 348, later said: ‘I recall the nuns treating us particularly badly.
‘They were very abusive and on one occasion made me strip my clothes off after defecating myself.
‘They then wiped my face in the faeces. I also recall my sister being treated in a similar manner.’
Another witness, who stayed at Haut de la Garenne, told the inquiry that on one occasion a former resident of the home returned and entered the bedroom at night carrying a knife.
‘It states “as you know, our security arrangements were checked earlier this year. They are as watertight as they can be without turning the place into a penal institution. We are vulnerable to an inmate or inmates helping an intruder”.’
The panel was later told that two members of staff who had previously worked at Heathfield Children’s Home had been interviewed in the UK regarding sexual offences against children relating to their time in England. Both men had worked at Duncroft Children’s Home, where allegations relating to disgraced TV presenter and notorious paedophile Jimmy Savile were first made.
Friday 20 February
A FORMER staff member at Les Chênes care home threw children around with such force that he was known as the Pinball Wizard, the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry has heard.
A witness, who is now aged in his 40s, said that the worker got the name because he would ‘bounce the kids off the wall and furniture in his office’.
Meanwhile, a witness known as Mr W, who was at Les Chênes in the early 2000s, said that his treatment had left him depressed. He also claimed that while staying at Les Chênes he was supplied with drugs by a member of staff.
Mr W said that he got involved in crime and in between court appearances would be sent to Les Chênes. Here he would be ordered to spend large amounts of time in solitary confinement and on one occasion was in the isolation unit for around two months, the inquiry heard. He said: ‘I was spending large amounts of time on my own and that’s really when I think I started developing depression.’
Mr W said that he was given drugs by a member of staff, but retracted his statement to the police. He said: ‘The police were obviously just going after the hard evidence. They could only go on what they could find in the member of staff’s house.
‘I had my own court case at the time, and still only being 14 I thought, I don’t want to be involved in this, so I retracted my statement.’
He added: ‘Looking back, I know that I would have been a terrible child to deal with. Despite that I do not consider the regimes that were in place in the children’s establishments run by the States of Jersey, particularly Les Chênes, were the right way to go about things.’
Thursday 19 February
THE ‘Beast of Jersey’ attempted to sexually assault residents at La Préférence care home and visited the venue so regularly that some of the children knew him as ‘Uncle Ted’, the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry has heard.
The allegations made yesterday by an anonymous witness who resided at the home between 1965 and 1972 follow claims made on Tuesday that Edward Paisnel – dubbed the Beast of Jersey – would terrify residents and watch children as they slept.
The inquiry also heard several allegations of sexual and physical abuse against members of staff at the former children’s home,
Reading evidence from ‘Witness 205’, inquiry counsel Paul Livingston said that Paisnel would persuade children to sit on his knee before attempting to sexually assault them.
Paisnel was later jailed for 30 years for a series of rapes and indecent assaults, none of which occurred in care homes.
The same witness also said that she was sexually abused each week for almost two years by an older man who was related to a member of staff.
A further witness – ‘Witness 201’ – said that staff at La Préférence would use corporal punishment on the residents and that they would use ‘a belt, a stick or slippers on my bare backside’ and that ‘as a result of the caning I would have bruising and sometimes bleeding’.
The inquiry later heard from a witness who was born in 1990 and stayed at La Préférence in the early 2000s. He claimed that he was physically assaulted by a man who worked for Social Services.
The allegations were investigated by the States police as part of Operation Rectangle – the 2008 investigation into historical child abuse – but the case was not taken any further.
A FORMER Education director should have been prosecuted for physically abusing children but was ‘protected’ because of his position in the States, a witness in the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry claimed yesterday.
An anonymous witness said that Mario Lundy – who stood down from the position last year – would make the children ‘feel like a pinball’ because of the force with which he threw residents around while he was head of Haut de la Garenne children’s home.
The witness also said that he was sexually assaulted by a member of staff at Haut de la Garenne after he had left the home.
In a statement which was read by inquiry counsel Harriet Jerram, ‘Witness 36’ said that Tony and Morag Jordan, who were jailed for physically abusing children, were not the main protagonists and that Mr Lundy ‘was far worse’.
Reading from the statement, Ms Jerram said: ‘We knew Mario from Les Chênes, so his reputation preceded him. We knew that he physically assaulted children. He had his own office which he would marshal us into. He called us cowards and hit us and threw us around. It felt like being a pinball in a pinball machine.
‘He was protected by a network by virtue of his elevated position within Children’s Services, and that is the only reason he was not convicted.’
Mr Lundy worked at Les Chênes before moving to Haut de la Garenne for about a year and then returning to Les Chênes.
Witness 36 also claimed that his ‘special’ – a member of staff at Haut de la Garenne who was assigned to look after him – sexually assaulted him after he had left the home.
Wednesday 18 February
THE Beast of Jersey terrified residents in an Island care home and would watch children while they slept, the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry has heard.
Notorious sex offender Edward Paisnel, who terrorised the Island during the 1960s and was dubbed the Beast of Jersey, would, it was claimed, regularly visit La Préférence, which his mother-in law, Florence Walden, founded and ran.
The inquiry was told that Paisnel visited La Préférence and would allegedly lurk in the bedrooms to watch children.
A witness, referred to as Mr D, also claimed that during his time at
La Préférence he would occasionally stay at the home of Paisnel and his wife, Joan, to help with building work and had woken up one night to find the Beast
leering over him while wearing a mask.
‘The landing had a flickering light all the time and you used to see these eyes appear on the top of the landing even though it was pitch black. I’m sure whoever was doing it was going in one of these cubbyholes – crawling around there in the room and this went on quite regularly. I saw this face staring at me and I now think it was Edward Paisnel.’
Paisnel was arrested and jailed in 1971 after police officers discovered a mask associated with the Beast of Jersey in the boot of his car.
Mr D also claimed that Mrs Paisnel would beat him and appeared to take sexual pleasure from doing so, stating that ‘she would go red in the face with enjoyment’. The witness said that Mrs Paisnel took a particular interest in him and that she would invite him and his brother to her house to work and would stay the night from time to time.
He said: ‘I was asleep and I felt a presence in there and it was Paisnel stood staring at me. He had some kind of mask on him.
He added: ‘I always sensed that Paisnel was evil – you just sensed that something pure evil was going on in that place.’
The witness later claimed that Paisnel would drive him and his brother back to La Préférence and that ‘he would drive really fast in his grey van at night and switch the lights off – he was really trying to terrify us’.
Thursday 12 February
FURTHER allegations of physical abuse by a former Education director have been heard by the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry.
The inquiry was told that Mario Lundy, who retired as Education Director late last year, was ‘a bully’ who attacked children.
The panel heard anonymous evidence from a man, referred to as Witness 391, who stayed at Haut de la Garenne during the 1970s and early 1980s and claimed that Mr Lundy would throw children into furniture.
The inquiry had previously heard evidence against Mr Lundy two weeks ago, accusing the former Education Director of physical abuse.
Meanwhile, referring to another witness – known only as witness 383 – Mr Livingston said: ‘Witness 383 recalls that Mario Lundy came to Haut de la Garenne to act as superintendent and that he saw him punch a girl resident with full force to the face, but didn’t tell anyone because he was in charge.’
The inquiry also heard that a lack of social housing meant that children would have to be placed in care despite concerns about removing the young children from their parents. A letter between Children’s Services and the Housing Department read at the inquiry suggested that a large family of children was placed in care due to a lack of proper accommodation.
Wednesday 11 February
CHILDREN were sexualised from a young age and groups of older boys would rape female residents at Haut de la Garenne in the early 1980s, the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry has heard.
The witness, who was referred to as Mr D, told the inquiry while giving live evidence yesterday that ‘underage sex was common’ at Haut de la Garenne and that he had lost his virginity at the age of 13.
Mr D also claimed that on two occasions he witnessed a teenage girl being gang raped by a group of residents and that he was convinced that the staff would have heard about the abuse, but failed to act.
He said: ‘I witnessed some horrific acts against Witness 22 including what can only be described as gang rape and other incidents of cruel sexual abuse.
‘So many people were involved in incidents like this that there is is no way that that would be kept quiet,’ he said. ‘The staff members must have picked up on it without a doubt and I can’t see how it wouldn’t have been known.’
The inquiry, which was sitting for the first time following a week’s break, also heard that sexual relationships between the teenage residents were common and that a culture of sexualisation surrounded Haut de la Garenne. Mr D went on to say that the children saw sex as completely normal and that it was mostly consensual.
He said: ‘It is important to mention that under-age sex between children in the home was common. I lost my virginity at Haut de la Garenne at the age of 13 with a girl on the toilet floor. I had sex with a number of girls at the home.
‘I often witnessed sexual things, so after you have seen it a few times you sort of brush it off.’
Yesterday several members of staff were also alleged to have carried out physical and sexual abuse while working at Haut de la Garenne.
On one occasion, Mr D, who was at the former children’s home between 1981 and 1984, claimed that he was sexually assaulted by Phil Le Bail, an officer at the home, while being held in the on-site detention cells.
Meanwhile, a former resident of Les Chênes children’s home claimed that he was often forced to carry out manual labour.
Counsel to the inquiry Paul Livingston, reading from Witness 215’s statement, said: ‘Witness 215 recalls being forced to carry out an abundance of manual labour and describes the mental torture he suffered.’
Among the tasks that he claimed he carried out were ‘digging a vegetable patch the size of two five-a-side football pitches by hand’ and ‘being made to mix five tonnes of cement while aged 14 or 15’.
