Alan Collins, a lawyer representing the former residents of Les Chênes in St Saviour, has given the States until 30 September to respond to their calls for a compensation scheme and formal apology, as was offered to those in full-time care from 1945 to 1994, or face court action.
The States have now confirmed that the matter is due to be considered by the Council of Ministers ‘later this year’.
In a statement, a government spokesperson said: ‘Following the publication of the Care Inquiry report in 2017, Alan Collins submitted claims to the redress scheme lawyers on behalf of a number of clients. The previous Council of Ministers was briefed on the grounds for these claims and asked officers to start work on considering appropriate redress. Officers are working on this with lawyers, and later this year the new Council of Ministers is expected to consider redress for those not covered by the previous scheme.’
Mr Collins said that many of the alleged victims had been badly affected by their experiences at the school.
‘It’s concerning that so many people have taken their own lives, indeed one took their own life last year,’ he said. ‘Society needs to understand the consequences of child abuse. We’re beginning to learn how it can manifest itself in the way society treats children who are in trouble. Placing a child in a cell in isolation, subjecting them to solitary confinement, I would say that is an abuse in itself.’
The States spokesperson also told the JEP that two former Chief Ministers, ex-Senator Terry Le Sueur and Senator Ian Gorst, had already apologised for historical abuse in 2010 and 2017 respectively.
Yesterday, the JEP revealed that the States could face a class action from around 100 people who attended Les Chênes when they were children during the 1990s to early 2000s.
One former resident, named in yesterday’s news report as David, described being locked up in a cell, in one case for a period of six weeks, and being so distressed that he punched the wall so hard that it ended up covered in blood. He said he then used the blood to write ‘I hate Les Chênes School’ on one of the walls.
David told the JEP: ‘They took away my childhood.’
