Conviction of two careworkers referred to Appeal Court by CCRC

According to a report in the Hudderfield Daily Examiner two men jailed over alleged child abuse in Kirklees care homes dating back two decades have begun an Appeal Court bid to overturn their convictions.

John Stephen Siddall, 46, of Dewsbury, was jailed for four years after he was convicted of three counts of indecent assault and one of indecency with a child after trial at Leeds Crown Court in July 1999.

Ian Brooke, 47, of Batley, was jailed for 10 years after standing trial at Leeds Crown Court the following year. He was convicted of three counts of rape, indecent assault and a further serious sexual offence.

Both men’s cases reached the Appeal Court yesterday as lawyers mounted an attack on the safety of their convictions, with the hearing scheduled to last four days.

Their challenges were referred to the Appeal Court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body that investigates possible miscarriages of justice.

Siddall’s QC, Vincent Coughlin, led the attack by raising question marks over the evidence given by a key Crown witness – named only as R – who claimed she was indecently assaulted by Siddall while at Rivendell Children’s Home, in Dewsbury.

New evidence disclosed that R had made a separate rape allegation over an attack in Salford in November 1986, which the authorities considered to be a “complete fabrication”.

Mr Coughlin said there were clear inconsistencies between the trial evidence given by the woman – aged 13 at the time she was allegedly abused – and the subsequent account she gave when applying for a payout from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).

The two men were jailed at the end of a huge police operation known as Operation Clyde.

Their probe centred on allegations of physical and sexual abuse at 17 residential homes in Kirklees.

A total of 2,226 people were questioned, 42 arrested and three convicted.

The hearing continues.