Posted 10th June 2004
Here is the extract article from Friday's Manchester Evening News.
Manchester Evening News Friday May 28 2004
HUNDREDS OF 'VICTIMS' WHO CLAIM CARE HOME ABUSE BID FOR PAYOUT
Hundreds of alleged victims of child abuse are taking actions against Manchester council in a bid to win compensation. About 200 people are taking the civil action, claiming they were abused in social services run care homes decades ago. More than half relate to allegations of abuse at an assessment centre in Wythenshawe - where children were sent for short periods while the authorities decided which home to send them to. Cheadle Hulme based lawyer Peter Garsden, who is co-ordinating the legal action, said the council was negotiating settlements and so far, 27 victims had been awarded £285,000 between them. He said 111 of the alleged victims claimed to have been abused at the Rosehill assessment centre in Wythenshawe.
The allegations relate to a time from the 1960s to the 1980s. Many staff members were now old or dead and some criminal cases had been abandoned due to the elderly defendants' medical conditions. Mr Garsden said: "A huge amount of abuse is alleged to have gone on there. It was described as a very brutal regime by many of the victims.
"A lot of people at Rosehill escaped justice because so many kids went through the home and it was very difficult to get enough evidence to tell the police. The alleged abuse cases may have been serious, but they happened once or twice. But people have been badly damaged by what happened there. The route to compensation is part of the healing process for these people. There's a lot of anger inside them and by going through with this they can get rid of it in the right direction. "A lot of them perceive that the people who were really at fault were those higher up the chain who allowed it to operate right under their noses."
A Manchester council spokesman said: "Prior to the cut-off date for this group action in November last year; a number of claims were submitted for claimants who were at Rosehill. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage."