News has just come through that George Anderson and Margaret Hewitt have finally heard that they would not face any re-trial for historical allegations of abuse said to have occurred when they were carers at the Macedon Home in Northern Ireland.
George originally faced 34 charges and Margaret 99 charges and were sentenced to a total of 29 years in what has been described as Northern Ireland's biggest sex abuse case.
In given their decision the Northern Ireland Appeal Court were highly critical of the prosecution case and considered the evidence in the case entirely unreliable especially after one complainant admitted lying in writing after the trial.
This case is a further illustration of the vulnerability of carers and teachers to false allegations and provides support for a fresh review of this issue by both the Home Affairs Select Committee and by the Government.
George and Margaret have been supported throughout by F.A.C.T. and have asked that their thanks be passed on to all those who have supported them through their darkest days.
A F.A.C.T spokesman said the trial of Margaret and George raises serious questions about the conduct of the police investigation and the response of Barnado's to these allegations. Once again there has been an hysterical response to ill founded allegations, and as a result, two innocent carers have suffered the indignity of having their reputations destroyed and the liberty taken from them. What this investigation shows is that the presumption of guilt is so deeply embedded in child abuse investigations that no can rely on them to reveal the truth.
Read what the BBC said here