UP TO 150 former residents of Catholic-run children’s homes in Scotland have lost damages actions for allegedly being abused, after a court ruling in a test case. A judge decided that a £50,000 claim by a woman who had spent several years in Nazareth House, Cardonald, Glasgow, was time-barred, having been raised more than 40 [...]
Probe into collapsed abuse case
July 13, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Independent experts have been called in by Western Isles Council to assess its handling of a child abuse inquiry which collapsed. The case against seven men and a woman was dropped after the Crown Office announced last week there was not enough evidence to prosecute. Some of those who faced allegations of offences on the [...]
Santanic abuse – denials disbelieved.
July 11, 2004 from Leave a Comment
‘We were accused of raping little girls, having orgies, killing cats and chickens and drinking their blood … it was all lies but they wouldn’t believe us’…. Sunday Herald [Scotland]
Our lives were shattered when we were falsely accused of abusing children on a remote Scottish island.
July 11, 2004 from Leave a Comment
We were accused of raping little girls, having orgies, killing cats and chickens and drinking their blood … it was all lies but they wouldn’t believe us’… Sunday Herald [Scotland]
Orkney expert , Dr Bill Thompson, slams Lewis ‘sex abuse’ fiasco
July 11, 2004 from Leave a Comment
The expert who helped discredit infamous claims of satanic abuse in Orkney has branded the failed investigation into similar allegations on Lewis an even bigger disgrace.Dr Bill Thompson said police and social workers had completely failed to learn the lessons of the 1991 Orkney case, in which nine children were taken into care amid allegations [...]
Father loses case over recovered memory claims
July 9, 2004 from Leave a Comment
A FATHER who claimed his daughter falsely accused him of sadistic sex abuse while undergoing “recovered memory therapy” lost a £250,000 damages action yesterday. James Fairlie, 63, said his family life was shattered after a psychiatrist disclosed his belief that the allegations were true. However, a judge ruled that Mr Fairlie’s case could not be [...]
Bid for abuse case damages denied
July 8, 2004 from Leave a Comment
A former top Scottish National Party official who was falsely accused of sexually abusing his daughter has lost a major damages claim. Jim Fairlie was suing an NHS healthcare trust for £250,000. He said his daughter Katrina underwent a discredited therapy which produced false memories of violence. However, Lord Kingarth was not satisfied that Perth [...]
Parents cleared of child abuse to sue police
July 4, 2004 from Leave a Comment
People who were falsely accused of satanic child abuse on a remote Scottish island spoke out yesterday against the police and social services investigations that led to their arrests. The charges against them, including allegedly engaging in devil worship, group sex with children, and the ritual sacrifice of animals, were dropped on Friday by the [...]
Carers Guilty of Abuse
June 23, 2004 from Leave a Comment
In a case which has remarkable similarities with other cases in the UK two former carers at a Barnardo’s home in Northern Ireland have been found guilty of abusing and sexually assaulting children. Sarah Jayne Margaret Hewitt, 68, formerly of Drain’s Bay, Larne and Robert George Anderson, 46, from Ballycarry, but now living in England, [...]
Kids afraid to stay in!
May 23, 2004 from Leave a Comment
The media’s focus on paedophiles as random attackers who target strangers is seriously distorted and is putting children at risk, says Britain’s most senior policeman charged with clamping down on child abuse.Statistics show that only 10 per cent of paedophile attacks are committed by strangers, with 60 per cent being carried out by family members, [...]
Call to crack down on pupils making malicious allegations
May 21, 2004 from Leave a Comment
UNION officials yesterday called on the Scottish Executive to introduce new legislation cracking down on pupils who make malicious allegations against teachers. Members of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) said any pupil making a complaint should be suspended with the teacher during any subsequent investigation. The union’s annual conference in [...]
Mothers for justice: women say militant fathers are creating a climate of fear
May 21, 2004 from Leave a Comment
They see themselves as modern-day suffragettes, engaging in high-profile peaceful protests to raise public awareness of their battle for equality with the opposite sex.And in throwing a flour-filled condom at the Prime Minister, the Fathers4Justice campaign has once again propelled the issue of custody rights to the front pages and re-ignited the debate over how [...]
Testimony of child abuse experts under new scrutiny
May 9, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Two major inquiries launched into medical evidence used in court cases against parents suspected of abusive behaviourBy Liam McDougall, Health CorrespondentThe unprecedented reviews, to be co-ordinated by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, will examine the scientific basis of theories put forward in court cases. It will be the first time that the [...]
Have we have made children too hot to handle?
April 25, 2004 from Leave a Comment
AFTER dropping her teenage children at the station, Kathleen Marshall used to hover in the background until the train arrived. “Things” had happened at that station, and she wanted to make sure they boarded safely. “When my son caught me at it,” she recalls, “he said, ‘Mum, who do you think’s at greater risk – [...]
False accusations – did you know [TES]
February 20, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Figures released by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers show that over the past 12 years in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, there have been more than 1,800 allegations of physical and sexual abuse against teachers. And the number is growing; 183 allegations in 2003 compared with 44 in 1991. Only [...]
Over 250 posssible cases of false conviction to be reviewed
January 19, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Scotland’s prosecutors today began studying a judgement by the Court of Appeal in London, which has triggered a major review of more than 250 cases involving parents convicted of killing their babies.Explaining its decision last month to clear a mother falsely accused of murdering her two baby sons, the Court of Appeal called for a [...]
Rape claim anonymity bid rejected in Scotland
January 7, 2004 from Leave a Comment
MSPS today rejected calls for those accused of sex offences to be granted anonymity. Campaigners the UK Men’s Movement had said the move was necessary to prevent people’s reputations being destroyed by false accusations. The group’s chairman, George McAulay, presented a petition to the Scottish Parliament, demanding the measures be introduced and pointing to cases [...]
Scottish group calls for greater protection for falsely accused
January 7, 2004 from Leave a Comment
The UK Men’s Movement is to lobby the petitions committee and call for various measures to help men fight false rape allegations. Among its requests are those charged with rape or sexual offences be given total anonymity until guilt is proven in open court, a register of people convicted of false accusations of sexual offences, [...]
John Porteous wins appeal – sentence reduced
January 6, 2004 from Leave a Comment
A former children’s home worker who was jailed for abusing boys in his care has had his jail sentence cut. John Porteous, 70, was originally sentenced to eight years in prison for sex offences against two boys at a home in Renfrewshire. After the Crown conceded that his convictions on two of the four charges [...]
Scottish children who accuse teachers of abuse will be given immunity from prosecution even when the teacher is later cleared
December 28, 2003 from Leave a Comment
CHILDREN who blow the whistle on abusive teachers will be given immunity from legal action for damages under a plan being considered by the Scottish parliament. One former pupil is effectively facing exile in Canada after he was ordered to pay £25,000 to a teacher he accused of assault, but who was later cleared by [...]
Scottish children who accuse teachers of abuse will be given immunity from prosecution even when the teacher is later cleared
December 28, 2003 from Leave a Comment
CHILDREN who blow the whistle on abusive teachers will be given immunity from legal action for damages under a plan being considered by the Scottish parliament. One former pupil is effectively facing exile in Canada after he was ordered to pay £25,000 to a teacher he accused of assault, but who was later cleared by [...]
Teachers in Scotland call for more protection
December 26, 2003 from Leave a Comment
Teachers have demanded urgent action against harassment from pupils and parents, it emerged today.Two major unions have called for help after statistics revealed a rise in attacks and bullying.The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) said the number of harassment cases rose by 40% in 2003.And the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) said incidents of violence [...]
Former Ty Mawr housemaster jailed for assaults on pupils
September 2, 2003 from Leave a Comment
A FORMER housemaster at an approved school for young boys was jailed yesterday for three years for an indecent assault on a teenager and violent attacks on others.Neil Wardell, 44, was also banned from working with young people again and will be put on the sex offenders’ register for life on his release.Wardell, now of [...]
Police recruits ‘dumb and getting dumber’
June 7, 2003 from Leave a Comment
According to ‘The Times’ Scotland Yard’s own research shows the number of police recruits scoring high marks in a national test has slumped, with the number of recruits scoring in the highest band falling to ‘almost nil’. The Times
Woman sues for lost childhood [caused by false allegations of abuse]
May 11, 2003 from Leave a Comment
A woman who was taken into care as a child over unfounded sex abuse claims is suing a local authority for compensation for her “lost childhood” in a landmark legal case, Scotland on Sunday can reveal. The woman, from Ayrshire, was one of hundreds of children wrongly removed from their families in a series of [...]