Medomsley detention centre saw hundreds sexually abused
An officer at a former youth detention centre sexually assaulted hundreds of inmates, it has emerged. Neville Husband was jailed in 2003 for abusing five teenagers at the unit in Medomsley, County Durham. Other victims then came forward, and in 2005 Husband admitted four more attacks. He died in 2010. But the BBC's Inside Out programme has found the Ministry of Justice has spent £3.6m settling 237 compensation claims for sexual abuse committed by him.
Medomsley, which closed in 1988, held offenders aged between 17 and 21 who had committed relatively minor crimes. But the regime - the "short, sharp, shock" designed to steer them away from a life of crime - was described as brutal, with one former inmate likening it to a "concentration camp, run on violence".
Five other former officers have now been convicted in connection with the physical abuse. However, for some victims the abuse was sexual. Husband was in charge of the kitchen and raped and abused young men on an "almost daily basis" over a period of years, police said, while other officers allegedly turned a blind eye. One of his victims - who has waived his right to anonymity - was Ray Poar, sent to Medomsley at the age of 17 for stealing biscuits.
He said: "He shoved me against the wall and he had his hand around my throat, squeezing and squeezing tighter and tighter, and all the time telling me that I was going to do what he wanted. I just let him do it. I didn't want to go through that again, I didn't want to die. It was the same every time from then on. It became part of the day. I'm ashamed of myself... it's ruined my life, it's completely ruined it."
An officer at a former youth detention centre sexually assaulted hundreds of inmates, it has emerged. Neville Husband was jailed in 2003 for abusing five teenagers at the unit in Medomsley, County Durham. Other victims then came forward, and in 2005 Husband admitted four more attacks. He died in 2010. But the BBC's Inside Out programme has found the Ministry of Justice has spent £3.6m settling 237 compensation claims for sexual abuse committed by him.
Medomsley, which closed in 1988, held offenders aged between 17 and 21 who had committed relatively minor crimes. But the regime - the "short, sharp, shock" designed to steer them away from a life of crime - was described as brutal, with one former inmate likening it to a "concentration camp, run on violence".
Five other former officers have now been convicted in connection with the physical abuse. However, for some victims the abuse was sexual. Husband was in charge of the kitchen and raped and abused young men on an "almost daily basis" over a period of years, police said, while other officers allegedly turned a blind eye. One of his victims - who has waived his right to anonymity - was Ray Poar, sent to Medomsley at the age of 17 for stealing biscuits.
He said: "He shoved me against the wall and he had his hand around my throat, squeezing and squeezing tighter and tighter, and all the time telling me that I was going to do what he wanted. I just let him do it. I didn't want to go through that again, I didn't want to die. It was the same every time from then on. It became part of the day. I'm ashamed of myself... it's ruined my life, it's completely ruined it."
Another victim, Dave Stoker, who has since died, was also aged 17 when sent to Medomsley for minor theft. He told the BBC in 2015: "[Husband] told me if it got out he would make my life hell. I was frightened to tell anyone. I was so disgusted. I felt dirty and ashamed of myself. It's turned me to drink." Mr Stoker developed cirrhosis of the liver and died in 2017.
Husband was jailed for eight years in 2003, and his sentence increased by a further two in 2005 after more victims came forward. In the same year a storeman at the centre, Leslie Johnson, who has also since died, was sentenced to six years in jail for sexual offences. However, many more men came forward alleging sexual or physical abuse by a number of former officers and in 2013 Durham Police reopened its enquiries. This became one of the largest investigations of its kind in the UK and the force said the current number of potential victims was "1,668 and rising".
The force said in a statement: "It is not possible to say how many men were sexually assaulted by Husband [as] victims may have named a male called "Neville", "The Chef" or "Husband", however in the absence of a formal ID Procedure (due to the fact the suspect deceased) we cannot categorically state that the male known personally to these victims is Husband. At this stage of the investigation we have in excess of 300 allegations linked to him, however, once the investigation is concluded it is highly likely that these numbers will be considerably higher."
Det Supt Paul Goundry, who initially led the investigation, said: "They were sent there for riding in a stolen car, pinching a pedal cycle, minor shoplifting - you'd never dream of that nowadays. When they got there they were faced with what is effectively a brutal regime, and if you ended up in the kitchen you would almost certainly be raped or sexually abused."
A Freedom of Information request submitted by the BBC to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) revealed the MoJ has spent "£3.6m on damages settling 237 private law claims for compensation relating to sexual abuse committed by Neville Husband." The MoJ said in a statement:
"We continue to compensate the victims of historic abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre, and are doing all we can to progress claims as quickly as possible. However, many allegations remain subject to an ongoing police investigation... and we continue to work with Durham Police to help identify victims and bring offenders to justice."
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Further developments reported here:-
Medomsley detention centre: Ex-officers convicted over abuse
Five former staff members at a youth detention centre have been convicted over the physical abuse of young prisoners in the 1970s and 1980s. The men, who are now aged in their 60s and 70s, worked at the former centre in Medomsley, near Consett, County Durham. They were found guilty of a range of charges including assaults, wounding and misconduct in public office. Jurors at Teesside Crown Court were told much of the violence was "for the enjoyment of the officers". The five will be sentenced at a later date.
Their convictions follow a series of trials resulting from Operation Seabrook, which was launched by Durham Police in 2013 and became one of the largest investigations of its kind in the UK.
The guilty men are:
- Christopher Onslow, 72, convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm, wounding and misconduct in public office. Acquitted of indecent assault
- John McGee, 74, convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and misconduct in public office. Acquitted of sexual assault
- Brian Johnson Greenwell, 71, convicted of misconduct in public office. Acquitted of sexual assault and physical assault
- Kevin Blakely, 67, convicted of two counts of misconduct in public office. Acquitted of two counts of wounding and two of assault
- Alan Bramley, 70, convicted of misconduct in public office. Acquitted of wounding and two counts of assault
- Neil Sowerby, 61, was acquitted of misconduct in public office, sexual assault and physical abuse
- David McClure, 63, was acquitted of misconduct in public office, wounding and four counts of assault
Medomsley, which closed in 1988, was built in 1960 to house offenders and at any one time held about 70 young men, aged from 17 to 21, detained for relatively minor crimes. The aim was to keep them out of prison and away from the influence of older criminals, and its "short, sharp shock" regime was designed to deter them from a life of crime. It was described as "demanding" but with a "background of discipline and control ... to develop personal relationships with the young men so they will be able to achieve a balance in their lives". However, prosecutor Jamie Hill QC said there had been "an atmosphere of fear and violence throughout the institution".
Onslow, who was in charge of physical training between 1975 and 1985, exploited his position in a sadistic and brutal fashion, the court heard. One victim suffered three crushed vertebrae when he fell 20ft (6m) from an obstacle course after Onslow threw rocks at him when he became stuck. Another was beaten up by Onslow who said he lost a £10 bet when the 17-year-old lost a 200m race during a sports day event.
McGee punched one victim in the face, before forcing him to remove his underwear and "bunny-hop" to the showers when he had soiled himself. Former inmate Eric Sampson likened it to a concentration camp, saying: "It was run on violence, every day, morning, afternoon and night."
Durham Police said 1,676 men had reported allegations of either sexual or physical assaults while detained at Medomsley and the investigation remains ongoing. Det Ch Supt Adrian Green, who led the investigation, said: "We have worked hard to ensure victims and survivors are listened to and supported throughout the investigation and subsequent court process. We appreciate that for the victims and survivors of abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre, it has taken courage to come forward and tell police what happened to them."
Napo Press Release:-
ReplyDeleteProbation union calls for a halt to further probation sell off
In advance of the Public Accounts Committee session on 13 March, the major trade union representing Probation staff have called on Ministers to abandon their plans to remarket rehabilitation services following the failures of the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs).
Napo General Secretary Ian Lawrence said: “The recent report by the National Audit Office not only confirms Napo’s warnings to Ministers that the earlier ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’ reforms would not work and represented poor value for money to the taxpayer, but also clearly states that Ministers should pause and reflect on their plan to simply re-let probation services into 10 new package areas.”
The union claims that the current CRC contracts (which will terminate early in December 2020), have significantly failed in a number of key areas as identified in numerous reports by HM Inspector of Probation and have had to be sustained with additional ‘bail outs’ as their operational costs increased well above their original expectations. The NAO report also seriously criticised the operators of the contracts themselves, and highlighted the failure of the Ministry to manage them effectively and to hold providers to account.
Ian Lawrence went on to say: “Not only have the Community Rehabilitation Companies been unable to deliver services, but the National Probation Service also has significant failings. Staff shortages have resulted in unmanageable workloads across the board. In London, staff vacancies are at 20% so its’ clear that the NPS is not sustainable in its current form.”
The MOJ proposes to let 10 new contracts later this year with a view to increasing the size of the existing Community Rehabilitation Companies and reducing the number of providers. The proposals have been met with massive criticism from stakeholders across the board who are also calling for the MOJ to halt its programme and look at alternatives.
Ian Lawrence said: “I hope that the PAC will also look at the specific circumstances surrounding last month’s collapse of the three CRCs previously run by Working Links, who entered into Administration. There are serious questions as to who benefited from the two taxpayer funded ‘bail outs’ given to this most dreadful service provider and why constant warnings from the Probation unions about their financial and operational position were ignored by the MoJ for so long.”
Napo is calling for a reunified probation service under public ownership and control with a greater focus on local engagement. The NAO report cites concerns that other CRC providers could also become insolvent with speculation around the position of Interserve and that the Government have not properly mitigated for these risks.
Pardon my pedantry - the three CRCs didn't collapse. Working Links, the owner of the three CRCs, went into receivership. The three CRCs still exist & have been transferred to a new owner. The taxpayer funding for those three CRCs has been reallocated to Seetec, along with additional monies to cover the costs of the transfer/transition/etc.
DeleteWe don't know (will we ever?) how much money is irrecoverable from Working Links, i.e. How much additional taxpayer cash is being given to Seetec to fill in the holes? Govt say the contracts are the same value from re-allocation to end Dec 2020, but not how much has been lost by WL's collapse.
Yesterday's justice questions made it quite clear that the government fully intend to continue with the outsourcing of probation services.
DeleteIt frustrates me, not only because I take the view that all public services should be in house, but the narrative seems always to be about cost, processes of delivery and the failings of the private sectors involved.
There's not much discussion anymore about what probations for or who it's for.
Maybe it would be good for government to revisit probation as a concept before making any more ideologically motivated changes.
https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2019/03/12/watchdog-warns-over-a-remote-supervisiona-of-criminals/
'Getafix
Technology must not be used as a substitute for face-to-face meetings with criminals living in the community, a watchdog has warned. Dame Glenys Stacey, the chief inspector of probation, said contact by phone only does not offer “anywhere near the level of supervision that we want to see”.
DeleteShe previously revealed that thousands of offenders were being managed by a brief phone call once every six weeks. “Contact solely by telephone or other forms of technology does not offer anywhere near the level of supervision that we want to see."
Another form of “remote supervision” allows convicts to “check in” at an office using electronic kiosks. HM Inspectorate of Probation will on Wednesday publish the findings of an assessment of the effectiveness of new technology in managing offenders. Dame Glenys said the research shows there is a lack of “high-quality” evidence to prove remote supervision helps to rehabilitate individuals or improve public protection."
She said: “We have long expressed concerns about telephone-only contact. Despite strong evidence showing the critical role of the relationship between the individual and the probation officer, it is not protected within the current model of probation service delivery.”
Dame Glenys flagged up remote supervision in 2017, prompting fresh scrutiny of the Government’s controversial part privatisation of the system for managing offenders in England and Wales. Known as Transforming Rehabilitation, the scheme saw the creation of the National Probation Service to deal with high-risk cases, while remaining work was assigned to 21 community rehabilitation companies (CRCs).
But the shake-up has been dogged by criticism, and last year the Ministry of Justice announced plans to end the CRC contracts early. Dame Glenys said that CRCs have been able to implement operating models that allow telephone-only contact with up to 40% of individuals under supervision. Under a new contractual requirement introduced in October, CRCs have to offer face-to-face meetings at least once a month.
“While welcome, this change does not guarantee an effective relationship or ensure that risks to the public are adequately considered,” Dame Glenys said.
She emphasised that she was not opposed to the use of technology in probation delivery. “However, it should complement face-to-face meetings, rather than be a substitute for it,” Dame Glenys said.
“For example, a probation officer might find it helpful to have a catch-up telephone call with an individual between meetings or to check how a course is going. Contact solely by telephone or other forms of technology does not offer anywhere near the level of supervision that we want to see.”
The research, conducted by academics at Manchester Metropolitan University, looked at more than 22,000 research articles published since 2007. It found there was a dearth of evidence with regard to the effectiveness of remote supervision and new technologies in managing probation service users.
A thematic analysis looked at reviews of remotely-delivered health interventions. The report said: “The studies did not find that these technologies produced better outcomes, and there was insufficient evidence to judge whether enhancing human involvement was more or less effective at delivering outcomes than replacing human involvement.”
There were 258,157 offenders on probation in England and Wales as of the end of September.
The Ministry of Justice said telephone contact is now only allowed when used in addition to face-to-face supervision. An MoJ spokesman said: “Innovative technology such as GPS tagging can protect the public and make offenders less likely to breach licence conditions or reoffend.
“However, technology should only ever be one part of how an offender is supervised and will never replace regular face-to-face support from a trained probation officer. That’s why we recently introduced a requirement to all probation contracts which says offenders must have regular face-to-face supervision.”
The MoJ continue to prove themselves ignorant, cloth-eared lying sacks of incompetent shyte:
Delete"That’s why we recently introduced a requirement to all probation contracts which says offenders must have regular face-to-face supervision.”
Forbes website:-
ReplyDeleteThe giant British outsourcing firm Interserve is on the brink of collapse. Shareholders have been asked to agree to a “Deleveraging Plan” which would see their shareholding all but wiped and control of the company handed over to creditors. If the shareholders reject this plan, the company will file for the U.K. equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, putting at risk the jobs of 68,000 people.
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But even if it goes ahead, the Deleveraging Plan will not be enough to turn the company round. The full-year results reveal that revenues are falling across all divisions: a slight rise in operating profits is entirely due to cost savings. To make matters worse, the company’s construction division says it is failing to win bids for new contracts because of “financial uncertainty.” For a heavily leveraged outsourcing company whose solvency entirely depends on future cash flows, falling revenues and bid loss are potentially fatal. Somehow, Interserve must rebuild confidence in its ability to deliver long-term contracts on time, on budget and to quality standards.
The behaviour of Interserve’s board does not exactly inspire confidence that it can deliver the necessary turnaround. The directors have persistently underestimated the weakness of the company. In early 2018, despite clear evidence that two of its three core divisions were performing badly, the Board insisted that the company’s troubles were entirely due to its loss-making waste management enterprise, which was hemorrhaging money. The waste management contracts were in run-off, so the Board obtained financing to (as it thought) paper over the remaining outflows. But Interserve was not suffering a liquidity crisis, it was facing insolvency. Now, the insolvency has crystallized.
For a board of directors to mistake insolvency for illiquidity is incompetence. It should have attempted a rights issue after its first profit warning in the fall of 2017, or at the latest in the spring of 2018. Carillion’s failure in January 2018 was no justification for delaying a cash call: after all, Capita announced a £700m ($909m) rights issue only two weeks after Carillion’s collapse on the grounds that it would otherwise face a similar fate. Had Interserve followed Capita’s example, the present situation might have been avoided.
Coltrane wants to replace the entire Board except for the CEO. This is the sort of radical change that Interserve needs. And Coltrane also says that if the Deleveraging Plan goes ahead it will sue Interserve’s directors for failing to act in shareholders’ best interests. Bring it on.
But the company will also need more money. Wiping shareholders and bailing in creditors won’t be enough. The company’s “Fit for Growth” plan is heavy on cost-cutting, but I am not seeing any headroom in the Deleveraging Plan that would allow for the substantial investment that will be needed to create a viable business. Without that, cost-cutting will simply drive the company into terminal decline.
The outline Deleveraging Plan announced in December included a rights issue. This was dropped from the final version, presumably because shareholders and creditors facing dilution and haircut balked at coughing up even more money. But a rights issue will be necessary, and it would be better to make this clear now. For all her expressed concern about the jobs of 68,000 people, Debbie White has yet to explain to shareholders and creditors what the full cost of preserving those jobs for the future will be.
Interserve are about to be kicked off another energy for waste scheme in Derby at some considerable cost to the outsourcer.
DeleteIt's previous scheme in Glasgow is also about to double in cost.
If Interserve get through Friday, it's still in a critical situation as it can't plug the holes and it's leaking money at a tremendous rate.
https://www.building.co.uk/news/interserve-told-it-owes-more-money-on-glasgow-energy-from-waste-job/5098344.article
With just days to go before a crucial shareholder vote on Interserve’s latest rescue plan, it has emerged the contractor has been told it owes the client on an energy-from-waste scheme in Glasgow “significantly” more money than previously thought.
DeleteInterserve won the job back in July 2012 which then had a pricetag of £146m and an original completion date of early 2016.
But Interserve was kicked off the project at the end of 2016 and replaced by Doosan Babcock.
The Glasgow scheme will be run by waste management specialist Viridor, whose parent, listed water utility Pennon, said Interserve owed it £64m of extra costs in its interim results last November.
Interserve is still to settle its final account on the Glasgow scheme and in its 2018 annual results published at the end of last month said: “Since the year end Viridor has submitted a draft termination account to Interserve significantly in excess of this receivable. The directors believe this has no technical merit.” Interserve said its liability will be no more than £71m.
Tweet by BBC Danny Shaw:-
ReplyDeleteBoris Johnson tells LBC millions of pounds of police funding is being "spaffed up the wall" investigating allegations of historical abuse. He said "an awful lot of police time" is being spent looking at "historic offences and all this malarkey".
Frances Crook Blog today:-
ReplyDeleteThe convictions of five former staff for assaulting boys in Medomsley detention centre comes after the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse found more than 1,000 allegations of sexual abuse of children in jails. The history of incarcerating children and young people is littered with sexual abuse and violence.
I think the violence has changed over the years. In the early 1990s we heard of systematic violence being inflicted on boys in Portland young offenders’ institution. We conducted an inquiry and adult men came forward with horrific stories of how they had been beaten by staff in a system called ‘the Portland way’. It involved making boys run down a red line drawn in the segregation block whilst staff battered them. At the time we didn’t think to ask about sexual abuse, but we later discovered that Neville Husband started his abuse of boys in Portland prison in the 1960s. He was moved to Medomsley and carried on sexually abusing teenagers.
At the same time there was systematic violence inflicted on prisoners in Wormwood Scrubs – valiantly revealed by the lawyer, Daniel Machover – and regular beatings in other prisons. This was known about and seen as a way to control prisons and inflict pain on the prisoners people disapproved of, or on anyone who was troublesome. Any assault is against the law. Even if the people in charge did not support it, the fact it continued for so long suggests it was tolerated.
I think that violent control of people, including children, in prisons has transmogrified into something more sophisticated but just as brutal. They no longer get ghosted down to the segregation cells for a beating. Instead they are contained in isolation for hours, days, weeks, months. What was a cultural acceptance of violence has become a tacit acceptance of ways of treating people that is cruel and inhumane.
Teenage boys in Aylesbury are being placed in isolation for weeks on end. Children in young offenders’ institutions are being held in isolation for weeks on end. This is systemic abuse.
No one is denying that many young people in our jails are difficult; of course they are. But the state has taken responsibility for them away from their parents because of that. Holding young people – or, for that matter, adults – in virtual sensory and social and intellectual isolation for excessive periods of time is the wrong thing to do. They need skilled, patient and loving care.
Prisons no longer tolerate systematic violence meted out to young prisoners; instead there is structural abuse that in many ways is more insidious and more violent. We have gone from a system where the bruises show to a system where the harm inflicted is hidden. I like to think that what happened in Medomsley could not happen again. I have nightmares about what has replaced it.
I was in a detention centre called Whatton so let me give you a brief insight. First of all at the time I excepted my prescribed punishment after all I did wrong. I have always had manners but manners meant little in DC. However nobody is perfect and at 16 your still learning. In detention centre a person was chucked into the deep end and given no leeway whatsoever. The officers there were ready to use physical violence for little or no reason and a prisoner was very conscious of this. The fear of violence in this place to me was worse than the violence itself. Imagine being in a world where the only law is your captors law and you genuinely fear for your life. I can assure anyone this place ruined many aspects of my life and has had serious knock on effects. Where did they find so many evil officers and put them in one place? Who the hell trained them to have so much hate or did they just follow each other like sheep? Short Sharp Shock, the biggest state endorsed mistake ever made.
ReplyDelete