North Wales Care Abuse

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-23199905

This report was ready for publication in 1996 but was suppressed "because insurers feared compensation claims." Unbelievable but true !

Should the people responsible for this cover-up be prosecuted for lack of judgement, especially as some of the children subjected to a level of abuse described as bestial by the reports author John Jillings later committed suicide ?

[emmie]

its the reason so many things like this go by the by, some people need a good kicking.

[emmie]

whats the point of a 300 page report if it doesn't get published, and acted upon for fecks sake

[mikey4444]

Thanks em...you are right of course. Its difficult to imagine what it must be like to be a small child, unloved or unwanted by your parents, treated appallingly by adults that should be caring for you, but when you complain, nobody takes any notice.

[LazyGun]

It is shameful that a report highlighting such serious wrongdoing to vulnerable children in the care of the council, abused it some cases by the very professionals that should have been there to help them was suppressed because of legal advice to the council regarding compensation claims.

I suspect that such a legal interpretation was seized upon by council leaders as a means of keeping a lid on the whole sorry scandal, and despite this report, despite an inquiry some 4 years later that reached the same conclusions, we are still being let down by the very system that is supposed to protect the vulnerable, far more concerned, it appears, with saving face and saving jobs and reputations than in exposing corruption or incompetence or criminality.

From the Jillings Report

"Our investigations have led us to conclude that the abuse of children and young people in Clywd residential units has been extensive and has taken place over a substantial number of years."

It added: "It is clear that, in a significant number of cases, the lives of young people who have been through the care system in Clwyd have been severely disrupted and disturbed. At least 12 young people are dead.

"Of the many statements taken, it is unclear how many were forwarded to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration. It is also unclear how many other professionals, including police officers, were named in these statements as perpetrators of assaults."

And that same culture persists, as has been so graphically demonstrated with the recent child grooming rings - evidence again that social services staff and/or police and health workers ignored evidence, or in the recent CQC scandal, where the first instinct was to redact the names of those responsible for banning the publication of a report into the failings of Morecambe Hospital...

[mikey4444]

I bet that NOBODY has the sack for this ! Just like all the other abuse scandals, and the ones yet to come, nobody in authority is responsible, ever.

[sandyRoe]

Would the legal people have offered the opinion that to publish could lead to claims for compensation from the victims, or would someone on the council have asked for a reason not to publish?

[Peter Pedant]

I experienced a bit of breath-holding and gasping when I read this.

Reports do get shelved - I would think more than are acted upon.

the other side of the coin is - if we dont do something we will get the ar+se sued off us later.

around that time, I had a few run-ins with my MD who used to chorus
the lawyers are insisting we do it like this....
and I would protest - you are paying them so you tell THEm what to do ...

and he would take on his directorial look and say it is very very difficult....

[mikey4444]

Sandy...I'm not sure if this clip will entirely answer your question, but here goes ::::

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23225082

[Peter Pedant]

The insurers did say we wont pay if you publish....

so how come it has been published...?

[mikey4444]

PP..........I got the impression from the BBC News clip that I have just published that the insurance companies threatened to withdraw cover if the report was published. And according to Councillor Malcolm King, former chair of social services at Clwyd County Council, they threatened him personally by saying that he should be "relieved of his office" if he continued to speak out.

Extraordinary behaviour.

[Peter Pedant]

This URL:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-23225368

give a clickable thingey from which you can get yur very own copy of the redacted report.

[pixie373]

How many people does it take to keep all this quiet? It is really shocking that not only does it happen, but is assisted by others keeping quiet. Who are those children supposed to rely on?

[mikey4444]

Thanks PP.... lots of XXXXX's and blanks....what a farce.

[atalanta]

The trouble with putting a lid firmly on a boiling pot is that sooner or later it is going to boil over, and the results will be far worse than if the trouble was dealt with promptly. Cowardice, fear of embarassment, need for really hard difficult work, need to ask and hear nasty information - it is so much easier to find an excuse (" too expensive " ) and sweep it all under the carpet.
But doesn't it make you wonder how many of the investigators might have been abusers themselves ( secretly, elsewhere, maybe ) and feared their own crimes might come to light ?
How many more nasty festering secrets need to be uncovered ?

[Peter Pedant]

Mikey.....
And according to Councillor Malcolm King, former chair of social services at Clwyd County Council, they threatened him personally by saying that he should be "relieved of his office" if he continued to speak out.

sort of new kind of 'gagging' order

[LazyGun]

@Tetjam - How is Tom Watson "made to look idiotic" by this latest news about the report?

and

"Are all homosexuals paedophiles..are all paedophiles homosexual,perhaps you had better enlighten us,mikey?"

I do not understand this comment at all - its self evidently an incorrect observation - and why are you directing the question at Mikey? >confused<