Newcastle Nun "Tied Girls to Pole in Cupboard" at Scottish School, Court Told

Chronicle Live
April 27, 2013

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/paisley-sheriff-court-told-dalbeath-3181985

A Newcastle nun physically abused teenage girls at a Scottish school, a court has heard.

Agnes Reville, 77, is accused of five counts of assault at Dalbeath Approved School in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, where she taught in the 1960s and 1970s and was known as Mother Martin.

Fellow nun Anne Kenny, 79, known as Mother Rosari, faces four charges of assault alongside her at Paisley Sheriff Court this week. The offences are said to involve eight girls.

The trial has heard from Catherine Logan, a teenager at the school who is now 57, who told the court she was tortured and tied to a pipe for two days.

She claimed nuns abused her during her time there between 1969 and 1971 and that she was hit about 12 or 13 times – including with a riding crop.

She also alleged she was drugged.

Ms Logan identified Ms Kenny and Ms Reville by their nun names and told prosecutor Douglas Hamilton she was tortured when she got into trouble.

Ms Logan told the jury that Mother Martin “wasn’t an evil person” and did not abuse her as much.

However, the witness claimed the nun abused other girls more. On one occasion, she was tied to the pole for two days in a broom cupboard after pulling a nun’s habit off.

The fiscal asked: “In what way were you tied to a pole?” She replied: “Both arms around the pole with wire.”

Mr Hamilton asked what happened during her time in the cupboard. Ms Logan told him: “I was in there for two days. I was hit with something like a carpet beater.”

She also said another nun sat on her chest while Mother Rosari bound her wrists to the pole. The court was told that Mother Rosari hit her with the implement like a carpet beater, causing her spleen to rupture.

Ms Logan claimed two other girls ran for help and got the police. When she spoke to officers later, she said her arms were bandaged up.

Police were allegedly told by nuns that Ms Logan had been self-harming. Ms Kenny, who is from Manchester, and Ms Reville both deny the charges.

The trial continues.