|
Former Shefford boys are still fighting for justice over abuse
Bedfordshire on Sunday
STEVE LOWE looks back on 15 years of campaigning journalism with Bedfordshire on Sunday to bring the perpetrators of Shefford boys home' abuse to justice... BACK in the 1990s I received a call from someone who had 'a big story'. I was new to journalism so was quite excited but my more experienced, sceptical colleagues were unconvinced. 'If it's a cat up a tree, don't offer to get it down for them,' was the advice. This was the first time I met Damian Chittock and heard the story of St Francis Boys' Home, Shefford. The home was run by the Catholic Church and the residents were mainly abandoned or orphaned boys between the ages of six and sixteen. Damian told me that abuse, both physical and sexual, was rife in the home. He named several priests who committed this abuse over many years, and of nuns who either aided and abetted this abuse, or turned their heads away. The chief perpetrators in Damian's time were Father John Ryan (pictured above) and his Brother Father Gerry Ryan. But there were several more, both before and after. I wrote a story and have been regularly writing about Shefford Boys' Home ever since. A writ was filed against the church by Damian in 2001 and the church made a large out of court settlement five years later. Two years after that they made another settlement to a former boy, Tony Walsh, but neither the church or Father John Ryan admitted guilt. In 2003 Father Ryan was arrested and interviewed but not charged. In 2006 I visited Father Ryan, at his Catholic retirement home in Olney, but after only a couple of minutes his brother arrived and threatened me if I did not leave. I also put in a Freedom of Information request to the police for all paperwork connected to the case but this was denied. This was after discovering two children had been killed at the home in the 1960s, both recorded as accidents, and both caused by Canon William Hunting. Some of the boys spoke of a paedophile ring, including another Catholic Home in Northamptonshire, and some famous names. One of those names was Jimmy Savile and I did find a picture of him visiting Shefford in 1984. He was known to have an association with nearby Henlow Grange and the nearest Catholic Church was at St Francis Boys' Home. Savile was a devout Catholic. In fact the exposure of Savile led to many more former St Francis boys coming forward and to the police re-opening the case. That was not without difficulty, however, as the police first said the interviews with Father Ryan had been lost, then said they had been destroyed, then eventually found them. They also closed the case as all possible perpetrators were dead, before I pointed out a name and the police then found two more. Inspection reports held at the National Archives showed concern and a former director of Bedfordshire social services told me the home was closed down in part because of a belief that boys were suffering abuse. Since then the police team has been working hard and effectively and three people have now been arrested and could soon face charges. At the same time a firm of lawyers, Emmott Snell, agreed to take out a 'group action', on behalf of a number of former boys. The Catholic Church has never admitted anything but now may be the time to accept what happened there and say sorry. So there have been small successes, followed by setbacks, but now it finally looks as though justice will be delivered to many of the one-time abused and mistreated boys of St Francis. Let's hope the 'Shefford Scruffs', as they were known in local schools back then, finally get what they truly deserve, a heart-felt apology and some compensation for the abuse they suffered.
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.