Police continue to probe allegations of abuse at home
POLICE are still investigating new allegations of abuse at a Coventry children’s home nearly 18 months after the probe began.
The shocking past of the nowdemolished Wisteria Lodge, in Earlsdon, came to light when two former care workers were jailed for the physical and psychological abuse of teenagers at the home in the 1980s.
Alan Todd and Kenneth Owen were found guilty by a jury at Warwick Crown Court of charges of indecent assault and child cruelty.
The men, who were both 70 at the time of the trial in February last year, were jailed for a total of nearly 13 years.
In the aftermath of the case, West Midlands Police launched a fresh investigation after receiving more complaints of abuse at Wisteria Lodge. The complaints were in respect to one of Todd and Owen’s victims and has seen detectives cast a wider net over potential incidents in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
A spokesman for West Midland Police said at the time: “Officers have spoken to one of the victims about a complaint made in 1998, which was not connected to Wisteria Lodge we have apologised for how that complaint was dealt with by officers in the 1990s.
“While discussing her original complaint in 2013, the victim made further disclosures concerning her treatment while she was a resident at Wisteria Lodge, which weren’t made at the original time.
“These were immediately recorded as a new complaint and a fresh investigation was opened.
“As part of the on-going investigation, we are reviewing concerns that the offenders worked at other care homes within the city during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.”
Once the fresh police investigation came to light, an inquiry by the city’s Safeguarding Children Board in to the abuse suffered by youngsters at the hands of Todd, formerly of Tile Hill, Coventry, and Owen, from Boston, Lincolnshire, was put on hold.
Janet Mokades, independent chairman of the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board, said in June last year: “After a recent meeting with the survivors and in the light of the continuing police investigations, we have decided to postpone the inquiry until a more suitable date in the future.
“We do not yet have a time frame for this.”
And following the trial of Todd and Owen, Coventry City Council issued an apology to the victims from Wisteria Lodge.
It said: “We would like to apologise to the victims who suffered so terribly while they were in the council’s care. We have helped the police with their inquiries in this case and will continue to do so.
“These crimes happened a number of years ago and the safeguards we have in place now make it a priority for the voice of the child or young person to be heard. We continually review and improve our safeguarding procedures.”
Anyone who may have been a victim of abuse, or has any information on such incidents, is asked to call police on 101.