FIVE IN COURT OVER ABUSE CLAIMS AT CHILDREN’S HOME
Nuns face allegations over orphanage cruelty
Five former workers including nuns have appeared in court over abuse allegations at a children’s home.
The women, all in their 70s, appeared at Airdrie Sheriff Court for the first time last Wednesday on charges related to their time working at Smyllum Park orphanage near Lanark.
They entered no pleas and were bailed for a future court appearance, which is still to be scheduled. The charges the suspects face include assault and cruel and unnatural treatment.
One of the women, Margaret Bannerton, 76, is a former director with the religious order which ran Smyllum Park. The nun left her senior roles with the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul shortly after she was charged by police in 2018.
She was also a director of a company trying to sell the land where the home was based for £ 6million.
Police Scotland has charged a total of 12 former workers at Smyllum Park in relation to allegations of abuse made by former residents at the Lanarkshire home, which shut in 1981.
The Crown Office wrote to survivors last week to tell them they may be required to give further statements about their time at the institution. Prosecutors also told them that it might take another year before the case comes to court.
The cases against two former workers were abandoned after they died. A separate case against a male member of Smyllum staff began in July but a second court appearance has yet to be scheduled.
Helen Holland, of the In Care Abuse Survivors group, said survivors were keen for the trials to get started.
She added: “A lot of the survivors have been asking why it’s taking so long for the Crown to proceed with this. They understand the coronavirus pandemic has affected things but police made the original charges in the summer of 2018.
“They’re finding it frustrating. Neither the survivors nor the defendants are young. Some have died while waiting for prosecutors to decide whether to proceed or not. That is neither good for the survivors nor the people accused of abuse.”
The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul said: “We have been made aware of these charges concerning allegations that date back around 40 to 60 years. But since legal proceedings are now active, we cannot comment further.”