The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
‘House of horrors’ home could be demolished
report: Children’s home is the site of tragic catalogue of historical abuse
A Jersey children’s home dubbed “the house of horrors” should be demolished.
That is the recommendation from a long-awaited report into historical abuse and mistreatment of youngsters on the island.
The Haut de la Garenne children’s home was where hundreds of crimes were carried out over decades before it was shut in the 1980s – including those of a Kirriemuir couple who were later jailed.
The recommendation to consider demolishing its buildings came in an inquiry report detailing the tragic history of abuse on the island.
The inquiry, chaired by Frances Oldham QC, said: “We believe that the buildings at Haut de la Garenne are a reminder of an unhappy past or shameful history for many people.”
It said the home was a “symbol of the turmoil and trauma” of the police inquiry into the abuse which saw a married couple from Angus jailed in 2011 for physically assaulting children.
The sentencing, at Jersey’s Royal Court, was the last stemming from the Historic Abuse Inquiry.
Morag Jordan, then 62, from Kirriemuir, but originally from Dundee, was given a nine-month term for eight charges of assault against four children.
Her husband, Anthony, then also 62, originally from south Wales, was sentenced to six months, for eight charges involving two boys.
Mrs Jordan was acquitted of a further 28 counts and her husband of four.
Mrs Jordan was convicted of assaults including pushing a child’s face into urine-soaked sheets after she wet the bed and hitting other children. Her husband was found guilty of hitting children with a metal spoon, a knife and his hand.